Going Digital

“Going digital is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.”

So, a bit like “Big Data”, everyone is talking about it. We are exhorted by consulting firms like McKinsey to “upgrade our business to a digital operating system”, to “develop a culture for a digital age”,  and to have “Digital Directors” (the film “I, Robot” comes to mind!).

In some more trendy retail sales organisations, digital seems to mean recruiting some bright young types into marketing who know their way around Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter etc. and can ply their trade encouraging potential customers to buy their goods and services. In other places, it seems to mean replacing anything remotely repetitive done by a human-being being done by a machine.

Perhaps we can turn to the Government and their Digital Strategy for some clarity: “Helping every British business become a digital business”. So that’s everyone then! Didn’t think so!

Or is it that we use all this digital wizardry to envelop new car models with gizmos we never knew we needed? The new Land Rover Velar has door handles that electronically retract flush with the door when locked. Imagine that after a severe frost overnight, when getting a standard car door to open can require the help of Superman!

Or is it anything that can be hacked?

What does digital mean to your organisation? Answers on a postcard to… sorry, my Digital Director says “Answers can be posted as comments to this blog”!