The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation (Management on the Cutting Edge)

Must read for both managers and employees!
This book gives unique, evidence-based insights on restructuring organizations torespond more effectively to technological change. By analyzing responses of morethan 16,000 survey respondents and interviews with over 100 executivesand thought leaders over a span of four years, the authors tackle thefollowing three questions:  What is digital disruption and how should companies respond to it? Theauthors argue that companies should aspire to “digital maturity” (i.e., acompany’s ability to compete effectively by taking advantage of technology-driven opportunities).  How does digital maturity alter leadership, talent, and the future of work?The authors argue that digital leadership goes beyond the “command-and-control” hierarchy, towards cultivating networks with a higher level ofautonomy. Furthermore, employees need continuing learning to respond totechnological change that most companies do not provide effectively.  What conditions do organizations need to create in order to adapt to digitaldisruption? Among others, the authors suggest that digitally matureorganizations should be data driven, collaborative and exploratory (supportexperimentation) while they should push decision making to lower levels.Finally, in the last chapter of the book the authors conclude with anactionable guide on how organizations can reach digital maturity.What I really liked about this book is that it is evidence-driven, with each chapterpresenting results accumulated through rigorous testing, while also being quitereadable for the average person. Based on hard data, the authors did a great jobgiving actionable insights of how organizations can achieve digital maturity, andhow managers and employees can evolve to succeed through this digitaltransformation. The cherry on top is the graphics of the book, which areparticularly informative and allow for improved clarity.Overall a great book on technological disruption, that both managers and employeesshould read to better understand their opportunities and duties in this changingenvironment.

A genuine guide for how organizations can stop “doing digital” and start “becoming digital.”
From my years of consulting, I’d have to say that understanding the transformation of organizations to truly enable the maximum benefit of the continually evolving digital revolution is number one on the list of most misunderstood and baffling business difficulties. Too often the approach is tactical only, consumed with the technology versus the required mindset. With “The Technology Fallacy, How People are the Real Key to Digital Transformation,” we finally have a deeply intellectual and practical analysis of, as well as guide to, how organizations need to change—right down to their cultural DNA—to truly “harness the power of technology,” and to keep at it, as it will inevitably continue to disrupt into the future. Researched and authored by a brain trust of experts through the MIT Sloan Management Review, this clearly written and easy-to-understand book is both highly strategic and philosophical—drilling deep into the foundational aspects of its premise—as well as alive with meaningful examples and chapter-ending takeaways that line up “what we know” and “what we can do about it.” It offers advice for use by any level of management and is a must- read for any organization that wants to ensure they stay out ahead of technology and use it to ensure organizational success rather that being led by it. Buy a copy for every manager in your organization. Replace when dogeared.

An excellent mix of rigor and relevance
Conventional wisdom has long advocated the role of technology in digital transformation. However, what has not been well understood is that any successful digital transformation is an integrated solution that combines technology, procedures, and the people who interact with and are impacted by the system. In this book, Professor Kane and his co-authors have provided ample real examples from the industry to demonstrate why people and procedures are the fundamental components. I find these examples of great rigor and relevance: they draw on multiple years of cutting-edge research and large-scale in-depth studies of a number of organizations that are in the frontier of digital transformation. Not all examples of digital transformation are successful stories. This book provides some important takeaways, such as leadership and organization design, that help managers navigate through the process.

Great condition – like new – arrived promptly

This book walks the reader on the challenges that digital disruption is posing to all companies. Based on a research done with MIT and Deloitte, with more than 16.000 individuals surveyed, the research examines the traits of three clusters of companies based on various degree of digital maturity. And comes to create a concept of Digital DNA where each company should understand its own DNA in order to stop doing digital and start being digital.