Why Digital Transformations Fail

Chapter 1

How to Survive an Industrial Revolution

“I hate shopping!” I muttered to myself as I stood gazing with horror at the shuttered Macy’s store in downtown Cincinnati, my hometown. To be clear, I dislike shopping even at the best of times. However, this event was a thousand times worse. Perhaps you recall Indiana Jones’s expression in Raiders of the Lost Ark when he throws his torch into the Well of Souls in anticipation of climbing down, only to find that the floor is moving because it is covered with thousands of snakes. “Snakes,” he says. “Why’d it have to be snakes?” I suspect my face wore that exact same stricken expression that day. In the movie, Sallah, Indiana’s sidekick, adds unhelpfully, “Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.” That’s ...