The digital revolution is shaking things up, but long-established businesses like media, music, films, automotive and many more don’t like being shaking, particularly if their business models are fragile.

The true digital revolution has enhanced business processes, they have become cheaper, more reliable, faster, more convenient and more satisfying. Sometimes the digitally enhanced  process is a simple improvement on what already exists and sometimes is a replacement.

If you understand how digital skills, platforms and tools might be creatively used to support business priorities and these digital principles seems like no-barriers, how come there are still detractors at companies that need to digitally change in order to survive?.

The digital model is disruptive and it forces companies to embrace risks, so any move into digital based business invariable meets with resistance.

Working for some media companies that need to embrace change in order to survive, I have realised that the hardest resistance to overcome is locked into the mind-set of the management and staff. I also believe sometimes the people who need to change most are those at the top. I have met with different teams at a grass level and found out that they are frequently more aware of the necessary changes than the leaders of the organisation.

How to create a vision and do scenario planning

A common answer to change is “that’s not going to work, because…”, so in order to overcome this opposition the Change Manager must engage key stakeholders in a process of vision building and scenario development. Once this has been done, this process should be reiterated down into the organisation. This is not as easy and trivial as it sounds, particularly in large and established businesses, however is an essential step in managing change.

Communication and digital training

Once key personal are at the same page focusing on achieving the same end result, the next more important task is to communicate the vision to the company and one effective way to do it is by training. My experience also demonstrates that the biggest drag on progress is often a lack of understanding of the digital environment. This translates in uncertainty, hesitation about making decisions and a reluctance to move too far from the familiar.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

Charles Darwing