Emma Lo Russo

After 15 years as a martech founder, you’d think I’d be used to watching companies make the same mistakes with every new technology cycle. But this AI wave has me fascinated – not by the technology itself, but by how predictably companies are responding to it.

I’ve been reading the tech headlines, and there’s something almost amusing about the contradictions. Salesforce cuts 4,000 customer service roles for AI whilst OpenAI hires a human content strategist. Duolingo declares they’ll replace contractors with AI, then walks it back after massive backlash.  Spotify lays off their data engineers who create the famous, “Wrapped” end of year activation only to deliver such a disappointing AI version that fans demand the return of “chronically online data analysts with a sense of humour.”

These examples confirm what I’ve always seen when it comes to new tech. People split into two camps: either convinced the new technology will replace us all, or scared they’re getting left behind so they’re implementing solutions just because they think they have to. In this AI cycle, we are seeing exactly the same phenomena.

Here’s what both camps are missing: every new technology is just a tool. The magic isn’t in the tool itself – it’s in the strategic thinking and expertise you’re amplifying with it. Companies with genuine strategic thinking will use these tools to pull ahead. Those without it will just get faster at being average.

MIT recently published research that confirms this. They found 95% of organizations saw zero return despite $30-40 billion in AI investment. The problem wasn’t the technology – companies were treating AI like a magic wand instead of understanding it as an amplifier. The 5% that succeeded focused on specific expertise areas and bought solutions from specialists for tasks that they knew would actually solve a problem.

The whole AI thing reminds me of that Einstein quote about insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. After 15 years in this industry, I’ve learned there’s a better way through these cycles.

The Expertise Premium in Action

So what does that better way look like? That strategic thinking I mentioned earlier – that’s what I call the expertise premium. When everything can be automated, genuine strategic thinking becomes your most valuable differentiator. 

Digivizer, at the base, is a data technology company. But the value our customers kept asking for was for strategic guidance on how to best use the intelligence we provided. They valued our expertise and needed it in interpreting, prioritizing and actioning the insights, not just in providing access to valuable performance data.

Working with a bank during their digital transformation was a classic example of this. As they were digitizing their existing processes – they completely rethought how banking relationships could work in a connected world and how they could leverage that. That strategic thinking, amplified by technology,our trustworthy data intelligence and expertise in how to action it, created competitive advantages and an online growth rate their competitors couldn’t match. They built an expertise premium. 

Compare that to other clients I’ve worked with who rushed to automate their marketing. They had the same tools as everyone else but hadn’t really thought through what made their brands different. They ended up with faster execution of average strategies – which just meant producing mediocre results more efficiently. They fell into the commodity trap.

The bank’s expertise premium – their deep understanding of customer relationships and their own capabilities – created lasting competitive advantages that their competitors couldn’t replicate, while many other companies didn’t stop to think what their real expertise premium could be in a saturated market and found themselves competing on the same terms as everyone else using the same automated processes. 

So how can you avoid this trap and identify and build your own expertise premium that creates lasting advantages?

How to Build Your Expertise Premium

When approaching how to master this expertise premium for yourself, you need to think about the following:

1. What do you do that takes years to master? This is your deep knowledge. It could be understanding customer behavior in your specific market, knowing how to navigate complex regulations, or having insights about what actually drives results in your industry.
2. Where do you think differently than your competitors? This is your strategic thinking. Maybe you’ve figured out a better way to serve customers, or you’ve identified opportunities others miss, or you’ve developed approaches that work when standard methods don’t.
3. What impact do you create that others can’t? This is your measurable value. Look for areas where your intervention creates results that competitors struggle to replicate – whether that’s customer retention, cost savings, or growth acceleration.

The intersection of these three areas is your expertise premium – the strategic thinking that can’t be automated, built from knowledge that takes years to develop and the ability to solve problems in ways your competitors can’t. This expertise premium is what you’ll amplify with technology solutions like AI. And there’s never been a better time to do it.

Whatever you do – do not try and automate or outsource the key thing that differentiates you. 

Your Opportunity Right Now

What’s happening right now is this perfect storm – AI is reshaping industries and economic pressure is making boards scrutinize every investment and think AI can be the reason they can demand head count and cost reductions. I know it feels urgent to jump on what seems like a fleeting opportunity, but don’t be distracted by jumping on to the AI train for the sake of it.

Use the three questions I shared to identify your expertise premium, then use AI to amplify those strengths. Ensure your great people are free to deliver more value that will delight your customers, engage them more powerfully that ultimately leads to better long term economic results. 

This is how you position your business as the expert in your market and build competitive advantages that will matter for years to come, not just another company following the latest technology trends.

What strategic thinking does your business have that competitors struggle to replicate? If you’re looking for guidance on identifying and building your expertise premium, and learning from marketing intelligence you can trust,  I’d love to explore what that could look like for your business.

*Image credit: Robotor’s machine recreating the Parthenon horse. Robotor’s technology allows an artist to harness their expertise to program the robot to eliminate all the tiring phases of the production process in marble sculpting.

No title will magically make you a leader. If you want to create change, start where you are.

Here’s what I’ve learned from three decades of building businesses: the moment you wait for permission to lead, you’ve already disqualified yourself. I’ve watched countless high-potential professionals stall their careers waiting for the “right” time or title, while others with less experience, but more initiative, leap ahead.

This creates what I call a “permission paradox” – the more you wait for permission to lead, the less likely you are to be seen as leadership material. It used to be that you’d get promoted, gain authority, then lead. But that was a different era.

Today’s reality is messier. Cross-functional teams, matrix organizations, and rapid pivots mean influence often matters more than authority. 

I started my career without a mobile phone, email, or computer. Women were told to wear skirts and heels. Questioning the status quo wasn’t encouraged. Yet even then, I found ways to push boundaries by focusing on outcomes and taking initiative before I had formal authority.

What separates leaders from followers

Outcomes matter more than hours. The world doesn’t reward effort, it rewards results. Too often, we mistake activity for progress, believing that working long hours automatically earns rewards. But impact isn’t measured by hours logged or meetings attended. In every business, you’re either helping make money or helping spend it. Ask yourself what your role is, if you’re making a difference, and if you’re aligned to what matters.

When we founded Digivizer, we didn’t wait for perfect conditions; there was no investment, no finished product, and no complete market validation. We bootstrapped and pre-sold the idea, building it with our first customers as partners (they paid upfront, while we built as we delivered). We focused on the outcome for them, the impact we’d have on their businesses, not our own.  

