Key Takeaway
“The place to start with embracing Outside Insight is, in my opinion, at the board level and among the executives. Decisions made at this level are the most important in the whole company, determining future successes and failures. To make such critical decisions, a big-picture understanding of the changing competitive landscape is important, and an intimate understanding of external factors driving future performance a necessity.”
– Meltwater CEO Jorn Lyseggen in Outside Insight
Why data-driven transformation needs to start in the c-suite
Access to such an incredible amount of external data, and the pace at which digital transformation is happening across every industry, has undoubtedly already begun changing the way we make decisions. This will only continue to be true as more companies invest in AI-driven data analysis tools and look more to industry data for forward-looking insights.
This needs to start, however, at the top – the source of a company’s culture, strategy and vision. CEOs, c-suite executives and company board members make decisions everyday that impact the entire organization. Today they need to be equipped with an understanding of the data and AI tools that help inform their decisions.
McKinsey’s recent report speaks to the disruptive impact digital transformation has already had, creating a new equilibrium and disrupting all value chains by changing the way we make decisions. What’s different about this new revolution is that it is being driven by the top – personally mandated by CEOs for what they consider to be the first time.
“With the 21st-century digital transformation, the adoption cycle has inverted. What I’m seeing now is that, almost invariably, global corporate transformations are initiated and propelled by the CEO. Visionary CEOs, individually, are the engines of massive change that is unprecedented in the history of information technology—possibly unprecedented in the history of commerce.” – Thomas Siebel, McKinsey Quarterly
As a result, executives need to adopt a new mindset, and a new skillset, to remain competitive in this changing landscape. Here are 3 characteristics I believe will be crucial for any company leader that wants to remain future-proof in our new digital reality.
1.
They understand that active listening is paramount
The need for executives today to listen first and act second applies in multiple contexts.
First, thanks to the availability of consumer insights gleaned from data found online, executives have more access than ever before to direct client feedback, behavior changes in their industry and customer needs. There is no longer an excuse for building products in a vacuum without incorporating customer feedback every step of the way.
Second, tools like Outside Insight enable decision-makers to observe competitive insights in real time. They have the ability to predict a competitor’s next move (or their next, next move) based on breadcrumbs like job listings, product launches, changes in leadership, patent filings and ad spend. They just need to listen. Once again, there is no longer an excuse for any strategic decision that is not well-informed by objective, third-party data.
Additionally, an executive needs to listen more internally to their own team. Armed with AI tools at an enterprise level that can help teams across business lines and across geographies distill valuable insights from external data in real time, your team can become a knowledge base of insights and competitive analysis.
2.
They are actively engaged in their company’s digital transformation efforts
A recent Forbes survey found that most companies actively pursuing digital transformation still do not have CEO engagement in the initiative. Less than a third have significant executive level sponsorship. As a direct consequence, estimates indicate that the majority (84%) of these programs have failed to generate the desired results so far.
Rather, the CEO needs to be not only aware of but fully invested in these digital transformation efforts, to ensure they are applied with a tactical strategy and aligned with the company vision, rather than simply implementing technological protocol.
Future-proof CEOs are diving deep into tactics for innovation and disruption – collecting and analyzing as much external data as possible and using it to improve customer experience and remove inefficiencies, assembling c-suite teams and reaching across company and industry borders to share best practices, hiring Chief Information and Chief Digital Officers, and looking increasingly at new technologies.
“My advice is that they should be talking about this all the time, with their boards, in the C-suite—and mobilizing the entire company. The threat is existential. For boards, if this isn’t on your agenda, then you’ve got the wrong agenda.”
3.
They are seeking new and data-driven methods of creating a sustained competitive advantage
According to Thomas Siebel in the McKinsey report, “Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School speculates that the new world of smart, connected devices represents a sea change in the fundamental dynamics of competition. Porter suggests that the Internet of Things isn’t simply a matter of competitive advantage; it is existential.
“…John Chambers, of Cisco Systems, predicts that 40 percent of today’s businesses will fail in the next ten years; 70 percent will attempt to transform themselves digitally, but only 30 percent will succeed. ‘If I am not making you sweat,’ he told an executive audience, ‘I should be.’”
Particularly for incumbents within an industry, fast-moving technological innovation becomes paramount when more and more “digital attackers” appear and begin to eat away at market share, driving the rate of change forward.
Future-proof executives should bring insights from competitive data, and objective, 3rd party information into every single boardroom discussion to inform strategy, and to keep an eye on any rising disruptors potentially infringing on their space.
Tools like Outside Insight offer executives a better view of the current state of the market and insights that help them predict how the market may develop. As a result, they can make decisive moves sooner rather than later, increasing their odds of successfully navigating our new digital reality and remaining competitive in an increasingly crowded space.