Improving Digital Transformation Outcomes and Pace: The Role of the Board and C-Suite in Reducing Transformation Friction

Abstract

Most organisations are confronting a dilemma: the need to embark on digital transformation to be competitive and sustainable versus the inherently high costs and extremely high risks involved. Lack of executive support has long been identified as a leading cause of project failure, including digital transformation projects. What is not clear is what that support should entail. The prevailing practice—to strategise, delegate and monitor the transformation, but not get too involved—stems from a time when projects, organisations, and the context they operated in were less complex. Our research was motivated by the lack of guidance for Boards and C-suite despite the criticality of their role. We consulted over100 organisational leaders and followed an in-flight digital transformation, comparing transformations perceived to be successful with those that were not. We learnt that the governance and leadership traditions that serve stable organisations create blind spots to the forces at play when transforming. We term these forces transformation friction and identify a mindset shift and four practices the Board and C-suite can use to improve the pace and outcomes of digital transformation.