Lead with what you have. Leadership starts with what you know, what you’ve experienced, and how you apply that to what you care about pursuing. High-potential employees are always identified by curiosity, courage, desire to create impact, and empathy. These qualities you can cultivate from day one, and they don’t require credentials or perfect resumes.

Even at school, I was organizing events, rallying friends around causes, solving problems others ignored (which culminated in being elected School Captain). I wanted to make things better without waiting for someone else to tell me it was okay.

When I joined Macquarie Bank, I was younger, female, often the least experienced person in the room. The easy path would have been to stay quiet, observe, and wait my turn. Instead, I showed up with intent, listened deeply, asked questions that mattered, and drove impact before anyone asked me to. That approach opened doors to roles that didn’t exist previously and leading teams that didn’t exist previously – opportunities created by demonstrating value first. When you lead with impact, others follow.

Leadership begins when you take responsibility for your impact, your choices, and your growth. See the need, use what you have to step in, and lift others up as you go.

Curiosity is your competitive advantage. The most successful leaders I know don’t pretend to have all the answers. Instead, they ask better questions and see themselves as continuous learners. This mindset shift changes everything.

“Why can’t we do this?” becomes “What would it take for us to make this happen?” 

“This is how it’s always been done” becomes “What if we tried something different?” or “How can we make this better?”.

Better questions create better conversations, shifting energy from defensiveness of old positions to possibility. ‘Not knowing’ is where breakthroughs begin.

Leadership is built moment by moment

People often ask how I became a leader, expecting a dramatic turning point or pivotal moment. The truth is more simple: it happened over years of consistently showing up, introducing change and new initiatives, stepping in when needed, learning from mistakes, and earning trust one interaction at a time.  You quickly learn how to share the way to win that makes others want to follow and join too.

Success rarely follows a straight path, despite what career guides suggest. Today’s careers are shaped more by adaptability and diverse experiences than traditional ladders. Difficult moments shaped us most, pushing us to pause, reflect, and reimagine the way forward.

The longer you wait for formal authority to start leading, the less likely it is that you’ll ever receive it. Leadership means creating momentum, driving results, and inspiring others, no matter your role or title.

So start before you’re ready, and lead where you are. Remember, no one’s coming to give you permission. It’s up to you to lead anyway.

There’s a saying I love: There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. Over the years, I’ve come to believe the same is true of excellence. It’s not a finish line, but a mindset, a commitment, and a journey. It helps you stay open, lean into discomfort, and always ask questions; especially when the road ahead is so uncertain.

In today’s business world, AI is reshaping everything. To meet that constant shift, high-performing teams don’t just need skills. They need a very specific mindset to operate in a culture that nurtures the pursuit of excellence.

That’s what I’ve worked to build at Digivizer. From day one, I worked with my team to design a culture that doesn’t reward having all the answers. Instead, it rewards curiosity, those who strive for constant improvement towards excellence, and empowers teams to question the status quo with “Is there a better way?”. 

We don’t see excellence as a synonym for perfection, it’s why we love a test-and-learn approach to our work. In the competitive industry of marketing and martech, embracing a way of thinking that strives for continuous excellence is a core part of what sets high-performing teams apart. The right culture, therefore, will ultimately be the difference between staying ahead and falling behind. That too comes from challenge, and in many ways, challenging comfort. 

Comfort is the Enemy of Excellence

Comfort might feel good, but in business, it’s dangerous. It tricks teams into thinking “good enough” is enough,  even when the world around them is shifting. It’s like the frog in the pot: the heat rises slowly, and before you know it, you’re cooked. That’s why comfort is the enemy of excellence. It dulls urgency, suppresses curiosity, and blocks the questions that drive growth.

Jim Collins says it best in Good to Great: “The enemy of great is good.” In short: don’t pursue comfort. Pursue better.

The antidote? Embrace discomfort. Be willing to test, to risk being wrong, to start again. Gartner research tells us 70% of people don’t feel equipped to do their jobs well. But in my experience, it’s not a capability issue. It’s a mindset one. The real danger is the insight gap, when people act from assumptions or partial knowledge, unaware of what they’re missing.

Excellence demands we ask questions like What don’t I know? What haven’t we considered? and What else is possible? so you’re looking in the right direction, and growing.

The Hidden Cost of Not Knowing

Insight gaps are rarely obvious. They hide behind politeness, past wins, surface-level confidence, or perfectionism. Saying, “I don’t know” can feel risky, but it’s actually one of the most powerful things a leader or team member can say.

I’ve learned to treat assumptions as just that: assumptions are not truths. When something goes wrong, I no longer ask, “Why didn’t we know?” I ask, “What did we fail to ask? What did we overlook?”

This shift reframes failure. It makes room for improvement because excellence doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s shaped by what we see, what we share, and how willing we are to keep challenging ourselves.

That’s why at Digivizer, we talk a lot about insight gaps. Often, they’re unintentional. People interpret things differently, come from different contexts, or don’t see the “why” behind the “what.” While 64% of managers aren’t confident their teams will keep up with the skills needed for future success, the key is to encourage curiosity and to encourage the challenging of assumptions.

Driving the Pursuit of Excellence

If there’s one thing I want you to remember from this, it’s that high performance starts with the willingness to keep asking, keep exploring, and keep improving.

And that’s what curiosity really is. It’s the courage to say, “I don’t know, but I want to find out.” I have seen breakthroughs come from every level of the business, often from someone asking, “Could this be done better?”

But for that to happen, people must feel safe enough to ask. That’s why our leadership team creates deliberate space for questioning, reflection, and experimentation, even when it slows us down short-term. Curiosity is the spark behind every improvement, every pivot, every big idea. And curiosity, unlike most skillsets, doesn’t expire. It’s a renewable resource. 

The half-life of skills is now less than 5 years, sometimes even as low as 2.5 in tech. What we know today won’t carry us tomorrow. But a team that keeps questioning? That’s a team built to thrive and stay relevant.

So build through wanting more than just comfort. When we build cultures that reward exploration, not just cushion execution, we create teams that are agile, engaged, and always ready for what’s next.

Building Systems that support the standard 

I used to think culture followed strategy. I now know it’s the other way around. Culture determines whether strategy thrives or fails.

At Digivizer, we’ve embedded systems that keep excellence alive in our day-to-day:

• Feedback loops that flow in all directions, from the top-down to the bottom-up and peer-to-peer
• Real-time dashboards to keep priorities visible
• Cross-functional reviews that test alignment early
• Regular retros to reflect and improve.

