“Teach them not just about the shiny objects, but the combination of these shiny objects actually making money.” While businesses obsess over new technologies and how to make use of them, many forget the simple fact that everyone is in the business of dealing with people.
On episode 156 of DisrupTV our hosts Vala Afshar and R “Ray” Wang interviewed Hiten Shah, Co-Founder of FYI, Product Habits, and Crazy Egg; Betty Ng, Author of PO-LING POWER; and Esteban Kolsky, Principal & Founder at ThinkJar, and discussed the importance of the people behind enterprise technology. Here are a few quick takeaways from the episode:
Direct Creative Energies Towards Customer Obsession
Looking past the tech, the goal of digital transformation is to create value by building better experiences for the customer. Thus, a fitting prerequisite is to reach a deep understanding of their needs. Hiten Shah, co-founder of numerous SaaS startups, joined to discuss some valuable tips for creators in the startup space. In particular, he has discovered across his experiences that the consistent requirement for success is a genuine “customer obsession”. In the startup world, there is no shortage of visionary and creative talent. However, the stand-outs are those who can take their passion for creating and channel it towards solving problems for consumers. According to Hiten, customer obsessed individuals are detail oriented and work tirelessly to understand their customers in every aspect to eventually discover a solution that reduces operational friction. The bottom line, Hiten says, is that you will win the market if you are obsessed with the customer.
Elevate Yourself and Those Around You by Encouraging a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion
Betty Ng joined the show to discuss her new book: Po-Ling Power: Propelling Yourself and Others to Success. Many people draw energy from helping others, and the “PO-LING” framework provides some practical guidelines for tapping into these sources of empowerment. By focusing on making a positive impact in others’ lives, you can learn more yourself and succeed as a team. Moreover, Betty reminds us of the purpose and power of networking: diverse experiences and perspectives can help solve a diverse set of problems. This applies directly to businesses undergoing digital transformation. To deliver value most effectively, a digital strategy requires input from varied perspectives- not just from those who work with technology, and every department should be included in the process to motivate the entire organization.
Encourage Resistant Executives by Focusing on Success Stories
Growth and adoption of modern enterprise software is stagnating according to Esteban Kolsky. Many organizations have accumulated a glut of data and technologies that they don’t know what to do with. While there is a lot of talk about the latest solutions and business strategies, people can get wrapped up in definitions and become indecisive. When motivating these hesitant executives, Esteban emphasizes that the conversation shouldn’t center around the technology itself; rather, the focus should be on what value people can create with the technology. Paying attention to successful digital transformation initiatives in other companies will get the ball rolling for organizations seeking their own path towards transformation.
Ultimately, good storytellers are required to help companies find clarity amongst the complexity. Constellation Research’s annual BT150 list shares some fantastic stories of executives who are propelling their businesses into the future and changing the world. Check out this year’s BT150 list here. With valuable stories and transformation champions available, companies should leverage the lessons learned by others to empower their own hesitant executives to take action.
Paying attention to customers, members of your team, and inspiring exemplars is a sure way to co-create value during the process of digital transformation.
This is just a small glimpse at the great insight shared during the show. Please check out the full discussions in the video replay here or the podcast.
DisrupTV Episode 156, Featuring Hiten Shah, Betty Ng, Esteban Kolsky from Constellation Research on Vimeo.
DisrupTV is a weekly Web series with hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar. The show airs live at 11:00 a.m. PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET every Friday.
