Seeking Enterprise-Wide Digital Transformation? Think Small

There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.
— Desmond Tutu

It’s a scenario that occurs time and again: A business seeking transformation hires a “change agent” to drive innovation and, more generally, shake the joint up, replacing outmoded systems and processes with modern digital versions. The change agent comes in and hits the ground running – but change takes time, and humans have limited attention spans.

Grumbling begins. The C-suite gets impatient. Without quick results, leadership forgets why this initiative seemed like a good idea in the first place. But acceleration alone isn’t the solution – in fact, according to Harvard Business Review, it’s part of the problem: “The most under-appreciated reason that digital transformations fail is by going too big, too fast ... most companies need to walk before they can run.”

So: Move too fast, and you’ll break things. Move too slow, and people lose interest, perhaps become eye-rolling cynics. How do you sustain enthusiasm over the many months and years a typical digital transformation will span?

In my company’s experience, the best way to go big is to start small. Our “beacon” approach is to identify, define and execute a small, self-contained project that can serve as a microcosm of the larger undertaking. It’s important to note that the beacon is not a nonworking demo created to help stakeholders visualize a larger idea. Nor is it a test-and-learn, i.e., an experiment undertaken to validate and develop an idea.

Both demos and test-and-learns have value for ideation and building consensus around an idea. But a beacon – a fully functioning miniature execution of the future enterprise-wide solution – is valuable in several important ways:

• It reminds stakeholders exactly what the transformation entails and why the organization is committed to the effort.

• It reinforces confidence that the goal is achievable, because the beacon is real, not canned.

• It stress-tests the solution at scale and thus confirms its soundness while also helping identify potential improvements.

• It delivers real-world results, which can be extrapolated to demonstrate the value of the transformation.

All of which contribute to maintaining momentum and enthusiasm among the leadership team and other key individuals over an extended period.

Here’s a quick thumbnail illustrating the power of the beacon approach. A new CMO joined a large player in the housing finance space. Her mandate was to make this vast organization more responsive to its customers, less opaque in its rules and requirements and easier to engage with. The residential mortgage industry had remained stubbornly paper-based – printing massive documents and sharing them by fax or courier. Enterprise-wide digital transformation would represent a significant shock to this ancient system.

VShift worked with the CMO to sketch out the key components of the enterprise transformation initiative, which we estimated would require 18 to 24 months to implement. (That may sound like an eternity but it’s considerably less than the five years some see as typical, which itself is substantially longer than the average CMO tenure, 40 months in the US.)

We identified a self-contained business unit within the larger enterprise that, for several reasons, was a good beacon candidate.

• The business unit was integrated into the wider enterprise but operated essentially as a self-contained, stand-alone division, with its own customer base and sales team.

• It stood to benefit substantially and quantifiably from the transformation – i.e., it would make a compelling case study.

• It was helmed by an enthusiastic and highly-visible champion of transformation who could be counted on to tell – and sell – the success story.

The beacon project took less than four months to complete. It was executed in parallel with the main transformation initiative and, in fact, proceeded through all the same stages of discovery, specification, design and so on – but it did so at a highly accelerated pace. Important to note: It did not impede progress on the main effort.

The beacon accomplished everything we hoped it would. In terms of presentation and functionality, it was clearly a significant evolution beyond the company’s existing digital efforts. It created positive buzz and more than a little FOMO, while keeping any potential naysayers at bay. And it provided a visual, tangible, working reminder of where the enterprise transformation was headed.

Identifying and scoping your beacon project could be the most important step in ensuring the success of your enterprise transformation.

• Find a self-contained business unit. If your ambition is to redo a global website, identify, say, a country or region that can serve as your beacon.

• Aim for a 100-day timeframe. That sounds aggressive – and it is – but with the right planning it’s achievable and short enough to keep potential complainers quiet.

• Pick something with a high “I wish I’d done that” quotient. Of course, business needs and results are the top priority – but don’t underestimate the power of cool factor and plain old jealousy in helping keep your transformation moving.

• Identify a motivated cheerleader. The point of a beacon project is to make sure everyone else knows it’s a success. So be sure your project is tied to a leader who likes – and is good at – talking about it.

Like eating an elephant, enterprise transformation is an enormous undertaking. Think of a beacon project as an hors d’oeuvre that can satisfy your immediate hunger – while also whetting the appetite for more.

A version of this article was originally published in Forbes.