Excellence doesn’t require waiting for a magic “excellent state” – it requires conscious, continuous progress. Make a decision. Ship it. Then continually test, learn, and improve it. 

One habit that’s had a huge impact for us at Digivizer is the “10-minute rule”: if someone’s stuck for more than 10 minutes, they ask for help. It sounds simple, but it’s powerful. That small habit builds trust, unlocks momentum, and reinforces that asking is a strength — not a weakness.

Why do these habits matter? According to Deloitte, with strong learning cultures are 92% more likely to innovate and 17% more profitable. But more than that, they’re resilient.

Those numbers don’t come from one-off training sessions, they come from systems that make learning a daily habit. Because cultures that invite better questions create the best answers.

Excellence is the Way Forward

The pursuit of excellence is a discipline, pairing curiosity with action. Challenge with experimentation. Learning with momentum. Whether it’s hackathons, retros, shared wins or agreed progression points, we move forward by design, not default. 

In a world redefined by AI and constant change, this mindset is essential. The leaders and teams who thrive won’t be the ones with all the answers, but the ones brave enough to ask better questions – and disciplined enough to act on what they learn. 

The pursuit of excellence doesn’t stop when you hit a goal.

It’s a daily practice of curiosity, and it’s how we grow together. 

There’s a common misunderstanding that lingers among some of the loudest voices online, and it’s been on my mind lately.

With more and more C-level executives jumping on LinkedIn, a familiar idea keeps echoing: that thought leadership is just a content play – the practice of publishing content to an audience. But the truth is that genuine thought leadership goes way deeper than that. 

It isn’t just about content frequency or visibility. True influence comes from why you show up, and the clarity, care, and consistency you bring when you do.  

Real thought leadership involves genuinely sharing what you believe, what you’ve learned, and what you’re still figuring out – with honesty and depth. 

It involves sharing with substance, and representing yourself – your values, experiences, and evolving presence – in an open and authentic way.

The best content always starts with insight

You don’t need to be a professional writer to share powerful ideas (that’s where strong collaborators can help). But you do need to bring direction, clarity and lived experience. The substance has to come from you.

It comes from the patterns you notice in your day-to-day life, the moments that shift your perspective, the challenges that linger long after they’re resolved, and the quiet reflections that eventually want to be shared.

What gains traction (and what actually sticks) are genuine stories and meaningful contexts. But most importantly of all, original thinking. 

That’s the kind of content that people remember. Not because it’s polished or perfect, but because it’s real and most importantly, uniquely you.

So what makes it work?

In my experience, the most impactful thought leaders:

1. Have a strong sense of what they believe in, and aren’t afraid to say it.
2. Speak passionately about their work, their industry, the world they operate in – seeing both challenges and opportunities.
3. Don’t chase trends or try to sound like everyone else. Instead, they speak from experience and with intention.

And most importantly: 

4. Stay involved in the thinking, because they see the value in showing up to contribute. 

Great thought leadership should represent all the aspects that make you up.  Who you are as a leader, who you are as a problem-solver, and who you are as a human with passions, challenges, and a vision for the future. This kind of thought leadership grows trust, and over time, lasting influence. The kind that shapes how people think, feel, and act.  

When employees understand what their leadership is thinking, it empowers them and deepens their sense of purpose. It also helps attract high-calibre talent who resonate with your vision. 

Customers, and potential customers, get a clearer sense of your values and why you do what you do.  Investors, journalists, partners, and other important stakeholders in your ecosystem also feel the pulse of your leadership and organization through what you are sharing. It is a powerful form of influence for stakeholder groups — and it can’t be manufactured. 

It grows through presence, substance, and consistency. 

It’s not about visibility for its own sake

Something that’s easy to assume through thought leadership and personal branding is that it’s all about vanity metrics – validation, visibility, and recognition. Yet the leaders who leave the strongest impression don’t chase visibility. They earn it by offering something of value, unique to them.

They reflect before the post on what they’ve learned, share what’s shaped them, and speak to challenges with honesty, not because it looks good, but because they know it does good. For their teams, for their industries, for their customers, and for people watching and learning in real time.

Whether you know it or not, if you’re in a position to start investing in a thought leadership program, people already look to you for clarity, for a sense of what matters and for why. As if that’s the case, silence can be costly. 

So why not use your voice to do something real? 

What does showing up actually look like?

I often hear people say that they can’t be on LinkedIn or social media all the time. And they’re right, and they shouldn’t have to be. 

Some of my most powerful posts I’ve shared weren’t long or complex, but came from spontaneous moments of personal clarity. From a shift in perspective, a challenge I was still sitting with, or a story that mattered deeply to me. 

One that stands out to me was a post I shared after taking my mum to New York.

On the surface, it had nothing to do with business. But it was about leadership, and more importantly about legacy. It was me showing up as a founder, a daughter, a parent – all at once – and honouring the person who taught me how to hold those identities with care. 

It was a moment to  acknowledge I couldn’t have achieved what I had without the incredible support of my mum – especially when my kids were little. Taking her to New York was my way of saying thank you, and letting her live out one of her dreams. 

That post resonated deeply, and sparked commentary about support networks, gratitude, and the people behind our successes. It wasn’t planned, but it felt connected in a way no product post ever could. Why? Because it was honest, relatable and real. 

So when you’re proud of your team, proud of a product, it’s okay to share why. That’s how you earn the right to share your company news or product wins – when it sits within something larger, more human, and more valuable.   

The quiet power of thoughtful leadership

The leaders who build lasting influence aren’t always the ones with the loudest voices. And they certainly aren’t the ones who only post company news.

They’re the ones who reflect deeply, stay curious, and offer their perspective; not to dominate the conversation, but to lead and contribute meaningfully. Influence develops when leaders engage in the thinking behind what is going on for their industry, their customers, their teams and the world around them.  

When your voice, perspective, and lived experience shine through, not as a performance, but as an invitation to connect – it works.

What I’ve learned leading a team of thought leadership writers

One of the most common challenges leaders find is the belief that they don’t have time. But here’s the truth.

We actually work with quite a few thought leadership clients at Digivizer. When you work with a team of experienced writers and business specialists like ours, we don’t create content in a vacuum. 

We help surface what’s already there within you; your thoughts, insights, and stories you might not even realize are valuable yet. We draw on your experiences, research and trends then craft them into something that feels resonant, and unmistakably you.

When we start working with a new client, we have a few evergreen questions to help get the ideas flowing. Here’s a couple of tried-and-true thought starters:

• What’s a lesson you’ve learned recently that others might learn too? 
• What do you wish more people understood about leadership, or about this moment in your industry? 
• What conversation do you want to start — or shift?

