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Organizations

Navigating the return to office

When the world started going into lockdown, we saw an unprecedented rise in productivity from home. Talks about the “new normal” started popping up in each conversation. I was always wary of those that professed remote work to be the “new normal” because the pandemic lockdowns were too big a factor in the productivity rise we witnessed. Unsurprisingly, as the pandemic receded, most organizations started talking about “back to office” initiatives. Managers cited productivity as the main reason, leaders cited culture. Most workers, though, showed a clear preference for WFH. Most people settle on some poorly thought through middle-ground of… Read More »Navigating the return to office

What is Digital Work?

In the last article we tried to define Digital Transformation as leveraging technology to drive your business strategy. This requires a fundamental change in the organization’s way of looking at technology and its ability to leverage technology to inform the strategy rather than just execute it! It is also imperative for the strategy to empower the technology to explore unknown possibilities. The role of technology This means that digital work is operating in the same space as business strategy does! And to operate in the complex-chaotic domains requires the “digital” part of the organization to be as entrepreneurial as the… Read More »What is Digital Work?

Digital Transformation through the lens of complexity

Digital Transformation is one of the most overused phrases of the past decade. And just like the blind men trying to describe the elephant, we only describe the parts of it that are most apparent to us. I’m aware of the same mistake that I’d be making if I tried to define it holistically. So, to me, the most meaningful way to describe it, is in context of the rest of this series. I’ve enjoyed complexity theory in the past few years after being introduced to the Cynefin framework by Dave Snowden. So I want to look at Digital Transformation… Read More »Digital Transformation through the lens of complexity

Technology Team Models for Modern Businesses

Siloes For as long as I remember, most of the “progressive” IT world has been talking about “removing siloes” as the way to improve the results of all IT endeavors. The debate is largely about what counts as “good results” and this definition has gradually shifted from a focus on efficiency and optimisation to a focus on value and effectiveness which is a welcome change. In terms of siloes, however, it only means moving from siloes of technology / expertise to siloes of functional value. There is no way to remove all siloes. In fact, we will not be able… Read More »Technology Team Models for Modern Businesses

Digital Transformation : Understanding Organization Culture

In the last post, we discussed how culture is an important element of successful digital transformations. This means that we should stop looking at culture as a byproduct and instead start making it part of our digital transformation strategy. There are a few frameworks that I have found useful in thinking about org culture but like the blind men trying to describe the elephant, these frameworks are individually limited. It is by using them together that we might be able to get somewhere. So that’s my attempt over the next few posts. All models are wrong; some models are useful.… Read More »Digital Transformation : Understanding Organization Culture

Digital Transformation : The importance of Organisational Culture

The In-sourcing Trend One of the big changes that we are seeing in the market today is the change in the relationship between business and technology. From being a separate organization that was mostly treated as a cost center, technology has gradually moved to the core of running a successful business. I have heard business leaders routinely make statements like “I don’t want to see the sausage factory” meaning that they didn’t want to understand how tech got things done as long as things got done. Most businesses are realizing that such an attitude towards technology is not helpful in… Read More »Digital Transformation : The importance of Organisational Culture

The Sichuan Restaurant

I am in Bangalore for an agile training for a client. I’m staying near our office in Koramangala so I went to this chinese restaurant called “Sichuan” near Raheja Residency for dinner. First of all let me say that its a really good restaurant. If I had to nitpick, it was a bit warm in there but that’s about it. Food, ambience, service, rates, everything is very nice. I had a soup and a main course that was delicious. Even the fresh lime soda was nice. So I am absolutely positive that they can serve excellent desserts as well. But… there’s a… Read More »The Sichuan Restaurant

The Project Owner

I recently paired on an Agile Fundamentals training for an organization. Its a two day course in agile philosophy, principles and basic practices offered by ThoughtWorks Studios. Its more of an awareness programme than training that you can put to use in your daily life. This makes sense as any two-day training that promises “take-away”s that can directly be applied to your situation is probably bogus. Although the training itself is pretty much “canned” in terms of material, the discussions that happen over those two days are very important. In discussing various aspects with people from these organization, I saw… Read More »The Project Owner