APPENDIX
DIGITAL MASTERY SELF-ASSESSMENT
To get started in your digital transformation journey, you first need to understand your starting point. Is your company a Digital Master already? Or is somewhere else: Beginner, Fashionista, or Conservative? We’ve created a simple quiz to help you understand your organization’s level of digital mastery.
First, think about how your company uses digital technologies such as social media, mobile, analytics, and embedded devices. Are you building digital capabilities in customer experience or operations? Are you digitally improving your existing business models or launching new ones? Table A.1 can help you assess your digital capabilities.
TABLE A.1
How well is your organization building digital capabilities?
| Answer each question, using a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 = strongly disagree; 4 = neutral; and 7 = strongly agree, and then total your digital capability score. | Score |
| We are using digital technologies (such as analytics, social media, mobile, and embedded devices) to understand our customers better. | |
| We use digital channels (such as online, social media, and mobile) to market our products and services. | |
| We sell our products and services through digital channels. | |
| We use digital channels to provide customer service. | |
| Technology is allowing us to link customer-facing and operational processes in new ways. | |
| Our core processes are automated. | |
| We have an integrated view of key operational and customer information. | |
| We use analytics to make better operational decisions. | |
| We use digital technologies to increase the performance or added-value of our existing products and services. | |
| We have launched new business models based on digital technologies. | |
| Total score |
Next, think about how well your company is leading digital transformation. Do you have a shared transformative vision that is engaging your employees? Are you governing the transformation correctly? Do you have solid technology leadership capabilities in place? Table A.2 can help you assess your leadership capabilities.
TABLE A.2
How well is your organization building leadership capabilities?
| Answer each question, using a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 = strongly disagree; 4 = neutral; and 7 = strongly agree, and then total your leadership capability score. | Score |
| Senior executives have a transformative vision of the digital future of our company. | |
| Senior executives and middle managers share a common vision of digital transformation. | |
| There are possibilities for everyone in the company to take part in the conversation around digital transformation. | |
| The company is promoting the necessary culture changes for digital transformation. | |
| The company is investing in the necessary digital skills. | |
| Digital initiatives are coordinated across silos such as functions or regions. | |
| Roles and responsibilities for governing digital initiatives are clearly defined. | |
| Digital initiatives are assessed through a common set of key performance indicators. | |
| IT and business leaders work together as partners. | |
| The IT unit’s performance meets the needs of the company. | |
| Total score |
Now, use your scores for digital capabilities and leadership capabilities to plot your position in the digital mastery matrix of figure A.1. This will give you a rough idea of where you are starting in your journey.
FIGURE A.1
Four levels of digital mastery
Source: Adapted from George Westerman, Maël Tannou, Didier Bonnet, Patrick Ferraris, and Andrew McAfee, “The Digital Advantage: How Digital Leaders Outperform Their Peers in Every Industry,” Capgemini Consulting and MIT Center for Digital Business, November 2012.
Scores for digital capabilities range from 10 to 70. A score from 10 to 41 means you are in the bottom half of the distribution, while a score from 42 to 70 puts you in the top half.
For leadership capabilities, scores range from 10 to 70. A score from 10 to 42 means you are in the left-hand side of the distribution, while a score from 43 to 70 puts you in the right-hand side.
Ask some colleagues to take the same self-assessment, and then compare your answers. Where are you doing best? What areas need work? And where do people in different units, or different levels of the organization, agree and disagree?
Of course, you and your colleagues will soon need to think in much more depth about where you are relative to your competitors. As we discuss in chapter 1, some industries are farther along than others. And, as time goes by, all industries will move ahead. However, this self-assessment can help you think through your strong and weak points.
Now that you know your starting point, you can start charting your course. Do you need to move upward in the matrix? Focus on digital capabilities, which we discuss in part I of the book. Do you need to move rightward in the matrix? Focus on leadership capabilities, which we discuss in part II. Then, once you’re ready, you can use the playbook in part III to get started on your journey.