Start there, and let your insight lead. You can always polish it later. 

The point here is that if you are busy, remember: your contribution is the thinking. Let others help with the rest.

Final thoughts: Why thought leadership matters

Thought Leadership is not being a brand spokesperson.  It happens every time you show up and speak with purpose. 

It’s about choosing what you stand for – and standing for it in public. So don’t wait for the “right moment”, and don’t underestimate the quiet power you already hold to shape how people see, feel, and trust what you’re building.

Because in the end, people don’t remember the posts that were perfect. They remember the ones that were real. The ones that helped them think differently, feel seen, or take action. That’s the ultimate definition of leadership: the ability to influence and guide others – in person, and in your online presence.

Feedback is the backbone of any high-performing team culture and one of the most powerful tools of effective leadership. But for many, it’s also one of the hardest parts to get right. When done well, it drives growth, builds trust, and keeps your team focused on what truly matters. But too often, feedback falls into one of three ineffective extremes: either it’s avoided altogether, delivered too late to have the right impact, or it’s delivered without care – leaving people feeling blindsided. 

I’ve worked across multiple ventures, including Digivizer, to build a culture that encourages open, honest, and constructive real-time conversations. The key? Creating an environment where feedback becomes a tool for growth, alignment and motivation – not confusion, misgivings or demotivation.

Radical Candor starts with Leadership

Radical candor, the concept popularized by Kim Scott in her book of the same name, offers an effective approach: direct, honest feedback paired with genuine personal care. It’s about telling people what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear. Importantly, it’s also not about being harsh; it’s about being real, setting clear expectations, and supporting personal growth. 

Throughout my leadership, I’ve learnt that culture isn’t just words on a page – it’s how we show up every day. If I expect my team to give and embrace feedback, I need to demonstrate it myself. Whether at Digivizer, goto.game, or in my personal life, I am committed to delivering radical candor with care.  It also means receiving feedback graciously in real-time – and acting upon it.

For example, when I see a leader avoiding tough conversations,we tackle it directly in their development plan.  They receive support to frame and navigate difficult discussions, but they don’t get to sidestep them. Feedback might be uncomfortable, but when it’s embedded in leadership and business success, it’s far more effective. 

Self-evaluation as a Tool for Growth

Continuous self-evaluation is something I’ve practiced throughout my career – not just at Digivizer. Whether it’s through 360 (or total) reviews, one-on-ones, or employee surveys, the goal is always the same: seek continuous feedback for reflection and improvement. 

As part of this, I invite my entire team to evaluate my performance anonymously and share the results in their complete rawness. Then, I reflect on and share where I will spend my time, energy and development, as well as how I will work to close any gaps.

This is the secret: it’s not about identifying gaps. To really improve, it’s about closing them. 

People often rate themselves higher than their peers do. That doesn’t mean they lack ability – it’s about understanding the perception gaps. If your team doesn’t see the same strengths you see in yourself, the challenge is making your impact clearer and changing those perceptions through demonstrated action.  This may involve improving communication, setting expectations, and leading with measurable outcomes and data. 

Playing to Strengths for Greater Business Impact

Rather than fixating on weakness, high-performers thrive when they know where they excel and can focus their energy there – rather than dwelling on their lesser-used strengths.  When there are performance gaps, guiding individuals to leverage their strengths and close the gaps is often the fastest and most powerful path to success.

In this way, feedback provides a roadmap for self-reflective growth; harnessing and amplifying strengths and giving tools to fix current growth areas to turn good into great.  

The difference between good and great

I often refer back to Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. The biggest message from that book still resonates strongly: the enemy of great is good. It’s easy to settle for good enough – especially when you have a team full of smart, well-intentioned people. But good intentions and hard work aren’t enough. Results are the ultimate measure of success. And you never want to hold a seat for an average performer when it could be kept open and held by a great performer.

At Digivizer and goto.game, we hire smart, talented, driven people, who get things done, are infinite learners and are not arseholes. This mandate creates the best environment for people who want to come to work and learn how to be better every day. The true mark of a high-performing team isn’t just about working hard; it’s about working smart. It’s about knowing where to focus, what to prioritize, how to measure impact, how to reflect upon it, and then act on it. 

That’s why Radical Candor is so important. It’s not about criticizing effort, it’s about aligning that effort with meaningful results.  It’s about helping people identify the way to get there, which is what you want to reward so it becomes a self-fulfilling culture taking you to great.

Building a high-performing feedback culture based on Radical Candor

So how do you start embedding Radical Candor in your business? These are my top 5 pointers on how to get started:

1. Model it: If you want an open feedback culture, you must model it yourself. Ask for and provide honest feedback in real-time, use examples and acknowledge results
2. Make it part of everyday conversations:  Feedback shouldn’t be a once-a-year event. Build it into your daily interactions with your direct reports and wider team – whether it’s in 1:1s, team meetings, quick catch-ups, or performance reviews.It must be addressed as it happens and then captured within a development  if part of a bigger need.
3. Focus on closing the gaps, not assigning blame: If someone isn’t meeting expectations, don’t just tell them that they’re falling short. Support them to understand how to bridge the gap. Encourage reflection, understanding, strategies to address, commitment, timeframes and agreed feedback loops.
4. Separate effort from results: Acknowledge passion, but stay focused on impact. What needs to change to get the desired outcome? Make sure that outcome and result is clear and measurable.
5. Encourage solutions, not complaints: It’s easy to point out problems. The real value comes from those who bring solutions. Ask for the solution, focus on prevention not correction.  This helps demonstrate that everything is open to change if it delivers a greater result.

Final Thoughts on Radical Candor

Radical Candor isn’t about being harsh. It’s about being clear, direct and challenging – simply because you care personally. It’s about creating a culture where feedback helps people grow and take ownership of their growth, rather than making them feel defensive, belittled or blindsided. 

I’ve seen firsthand how feedback when done right, and in real-time, fuels growth and leads to better outcomes. At Digivizer, we don’t reward effort alone; we reward results. Saying that,  we also equip our teams with the tools, the support, a love of continuous development and the feedback they need to succeed. 

That’s how you build a team that’s not just good, they’re great. 

I’ve been working in and partnering with agencies for over 30 years – for the past 14 years as CEO leading Digivizer and Gotogame – and I’ve seen it all when it comes to client-agency relationships. I wanted to share why some become long-term, trusted partnerships that drive incredible business outcomes and others fall apart before they ever really get going. Whilst I am proud of the many decade-long client relationships we have at Digivizer, there is much to learn in understanding any failures.

