Avoid These 3 Scenarios to Achieve Digital Transformation Success

Image by Nicola Barts

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Did you know a series of studies conducted by several heavy hitters (the likes of McKinsey, Oxford University, and KPMG) revealed that 70% of all respondents said they knew an IT project they were about to start would fail from the onset?

Talk about seemingly insurmountable odds!

Despite this statistic, countless companies begin their transformation journeys with high hopes and grand plans yet often don't achieve their goals. But then, there's another end of the spectrum where companies know projects will fail from the very beginning!

With all these grim realities, how does a business leader ensure success from the onset? One way to go about it is preventing those things that could go wrong.

Along those lines, here are the three top reasons why digital transformation initiatives fail, all from a people perspective:

1. Wrong Mindsets

Good mojo flows down from the top of an organization, and if the CEO isn't supportive of transformative IT initiatives, success will be hard to achieve. So it's essential to have support from the top.

Also, when companies continue to keep employees on board who are resistant to change and can sabotage change efforts, this can cause problems.

2. Wrong Culture

If an organization has too many siloed departments and collaboration is minimal, IT projects are destined to fail. It's essential to establish an atmosphere of cooperation. When an organization can foster an attitude that everyone can win with the proposed new technology, that's a game-changer. If there aren't effective change management systems in place along those lines, end-user acceptance will suffer.

Finally, if management does a poor job of encouraging an environment where team members are free to be themselves and can voice feedback without repercussions, chances for success are minimized.

3. Wrong Talent

Not having the right talent mix for your team can impede your efforts. For instance, a team leader who doesn’t do a good job assessing their internal human capital and filling skill gaps will suffer in the end. Also, when team leaders don't include team members during the interview process with prospective hires, the potential for friction in the team increases. You want to ensure new members can easily integrate into the team.

One undervalued idea is having highly skilled people on your team who have experienced firsthand failed initiatives. That way, they can bring their expertise and prior knowledge of what doesn't work on projects.


I've only scratched the surface with these three possible reasons digital transformation efforts can fail, all from the people side of things. For these very reasons, that's why Michael Cantu' and I wrote our best-selling Kindle book, No-Nonsense Digital Transformation. We wrote it with two types of business leaders in mind.

First, those who aren't familiar with the ins-and-outs of digital transformation and would like to have a step-by-step roadmap to success. We also wrote it for leaders who have experienced failures in the past and want to avoid similar problems in the future.

And if you haven't heard already, we are launching the paperback version of our book TOMORROW, August 17! Michael and I are excited, so say the least!

If you'd like to learn more, click the button below. 

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