Futureproof Your Career and Company: Flourish in an Era of AI, Digital Natives, and The Gig Economy by Maulik Parekh

Author:Maulik Parekh [Parekh, Maulik]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Maulik Parekh
Published: 2020-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

THE FUTURE IS DIGITAL: TRANSFORM BUSINESS

“Citizens are speaking to their governments using 21st century technologies, governments are listening on 20th century technology and providing 19th century solutions.”

Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State

“It was big and clunky,” you might say. “About the size of a toaster.”

It weighed 8 pounds and required 16 AA batteries. It took 23 seconds to take and store a black and white photograph with a resolution of 0.01MP. It was the world’s first portable digital camera, and only one person saw its potential.1

The year was 1975. A 24-year-old engineer turned inventor named Steven Sasson excitedly shared the news about his latest invention. His bosses at Eastman Kodak were unimpressed.

According to Sasson, their reaction was, “Print had been with us for over 100 years, no one was complaining about the prints, they were very inexpensive, and so why would anyone want to look at their picture on a television set?”2

Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012.3

Secretary Albright was referring to the public sector when she raised the alarm about the dire need for digital transformation. If she was also referring to the private sector, she would have been spot-on.

Why digital transformation?

We covered three disruptive forces in the first section of the book: AI, digital generations, and the gig economy.

As these swelling forces gain momentum over the next decade, they have the potential to significantly disrupt the ecosystem you operate in. They have the potential to radically change what customers and employees expect of you. And hence, if you don’t transform, they have the potential to render your very business model obsolete.

While, out of habit, you may be busy training your guns on an age-old rival in your industry, these forces furnish a fertile ground for a disruptor (like Amazon for retail, Airbnb for hospitality, and Uber for transportation) to sprout out of nowhere to out-wit, out-think, and outmaneuver you and eat your lunch forever.

Speaking of lunch, take Domino’s Pizza as an example.

During the last decade, the company has taken a big slice of market share from its competitors — Pizza Hut and Papa John’s.

How did the 60-year company pull this off?

By reinventing itself as a young and feisty disruptor.

Just 12 years ago, Domino’s Pizza was struggling in the marketplace. Sales and the stock price were falling. Customers complained the crust tasted like cardboard and the pizza sauce tasted like ketchup.4

So, it revamped its recipe. It created a richer, spicier sauce, tastier cheese combination, and a buttery crust with garlic and herbs.

Revamping the recipe was a no-brainer.

But Domino’s brilliantly revamped one more thing.

The company’s business model.

It aspired to become an eCommerce company that sells pizza. It crafted, invested in, and implemented an ambitious digital transformation strategy.

Remember the days when you could order Domino’s Pizza only two ways — by walking into a restaurant or by calling?

Today, Domino’s offers 15 different ways to order pizza.5

You can simply go to an app and order the pizza.

You don’t like clicking through the app. No problem. There is a Zero Click option.

You like emojis more than words.

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