So what makes the difference? It’s not just about delivering great work. The strongest relationships, the ones that truly stand the test of time, are built on something much deeper: trust, shared goals, and a willingness to adapt and grow together. A client’s needs today won’t be the same in a year or two. Business priorities naturally shift, leadership changes, and market conditions and competition are constantly evolving. 

Agencies that can’t adapt to these changes for their clients don’t just struggle; they become obsolete. It’s not enough to deliver what was promised months ago; it’s about anticipating what’s needed in the months ahead.

Building strong foundations 

The starting point for any successful collaboration is ensuring clear business goals and measurable outcomes are understood and agreed upon upfront. This means aligning on strategy, budgets, roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators (KPIs) from the very beginning. Establishing clear expectations around timing – when deliverables will be made and when results are expected – sets the tone for the entire project. 

Investment must also be made in understanding the client’s business, industry, and competitors. The agency should be deeply familiar with the pressures faced by all stakeholders and the KPIs they are being evaluated and remunerated by. When you look to create a deep understanding of the client, brand, and market,  you ensure complete alignment with the agreed program and approach. This includes documented agreement of the strategy, plan, budgets, targets, timeframes, and outcomes. 

Taking time to agree to meeting schedules, communication processes, and approval workflows – and ensuring these systems are in place – lays a strong foundation for a successful relationship. 

Periodically Reassessing Client Needs

One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is assuming they know what a client wants without regularly checking in to see if that is still the case. I’ve seen teams continue with previously agreed strategies and focus areas, which in time are no longer relevant or working. If you’re constantly asking your clients, “What matters most to you right now?” and “How would you rate our performance out of ten?”, you’ll uncover if anything is misaligned. It also creates opportunities to realign, educate or quickly pivot if needed. 

Successful partnerships are never transactional – they’re dynamic. Agencies need to make a point of constantly recalibrating their approach and scheduling deep-dive sessions with clients. It’s important to ask your client where they’re seeing success, where they’re finding challenges, and most importantly, “What does success look like for their business?”.  It’s just as important to ask “What could we be doing better?”, and to see if their senior leaders feel the same way as them.  The more we understand their evolving needs, and explore with curiosity, the more we stay on the same page. Curiosity underpins all working relationships. I firmly believe agencies and clients should be open to proactively seeking, measuring, and acting on insights. This approach allows you to anticipate and welcome change – rather than merely reacting to it. 

Managing Expectations with Data-Driven Conversations

Misaligned expectations can be a major relationship killer. I’ve seen clients with ambitious goals, like wanting to double their organic reach in three months or reaching a growth milestone, but their budgets and plans just won’t deliver to those ambitions.  While these goals might sound great, without a solid strategy, data, resources, and budget to back them up, they can quickly become unrealistic and unreachable. 

It’s important to avoid conversations based on opinion or one-off data points.  I’ve observed clients reacting to a single person’s comment or personal opinion, which isn’t supported by data. In those instances, it is best to respond with concrete data.  As we all have access to real-time insights, we can either substantiate or challenge those individualized opinions with data-backed facts.  

The best client relationships are built on open, data-driven conversations. When you bring performance data into the discussion, you remove the emotion from the conversation and help shift the focus to practical solutions and new hypotheses.

Balancing Ego with Data-Backed Experimentation

Ego is a factor in any business, whether client-side or agency-side. Over my years of experience, I’ve learned the key to managing it is balancing passion with pragmatism. The most successful partnerships I’ve had have been those where we created a culture of experimentation – testing, and learning. When you prioritize data and insights over opinions, it encourages everyone to have a more open and collaborative mindset.

Rather than shutting down an idea, it should be viewed as an opportunity: “Let’s test this approach and see what the data tells us.” With a test-and-learn approach, the best ideas rise to the top – not just the loudest ones. It’s crucial to continuously test, be open to the results, and share the learnings, insights, and recommendations for what’s next.

I’ve seen how shifting from “my way or the highway” to data-backed testing transforms relationships and leads to better outcomes. It creates space for all voices to be heard, and the results speak for themselves.

Spotting Risks Before They Become Problems

Even when things are going well, it’s essential to still stay proactive. The most successful agencies don’t just react to change; they anticipate it. Subtle shifts in a client’s business, market dynamics, competitors, or even platform changes, can often signal bigger issues on the horizon. Whether it’s leadership changes, new decision-makers, market shifts, or a change in focus – it’s crucial to recognize these signs early and adapt accordingly. 

The stronger the relationship and commitment to continuous testing and learning,  the better equipped you’ll be to navigate these changes together. Staying attuned to these shifts and proactively assessing where value can be added is key to staying ahead of the curve and ensuring you deliver results that matter.

Celebrating Success and Growing Together

Long-term partnerships aren’t just about avoiding failure – they’re about celebrating success together. The best relationships I’ve had have been those where both sides are committed to long-term growth and acknowledgment of the progress and wins along the way. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your team passionate about the clients they work for, fully invested in their success. 

When an agency becomes an extension of a client’s team – integrated into their goals, challenges, and vision – that’s where the magic happens. We also ensure our team bonuses are tied to client growth and satisfaction with us., aligning everything our team works on with the client’s success.  This mutual growth results in success for our employees, our clients, and our business.

We make a point to celebrate milestones with clients, whether it’s a shared case study, a simple note of appreciation, or a celebratory lunch. Acknowledging these moments creates momentum, and it’s in those moments of celebration that the true strength of the partnership is felt. 

The Enduring Power of Partnership

From my experience, successful client-agency relationships don’t just last because of great work. They endure because both sides are willing to evolve, communicate openly, and invest in long-term growth.

There’s nothing more rewarding than looking back at photos of your client and your team from earlier years, seeing how far you’ve come, and still celebrating wins together. Those are the relationships that stand the test of time, and they make all the hard work worthwhile.

As leaders, our role is to create a culture where everyone – no matter where they are or what time zone they work in – has an equal opportunity to contribute, grow and succeed. These days, we work in a digital, hybrid-working world, which has required us to refine what makes a high performing and successful team culture.. Success now means making sure every voice is heard, everyone has the same access to information and decision making and everyone has the same opportunity to contribute innovation and results. It’s crucial for attracting and retaining top talent.

When large corporations tried to push employees back into the office, the pushback was loud and strong. The Microsoft Work Trend Index 2023 makes one thing clear: hybrid work is here to stay. So how do we create a sense of equity in such a diverse, hybrid workforce? How do we manage performance? And how do we keep everyone feeling empowered, no matter where they work from?

