Digital Culture Fitness – People as the key to successful digitalization

Visions of the future fluctuate between self-driving cars, factory floors with a handful of workers, and letters written back and forth by AI on the one hand; and images of surveillance scenarios, loss of freedom, and the dehumanization of the world on the other. None of the major daily newspapers lets a day go by without some kind of article about digitalization or AI. In short: digitalization is omnipresent in the media, at business forums, and in strategy papers.

ChatGPT as a knowledge catalyst

With ChatGPT, at the very latest, everyone finally realized the profound changes that were coming. Some people can hardly believe how AI can quickly deliver high-quality results while still appearing personal and friendly. Since ChatGPT, the word digitalization has triggered a powerful cocktail of emotions, the ingredients of which consist, in varying proportions, of fascination, hope, enthusiasm, fear, and powerlessness. Suddenly, it becomes abundantly clear that this is about much more than further automation and increased efficiency. Digitalization will encompass and transform the entire world of work. If you will, ChatGPT has lifted the veil, and not everyone likes what they see. So far, so familiar.

Why another text about digitalization now?

“Since ChatGPT, the word digitalization has triggered a strong cocktail of emotions, the ingredients of which consist in varying proportions of fascination, hope, enthusiasm, fear, and powerlessness.” – Dr. Anette Fintz

Another text about digitalization?

If all this is so well known, why is it that, according to the latest Digital Index of the German economy, the implementation of digitalization measures is actually declining? It can’t be the construction industry’s fault, because it’s one of the few laudable exceptions!

What’s astonishing, however, is that the most important “factor” is almost always forgotten: people. In the first part of my blog about digitalization, I talked about how the initial push unfolded in the 1980s and 1990s. Above all, I highlighted how much waste resulted from companies’ enthusiasm for the new possibilities and their failure to involve users. One thing can therefore already be said: without a prepared corporate culture, every digitalization initiative will, if not fail, then be prohibitively expensive. And that was predictable and unnecessarily so.

The second part of the blog is therefore not about digitalization as such, but rather about the possibility of efficient and effective implementation.

How the hare runs does not say where it runs

When it comes to digitalization, which is causing so much uncertainty, especially among the large number of users, managers focus primarily on the materials (specific hardware and software) and application training. Yet, until now, introducing a new ERP system in a company was like climbing a dangerous mountain. AI isn’t making things any better. On the contrary, fewer and fewer people understand the details of how it’s applied. Given the growing complexity, this creates a perceived elite that knows what’s going on.
But who decides where the rabbit is going?

IT experts cannot and should not (!) decide this – it’s a question of leadership. Experts excel at professionally assessing what is possible or what is likely to happen. However, they are not there to know what makes sense in implementation and what is the viable path for the people involved.

Finding this out is what Digital Culture Fitness is all about .

Digital Culture Fitness

Digitalization gives every company the opportunity, in view of the variety of possibilities and complexity, to reflect anew on the question of what its core and goal, what its real meaning, is.

You may now be asking yourself: What does meaning mean and digitalization? – In the next few lines, I’ll demonstrate exactly how the sense of meaning and awareness of vision and mission affect digitalization measures. I’ll best illustrate this with the example of a company that certainly isn’t suspected of taking off quickly.

Practical Example

The following example clearly demonstrates how the introduction of digitalization can be successful in a craft business through a conscious focus on purpose. It is a company in southwest Germany, now run by the fourth generation of the family and employing sixty people.

The heating and plumbing company was founded in 1927. Almost a hundred years ago, the founder clearly stated that his service was about providing people with a comfortable home. Initially, the company offered to install washing facilities with hot water in apartments and houses. Later, copper hot water bottles were repaired, before modern bathrooms and heating systems were designed and installed during the economic upturn.
Today, specialists arrive at the home with an iPad and service cart for appointments, often arranged online. From there, the technician can query the digitalized warehouse for spare parts and easily connect with other specialists in the company, even when they are with customers.
Customers really like how easy it is to work with tradespeople.

Up until now, the fourth generation, the managing directors and their team have remained true to the company’s purpose. It has always been about ensuring that people feel truly comfortable in their homes or workplaces – at least in terms of the indoor climate. Accordingly, the respective management teams have always taken excellent care of “their” craftsmen and employees in indirect areas. In short: the company’s fitness has always been maintained.

Nevertheless, the planned digitization of the warehouse was initially hotly debated. After all, the warehouse had been built with considerable ingenuity and experience, and many of the now sixty employees were practically blind to the materials. From a practical perspective, it became clear that a digitized warehouse, along with other digitization measures such as enhanced networking, would serve the customer’s well-being. Networking isn’t about checking whether a craftsman is currently eating a Leberkäsweckle (meatloaf roll) at the bakery (they’re welcome to do that), but rather about checking whether a colleague can help another on-site with their expertise or materials.

During my visit to the company, I met both young and experienced employees. All of them are on board with the company’s ever-expanding digitalization efforts.
A shared focus on purpose, mutual trust, and a passion for delighting customers. These “ingredients” are essential to the recipe for success.

What is certainly also helpful is a professional engagement with IT. And indeed: without at least some familiarity with the technical background and the significance of networking and AI, companies will struggle in the future. But reading financial statements isn’t everyone’s favorite activity, and yet a manager has to deal with it.
There are many companies whose employees would rather keep things the same. Change is always stressful, and not everyone embraces it as a driving force. Nevertheless, digitalization works extremely well, even in a skilled trades business, an industry that isn’t exactly known for employing IT-savvy employees.

There have been no layoffs in this craft business in recent years, but many applications.

Conclusion

For several years now, I’ve been measuring what I call digital culture fitness in companies. I analyze the extent to which the company has fertile ground among its employees for successfully implementing digitalization. What’s striking is the independence from the industry. In my experience, access to true digitalization isn’t automatically easier in a mechanical engineering company than it is in a large bookstore.

My conclusion:

1. For many people in companies, the successful introduction and application of digitalization is associated with fear, ignorance and rejection.
2. In companies, there is increasingly a small group that is technically knowledgeable and the others who are skeptical about digitalization.
3. Digitalization works smoothly where people have trust in their leaders and know the purpose of the company, and therefore also see the point in changing themselves.
4. Decisions about where and in what order digitalization takes place are best aligned with what best serves the company’s purpose.
5. Digitalization will be a key success factor in the coming decades. Leaders should engage with IT, AI, and ethical issues regardless of their actual role.

What if …

So, what if you first focused on your company’s cultural fitness instead of constantly considering new intricacies of possible digitalization? A so-called Digital Culture SWOT is a good way to measure your fitness.
What if you aligned digitalization with the purpose of your company?
What if an employee’s personal qualities were given the same importance as their professional skills?
What would it look like if employees responded to major changes with trust and curiosity?

THEN—I can guarantee this—digitalization will be better prepared than with any additional strategy meeting prior to implementation. Trust and self-belief are more powerful than a thousand rational arguments.

So let’s work toward success. Let’s approach people’s concerns with respect, demystify the power of digital by learning about it, and systematically deploy it in line with the company’s purpose. This can only grow on the foundation of a good corporate culture.

So let’s work with people!