Are you a Digital Transformation Super Hero?

In this Digital age, Superheroes are becoming more popular…. Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Avengers Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and many more…

There are a lot of superheroes and it is up to you to decide in which character and style you fit in. You don’t need masks, tights and a cape to qualify, but a zeal to demystify the role of the truly transformational leader, superhero style!

“With great power comes great responsibility.” We have heard this quote, in Spiderman. This quote can also be used as a mantra for Digital Transformation.

A CEO should be like The Hulk, who when angered or provoked, would transform into the uncontrollable, green-skinned monster. CEO should be giving a very strong message of Digital Transformation to the entire organization, which everyone should take seriously. He or she runs the company and does this from a digital-native perspective, by personally taking up the digital agenda.

CMO is like a Thor, having a legendary hammer with immense power in his hand, called Marketing.  She understands the real power of digital channels because her department was the lead for most of the online activities that were developed over the last two decades. She owns the customer-facing touch points of the company which are increasingly becoming digital.

Just as Tony Stark built an armored suit to protect his human core and transform himself into a hi-tech superhero, the CIO is protecting the core technology and systems of an organization and can transform the company into technological advances. He understands technology better than anyone else.

It is important to note however that even Iron Man had to continue evolving his technology, as his opponents adapted to his capabilities so do the CIO has to innovate with new ideas and adopt new technologies & trends like IoT, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain to name a few, in order to stay ahead.

A Chief Digital Officer was not existing for so many years, is like Captain America who was trapped in ice for 70 years and revived in the present day. Like the super patriotism of Captain America, CDO has only one goal – becoming Digital.  CDO is a permanent part of the team with all the skills to manage a lot of internal and external change.

Digital transformation has to be taken like a team of Avengers and is a permanent process. It will never stop. Once you digest one wave of disruption through the proper transformation, you will face another one.