At Digivizer, I work with an incredible global team spread across 12 locations in 6 countries. And with over 30 years of experience managing hybrid, global teams, I can confidently say that creating equity of opportunity starts with four key principles: 

1. Transparency of information, 
2. Frequent, regular and real time communication, 
3. The right tools with inbuilt collaboration, and 
4. A genuine commitment to equity of opportunity and experience.

Transparency of information

In hybrid or global teams, I’ve seen how easily information can be siloed if sharing and accessibility isn’t done thoughtfully. That’s why establishing a single source of truth across your business is so critical – it levels the playing field for everyone, so each team member has access to the same data, insights, information, people and updates. 

Back in 2012, McKinsey found that effective knowledge management increased productivity by 20-25% – proving when team members can tap into the same resources, they’re empowered to contribute. Psychological empowerment, which ties back to leadership, has a positive impact upon overall employee mental health and promotes a healthy workplace. Shared visibility is simple: it means no one gets overlooked, and everyone has the same opportunity to make an impact. This is why ensuring cultural values like transparency and rules around processes like sharing, responding and basic communication etiquette are important; they show a commitment to equality through a single source of truth. 

Inclusive Communication Practices

In a digital-first world, it’s easy for inequality to sneak in and for certain voices to dominate if we’re not mindful. This is why clear, direct, concise and simple communication is crucial; it holds a team together. As a leader, I’ve learned it is important to create formal access points like slack channels, meetings, agendas, and employee engagement feedback surveys where everyone can participate equally – and without bias and interruption. We need to be hyper-aware of how we communicate and the platforms we use within our teams. It’s not about what we say to our team; it’s about how we model, manage, live and respond to each situation and communication point. 

At Digivizer, we’ve introduced asynchronous communication tools to help level the playing field across our global team. Examples like recorded video updates, full team access to business priorities, projects, financials, and performance metrics supported by shared documents and messaging channels (we use Google Docs, Slack, Jira and Asana) allow everyone to share their thoughts, wherever they are. This means more introverted team voices aren’t drowned out by the fast-paced nature and dominance of audio to one voice at a time in live meetings, which we often time cap, so everyone has time to contribute. It helps overcome cultural differences in willingness to challenge or speak up about aspects of business. 

Empower through skill development

A commitment to skill development needs to be a core part of your team’s culture, especially as expectations can change so quickly. Providing growth opportunities will empower your team to thrive and react to any workplace challenge – whether it’s learning new applications, enhancing soft skills, presentation skills or to build leadership qualities. 

At Digivizer, we prioritize a culture of learning and curiosity to keep pace with the rapid evolution of digital technologies. I wrote about the importance of curiosity in marketing last year, because it’s critical to staying relevant and needs to be fostered in our teams. To build curiosity in our teams, we schedule learning talkings, lightning talks, work buddies and mentoring sessions so that everyone has exposure to researching, preparing, and presenting, as well as building and keeping accountability. It’s why our culture enables each team member to get curious, set their own goals, and track their progress.  It’s not just about hitting performance metrics; it’s about giving everyone the autonomy, resources, and opportunities they need to develop in their careers.

A culture of continuous feedback

In global teams, it’s easy to assume that feedback is happening just because we’re communicating. But meaningful feedback goes beyond casual conversation;  it’s also about team performance, accountability and feedback. To encourage this, we ask our team how happy they are out of 10, what it would take to get them to a 10 and gauge similar metrics on team and company performance and effectiveness. The idea is to promote and encourage ideas, and where priorities and focus should be given. When employees feel acknowledged and heard, they value and feel responsible for business success.

 At Digivizer, we promote a culture of feedback that flows in all directions with our team encouraged to provide 360 feedback, 1:1 feedback, real-time feedback and to practice radical candour. We actively encourage and support our team to “have the conversation” with team member(s) if they have a concern. Whether it’s about management practices, team dynamics, or any other topic, I’ve found that encouraging continuous feedback with a focus on “Above The Line behaviors” of Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility and calling out “Below The Line behaviors” of Blame, Excuses and Denial, helps our team grow stronger and build resilience. These characteristics are essential for building a high performing team and culture, and this focus keeps us in tune with our own behaviors – as well as the needs and sentiments of our employees. Together, we continuously grow and improve – led by conscious leadership. If you’d like to understand conscious leadership more (and about Above and Below The Line behaviours), there is a great reference video from The Conscious Leadership Group that explores the topic.

Committing to Equity of Opportunity 

Leading a global team in today’s hybrid, digital-first environment requires a strong focus on fairness, transparency, trust and inclusivity. When building and managing a global organization, you need to consider the culture, people, processes and systems to support equity of opportunity and experience. Ultimately, you win as one team – and it takes every employee to feel responsible for sharing, contributing, collaborating and making things work. 

What are your thoughts on managing a global team? Do you have any strategies that work for you? I’d love to hear your insights and what other steps you feel are critical to ensure success as I too am continuously learning and growing to lead as best I can.

I’ve seen in my career the conversation of brand marketing versus performance marketing come up time and time again. Often with polarizing views where the championing of one or the other becomes the debate. But in my view, this is the wrong discussion.

To be effective in marketing today there needs to be a focus on the customer journey, with brand building and performance marketing working in tandem, to build interest and serve customers at every single touchpoint.

The misconception of brand vs. performance

Let me start by saying brand is really how your business is perceived and experienced by the customer, in every touch point and “moment of truth”.  In today’s day and age – with greater empowerment from the customer, their ability to move from brand to brand at the flick of a thumb, with AI creating enormous amounts of content but also reasons for doubt – the biggest concern for brands is ensuring trust and authenticity. And this is required at every point, whether it is when you are promoting your brand for the first time and creating a first impression and brand promise, but also at every single ad and interaction with your brand that follows.  

For the purposes of this article, I am specifically talking about the argument of where to invest your budgets. Should it be in brand building? Or in performance marketing (converting potential customers into customers)?

Champions of brand marketing argue that a strong brand builds awareness and loyalty, and it is this investment that leads to future sales. They point to iconic brands that evoke emotional connections, resonate deeply with their target audience and result in repeat purchases.

On the other side, performance marketing focuses on immediate conversions and ROI.  Advocates highlight the power of data-driven strategies, of the importance of digital sales funnels, and clear call to actions, that deliver measurable results.  

In my view, both approaches are required, and by taking a one-sided view, brands will suffer from their limitations. 

