By Tory Bjorklund (CEO, Victoria Fide Consulting)
We need a revolution in the world of digital transformation (DX).
New research indicates upwards of 90% of DX initiatives fail. (Digital Transformation: How to Beat the 90% Failure Rate? | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore) Incremental change simply isn’t enough; we need to radically transform how we do things.
A Historic Technology Revolution
This kind of revolution has happened before.
In February 2001, a group of seventeen people representing practitioners of various software development methodologies convened to attempt to find common ground from their various forms of software development methodologies. These seventeen people called themselves “The Agile Alliance.” What emerged from that meeting was a “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” (agilemanifesto.org)
The manifesto declared four values and — more importantly, in my opinion — 12 principles that the Agile Alliance agreed to prior to drafting the four values of the manifesto.
It is important to note that SCRUM as a software development methodology already existed, as did Rapid Application Development (RAD), Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM), Extreme Programming, Adaptive Software Development, Feature-Driven Development, Pragmatic Programming, and other methodologies that today would be considered agile.
What was needed in February 2001 was not a methodology. Several adequate methodologies already existed. What was needed was a clear articulation of the principles and values upon which these methodologies were built. The Agile Alliance clearly communicated they were trying to accomplish a shift in focus from process to people and outcomes.
As Bob Martin said, the manifesto articulated “a set of values based on trust and respect for each other and promoting organizational models based on people, collaboration, and building the types of organizational communities in which we would want to work.” Martin went on to say, “At the core, I believe Agile Methodologists are really about delivering products to customers by operating in an environment that does more than talk about ‘people as our most important asset’ but actually acts as if people were the most important, and lose the word ‘asset'”.
That is why the agile manifesto is expressed entirely as values. The Agile Alliance recognized the only way to make progress in changing how software is delivered is to focus on principles and values. Any methodology that adhered to the values and principles would likely work.
The Case for Revolution
Today, there’s a need to revolutionize the way digital transformation (DX) is conducted. The track record of DX initiatives is bad and is only getting worse. If we aim for incremental improvement, we may only succeed in slowing the trend. If we aim for revolution, we may be able to turn the trend in the other direction.
A successful revolution of the Digital Transformation industry would result in the following characteristics:
- DX initiatives would deliver a solution within the time and budget constraints of the original estimate used to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI)
- DX initiatives would measurably enhance the transformed company’s ability to meet their stated business objectives
- DX initiatives would be maintained and supported by the transformed company without an indefinite dependence on consultants
Revolutionary Values and Principles
There is a need to adopt a set of principles and corresponding values which, when followed, will lead to successful outcomes in digital transformation. In today’s virtual world we have the opportunity to call together DX practitioners from around the world to participate in drafting those principles and values. If you have experience in leading successful DX initiatives, I invite you to join me in this endeavor to revolutionize DX.
Following in the footsteps of the Agile Alliance, I have decided to propose four sets of values and 12 principles upon which those values are based. These values mirror the wording used by the Agile Alliance, but have been updated to apply to digital transformation projects rather than software development.
Four Values for Digital Transformation Success
Client Success over implementation success
Client Contribution over technical excellence
Demonstrated Business Processes over configured software
Working Solutions over negotiated acceptance
While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
(Based on the Manifesto for Agile Software development)
12 Principles for Digital Transformation Success
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable solutions that demonstrably meet the customer’s objectives
- Although we seek to thoroughly understand the requirements early and demonstrate a solution based on those requirements, we understand that requirements are likely to change throughout the implementation cycle. Therefore, we utilize an implementation methodology that allows for changes in requirements even late in the implementation process.
- Deliver demonstrable business process solutions frequently.
- Customer business subject matter experts (SMEs) and technology SMEs must collaborate closely on every business process solution.
- Build DX initiatives around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- Demonstrated business processes is the primary measure of progress.
- Successful DX initiatives are sustainable. Project team members should be able to maintain a consistent pace throughout the entire project.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Unpacking Assumptions
As was true with the original manifesto, there are many assumptions behind the principles and values above. While space does not allow me to unpack them here fully, I would like to discuss one assumption that makes DX initiatives different from software development initiatives.
The main issue lies with the tools available. The agile principles spawned a set of software development tools that facilitated methodologies to deliver on these principles. For example, the concept of code refactoring. Code refactoring tools allow for swift, significant changes to the structure of your code. It is much more difficult to modify configuration and reference data in an implementation. Another set of tools facilitates Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, and Continuous Deployment.
These tools allow development teams to quickly make significant changes to software, move those changes through the development lifecycle, and deploy those changes into production. There are some tools in the DX world that have made improvements to implementation lifecycle management, but nothing like what can be done with software development.
How do you think it would go if we were to deliver a working ERP system early and continuously? What about delivering a newly configured, functional Warehouse Management system every two weeks or even every two months? How about welcoming changing requirements late in the implementation of one of those systems?
There are no tools that will allow you to replicate many of the software development practices that stem from the Agile principles in your implementation of significant systems needed for digital transformation. However, there are practices that have come from agile software development methodologies that are very beneficial in helping to honor much of the spirit of the Agile Manifesto and take into account many of the twelve principles that resulted in the Manifesto. I have tried to capture the spirit of agile within the principles while modifying the language to recognize the reality of DX initiatives.
So, what do you think? Do you agree it’s time to revolutionize the digital transformation industry? Do you agree with the values I have laid out? Do you agree with the principles as I have worded them? Connect with me on LinkedIn and share your thoughts. Let’s start the revolution together!
Tory Bjorklund is the Chief Executive Officer of Victoria Fide Consulting. He is a veteran of manufacturing and software industries having served as CEO, CTO, CIO and Chief Software Architect in previous employment. The first thing you should know about Tory is that he thinks big. Some would even say grandiose. Kierkegaard wrote, “there is nothing more intoxicating than the infinity of possibly.” Tory has found that more is possible than most people are prepared to undertake. He wants to change the world in some small, or large way, so he seldom hesitates to consider what may be possible. In his consulting, Tory brings a passion for the possibilities that technology provides to businesses.