Focusing solely on brand can lead to a lack of sales if customers don’t know how to find you when they’re ready to buy. Imagine a beautifully crafted brand story with no clear call to action – it’s like building a stunning mansion in the middle of nowhere but giving no one directions on how to get there.  

An overemphasis on performance marketing can create a transactional relationship that lacks emotional connection. Customers may be enticed by your targeted ad, but if they don’t understand your brand’s values and what way you are going to make their life better (easier, sexier), they’re unlikely to engage with your business or product, no matter how compelling the offer. 

The customer journey is key

The reality is that customers don’t exist in a vacuum of brand awareness or immediate need.  Their buying journey is a process, from not knowing you, to considering you, to buying from you. Marketers need to be present at every stage.  

In the early stages, brand marketing builds awareness and establishes both a position and the first brand promise and thus trust. Think of great videos, informative blog posts, engaging social media content, or thought leadership articles (just like this one!). These efforts educate potential customers about your brand’s story, values, and expertise.  

As customers move closer to a purchase decision, performance marketing delivers targeted messages and facilitates conversions. This can involve retargeting website visitors with relevant information, case studies, helpful tips, offering free value before you then make it helpful to offer an “opt-in” buy or exchange for free value.

Investing in brand: building a foundation for success

Brand is often the first marketing budget we see cut when money is tight but brand marketing is not a luxury, it is an essential investment. At Digivizer, we recommend to our customers allocating at least 30% of their marketing budget to brand building efforts. 

This investment creates volume at the top of the funnel that in turn makes performance marketing more effective. Consider brand marketing as an investment that targets new and potential customers and ultimately lowers the customer acquisition cost in the long run, i.e. the further down the funnel the customer moves.  

Think of it like building brand awareness as priming the pump – it creates a pool of potential customers who are familiar with your brand and more receptive to your performance marketing efforts, ultimately driving greater performance.

Building trust with digital marketing

It is no understatement to say digital marketing has fundamentally changed the consumer landscape. Today’s customers are bombarded with content and have become pretty comfortable with ad-blocking and other ways of protecting their online experience. 

Effective brand building in this environment requires creating engaging content that resonates with your target audience. This content should entertain, then infotain, educate, and build trust. 

The key is to create content that is valuable to your audience, regardless of whether they are actively looking to buy your product now or may consider it for later. This approach fosters a relationship based on trust and positions your brand as a helpful resource, not just a salesperson.

Finding the right balance

At the end of the day, the optimal balance between brand marketing and performance marketing will vary depending on your industry, product, and target audience. 

For a new B2B company with a complex solution, a higher allocation towards brand building might be necessary to establish reach, expertise and trust. For new brands, you want to ensure you have enough budget to create multiple touch points of your intended audience so they feel that you are bigger and more suited for them. However, for a well-known consumer product with a short buying cycle, a heavier focus on performance marketing might be more appropriate. 

The most important tip here is to pay attention to key metrics to guide your decision-making.  

Performance marketing KPIs like click throughs, time on site, conversion rates and customer acquisition costs are important. They help you measure the immediate effectiveness of your marketing efforts. But don’t neglect brand metrics like brand awareness, engagement, and sentiment analysis either. Like all metrics, a clear, data-driven objective should be set first.   

These metrics provide insights into the overall health of your brand and its impact on customer perception.

Continual measurement and improvement

It can feel like the world of marketing changes every day. Consumer preferences change, new technologies emerge, and the competitive landscape shifts. You should be regularly assessing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and be prepared to adjust your approach in real-time. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment and test different strategies. A/B test different ad copy, creative and web pages, analyze website traffic patterns, and gather customer feedback. 

Use data to identify what’s working and what’s not, and refine your approach accordingly. Think of the customer journey as a map, but remember that the map needs to be constantly updated to reflect the ever-changing terrain. Don’t throw everything out – work out what is working and what is not, focus first on fixing what is not so you are in a continuous state of improvement.

Moving beyond the debate

By moving beyond the brand versus performance marketing debate and embracing a customer-centric (value as determined by the customer) approach, businesses can create an effective marketing strategy. By focusing on the customer journey and using a combination of brand building and performance marketing tactics, combined with continuous improvement through performance insights, you can build new and lasting relationships with your customers to drive long-term success.

“Man’s mind, stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimension.”?–?Oliver Wendell Holmes. This is one of my favorites.

As you can imagine, I meet CMOs all the time. When speaking with them, they all talk about how essential it is to understand their key audiences, prospects, value propositions and customers. 

One discussion I’m having more frequently is on how they are going about understanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. This can be more challenging for a high percentage of CMOs when they’re inevitably at least a generation (or two) older than those they seek to market and sell to.

This has got me thinking. What makes a successful CMO, a successful marketing program, and a successful marketer?

I think the answer starts with curiosity – not only as a human trait or style, but as a strategic discipline.

Curiosity as the foundation

Those who know me and who work with me will probably agree that I have a high action bias. But I never start with action. I start with curiosity.

In my experience, curiosity informs knowledge, which informs insights, and these are the foundations we actually need to create the strategies that will deliver success. Challenging the status quo at the strategy development stage is best born out of curiosity, which feeds the questions and answers that being curious provoke and promote.

I’ve learned that being better informed helps you make better decisions. Knowing what is known and unknown, understanding what is fixed or variable, what is determining and shaping the hypothesis that you are building and testing. 

Getting to the bottom of a why (which may take layers of asking why), ultimately makes you a better strategist, and that in turn leads to better execution and results.

I’d argue that always asking for more information, understanding what influenced a particular choice, decision or outcome, measuring what results followed these decisions, and exploring what might be changed, is curiosity deployed to good effect.

Being open is better than being closed

It goes further than strategic development. Creating a culture built around curiosity embeds this approach to marketing across the whole organization. 

The quote at the head of this article is attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes. I love what it represents because it embodies positive change across an entire company, and embodies a discipline that can be learned by everyone.  

Curiosity then becomes part of a company, not the characteristic and style of a select few.

Part of turning curiosity from an instinct into a discipline in yourself and your team is remaining open – not just to new ideas or new opinions, but to changes of direction, to new opportunities. Not staying open is the pathway to failure. 

I also strongly believe that when you face difficulties and your head is hurting, or you are feeling uncomfortable by what you are facing, that is an indicator that you are experiencing an opportunity for growth. 

Seeing it as a positive, being curious as to why you are feeling that way, and where the opportunities are to learn the best path forward, leads to faster progress. The opposite to that is when people retreat or find difficulty, discomfort or pain as something negative.

The biggest danger to a leader is to set a marketing strategy and then forget it. Assuming that an initial set of inputs, questions asked and answers given, even based on hard data, will not change, is the definition of a lack of curiosity about your markets and customers. As one constant is change – things will always be moving. 

If you set and forget, you miss two things: changes in customers, prospects, and audience; and knowing whether or not your program is working. Your audience might be right and your program might be wrong. Your marketing might be supported, and your audience or market might have changed. Your competitors certainly will.

Systematic curiosity: from trait to discipline

The alternative is to be curious, to make being open systematic by continuously seeking, measuring and acting on insights. It’s important to recognize that an informed strategy represents an initial hypothesis that, almost inevitably, will change and if you are the driver of it, will change for the better.

In marketing, this translates to having always-on data points that deliver real-time insights on how changes in the markets you operate in have impacts on your customers.

If you can build a culture of curiosity in your organization you move to an approach that welcomes knowing what’s changed, away from the mindset that something is either right or wrong.

If you hire for curiosity, you can develop and nurture that culture across the organization, to create a question-based approach to people and data. 

Curiosity may have killed the cat. In marketing, it leads to better outcomes, helps you be better informed, and helps you make better decisions.

A version of this article also appears at digivizer.com

I’ve seen many attempts at digital transformation stumble because there were three things missing at the start of the project.

These three foundations – objectives, data and people – are not new concepts. Deloitte makes the point that getting digital transformation right takes more than just ambition and bold investments.

What is changing the impact of transformation success is the capabilities of teams inside organizations, including the need for increased accountability across ever-larger groups and teams, and for data-led decisions being made on everything from digital marketing to AI.

Building out that capability is crucial to the success of transformations. McKinsey placed it second only to capable leadership in importance. My experience and observations are that this, along with an ability to understand and act on data, is often overlooked.

Not focusing on the required capability building within the organization can lead to frustration especially with individuals, if they are suddenly being held accountable for results that they either have little control over, or which they have not been trained to analyze and act upon.

With business transformation, the objective is never a strategy

The digital transformation journey therefore needs to be planned for and managed. Organizations can’t just want things to happen, or expect things to change by company edict.

This was something we discussed late last year at a seminar held with the Australian Computer Society. A number of the panelists emphasized the point that the skills of employees need to be mapped to the needs of the business and the destination that is the new focus for the business. Where are they today? Where do they need to be tomorrow? What support, training, development and program of change do they need to be taken upon?

Success requires good people design, training and capabilities, measured against the organization’s overall objectives. This also includes review of KPI’s and remuneration that is tied to performance to ensure total alignment to the new outcomes you are looking to drive.

This is not a one-off process or approach. It’s a continued planned journey towards those pre-defined objectives. As one example, the concept of accelerated growth is attractive, but it requires the right talent in the right people, and the right type of investment,  inside the organization.

Without that, it matters little what the company or its senior management want: success by any full measure, won’t be possible.

Where to focus: multiple touch-points, customer expectations, first-party data

In working out what the transformation destination might be, along with the business objectives, the answer as to what needs to be solved, is rooted in the needs of the customers.

Their expectations change continually. Understanding both the changes themselves and the process of change is what triggers and drives the requirements of digital transformations.

At its heart, you need to understand how you can better serve and meet the needs of your customers, on their terms, when and where they wish to be served. This may be what is required to allow them to self-serve, but also in what information that is required to better support them from your people, or help them make better decisions around serving your customers and your business.

People’s capabilities can then map to customers’ needs. Otherwise, change in itself won’t create or deliver the desired outcomes. The capabilities of teams inside the organization may change, but they must meet the customers’ expectations.

An example of where I have seen this fail is the desire to upgrade a business’s web platform with a view that it will provide “everything”. However, the design of the website is either not mapped strongly enough to customers requirements, or the data that needs to flow and be available to the customer or internally has not been designed with the view of what needs to happen to it, or because of it, at the speed it is required. The other key failure point is having a great system built, but a team and those who need to get information, unable to do so or use it effectively.

Many commentators share the same, general areas of focus for success, but I think it’s helpful to distill these down to just three. These can be applied to organizations seeking to transform their marketing operations, all the way through to large companies seeking to transform their entire organizations.

Driver one

The first driver is that there are  multiple customer touch points, increasingly possible by smart devices and always-on digital connectivity. Very few of us now walk into a bank for a one-to-one engagement with a bank teller. And many of us do not wish to (for instance, I had to go into the bank last week to change an address for a business credit card. This was unable to be supported online and was a colossal waste of my time and a poor use of their time for something that could easily be supported online).

This goes much further than back-end apps and delivery processes. These multiple touch points represent new ways for brands to engage with customers, by creating previously unheard of customer experiences. So people’s capabilities need to be adept at e-signing and fulfilling these multiple touch points, across multiple data points.

Driver two

The second driver is that customers needs have changed. They expect much greater self-service, personalization, and they expect real-time responses on their terms, wherever that is, at whatever time that is. Particularly around support and when purchasing or tracking progress from you.

One implication of digital transformation is that every part of the journey needs to be considered, and a change here will likely directly influence a change over there. An accelerated success in one area can also lead to roadblocks in another, which in turn will frustrate customers who have been taken so far along a customer journey, but are now forced to wait.

Driver three

Finally, businesses need to rely more and more on first-party data, which means developing value to first exchange the permissions to obtain their data and to engage them as you hope, and in building trust with customers around acquiring and using their data to create positive and meaningful changes of value. And of course, this is increasingly driven and governed by regulation. Organizations that don’t get this right will add risk and costs to their businesses.

A complete understanding of all of these drivers will change any digital transformation from being something that an organization hopes or perhaps even demands will succeed, to something that will succeed with some degree of success, if built on objectives, data AND people capabilities.

This approach also minimizes the constraints (such as the ability to deliver through the transformed customer value chain) that can appear later in the transformation.

One thing we’ve seen with companies is that customers will not give organizations who cannot meet customer expectations the time and flexibility to catch up. Organizations will lose their positions in the market, their originality and competitiveness, and their ability to delight their customers.

Fundamentally, digital transformations are less likely to succeed if they don’t build people capability, aligned with a clear objective or strategy. BCG found that only 30% of digital transformations succeed. As BCG also points out, the inverse is likely to hold true: set clear objectives, align teams with those objectives, and transform the skills and capabilities of employees, that success will be achieved

Use data to inform and accelerate change, but also make data something more than a set of tools used by teams. When thinking about Digital Transformation, embed data and data-made decision making in the culture of the organization. Make data an essential attribute of the capabilities of your teams.

A version of this article also appears at digivizer.com