What is the common feature in tales of every company that has successfully adapted to technological upheavals in any industry? The answer is ‘to put digital transformation at the core of their corporate strategy’.

The digital ecosystem expansion is happening very quickly. A business that has not adopted technology and carries out its operations using traditional methods cannot stand the sustainability test of the future. As the world has moved from a traditional community setting to a global market where digital transformation is one of the major players in the sustainability of a business.

The future of every business is defined by its technological path. Technology is not only crucial for day-to-day business operations, but can also aid in the expansion and success of businesses if maximised. Technology isn’t just seen as a tool to automate procedures by successful organisations, it’s used to create new business opportunities.

It is time for organisations to adopt ‘digital’ as their primary strategy and build their operational frameworks around it. This change, often known as ‘digital transformation’, is neither simple nor unattainable.

Digital transformation is the process of integrating technology into all facets of an organisation, significantly altering how you run things and provide value to your clients. It includes incorporating products that will meet the needs of the end user, satisfying their immediate needs or pre-empting future ones and satisfying them.

Every organisation should evolve along with technology. However, enterprises currently need to decide how to transform, not whether to change – this is when the product mindset comes into play. That is what digital transformation is all about.

A product mindset prioritises continuous evolution, data-driven decisions, and customer happiness to give value to customers holistically. Consequently, how does it appear? Teams that have a product mindset are proactive, adaptable, and customer-focused. It is the idea of gathering data about what customers desire from a product without them explicitly declaring this and ultimately designing a product they are content with. Instead of proxy measures and activities, a product mindset emphasises the customer and value.

A product-centric delivery approach necessitates focusing on an organisation’s long-term objectives rather than immediate successes. Here, the teams emphasise the project’s success more than variables like timetables and budgets.

Great product owners prefer a product mindset and, as a result, they:

• Develop and communicate the product strategy and vision
• Put the customer’s satisfaction first
• Determine the next steps in developing the ideal product by continuously balancing priority, risk, value, learning opportunities, and dependencies
• Establish a release schedule for the product
• Increase sales and return on investment
• And most crucially, create the ideal product!

This significant move toward making all organisations tech-centric demands a new mindset that fits current trends.

A product mindset is that new way of thinking that sustains and directs an organisation’s vision.

Many successful businesses, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Netflix, create solutions to meet client demands that were not expressly requested but catered to what people need to make their lives simpler.

Some significant elements of a product mindset include:

• Concentrating on delivering value rather than just adding features and completing chores.
• Solving genuine consumer needs issues without being consumed by the problem.
• Doing everything possible to ensure the success of your product – a strong sense of ownership.
• Decisiveness in the face of uncertainty – the ability to make decisions even when things aren’t crystal clear and to excel at change when the situation calls for it.
• Empathy is also an important characteristic; it is the ability to put oneself in the shoes of others, whether it’s your staff, customers, or stakeholders.
• Vision for growth entails being able to see the big picture while not losing sight of important objectives and corporate goals.

There are four basic areas of digital transformation that will be aided by the right product mindset in the world of business today:

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1. Process transformation
2. Business model transformation
3. Domain Transformation
4. Cultural/Organisation Transformation

1. Process Transformation

The corporate environment has placed a lot of emphasis on new ways to reinvent business processes to cut costs, increase quality, or shorten cycle times. These new methods include data analytics, APIs, machine learning, and other technologies.

A business’s procedures must be transformed to attain new objectives. When organisations need a drastic overhaul, most modify their business processes. Modernising an organisation’s procedures will integrate new technology, save money, and better integrate key systems.

2. Business Model Transformation

Process transformation concentrates on limited facets of the business, while the fundamental elements of how value is delivered in a particular industry are the focus of business model modifications. In essence, businesses are utilising digital transformation to alter conventional business paradigms. For instance, Netflix switched from delivering DVDs to online streaming, Apple reinvented music delivery with iTunes, and Uber transformed the taxi business.

3. Domain Transformation

The domain transition space has surprisingly little focus but huge potential. Products and services are being redefined by new technologies, which is also blurring the lines between different industries and spawning new non-traditional competitors.

The online retail giant Amazon is a well-known illustration of domain change in action. With the introduction of Amazon Web Services (AWS), it forayed into a new market sector and is now the leading cloud computing/infrastructure service in a market that industry titans like IBM and Microsoft previously controlled.

4. Cultural/Organisational Transformation

Technology updates and product redesigns alone won’t be enough to achieve a successful digital transformation. A company’s culture may suffer if its digital transformation efforts are not in line with its internal values.

Successful businesses understand that becoming digital calls for a flexible workflow, a decentralised decision-making process, a preference for testing and learning, and a larger reliance on various business ecosystems.

Having established the importance of digital transformation and stating what a product mindset means, it is obvious that the right product mindset needs to be cultivated to create a lasting and viable digital transformation. The following can be a guide in developing the right product mindset:

• Begin With Why

When given a task, always ask why. Understand your goal. It’s easier to figure out how once you understand why. Why will your buyers want to buy your product? Address the need, and you’ll be able to come up with several answers.

• Inquire

Do you prefer a particular product? What is your favourite? What would you like to change to improve it?

Inquire of yourself and those around you. This can be applied to the items you use, the day-to-day consumer experiences you believe are broken, and how they can be better. Curiosity gives birth to invention.

• Solve Problems by Paying Attention

Solve problems by paying attention to things around you. What are the new global problems, and how are market dynamics changing? How would you deal with them? What are the new challenges you observe, the new age demands that come from them, and how do you handle them? Keep the customer at the centre of everything.

• Examine Your Business Acumen

How will you commercialise your solution? A firm can only exist if it generates profits. So understand the business sense of your surroundings and figure out how they make money.

Today, technological behemoths such as Facebook and Google are investing in telcos such as Jio and Vodafone. Amazon recently entered the meal delivery market. Many of these companies are expanding horizontally and entering new markets. The world is evolving rapidly, and so are business models.

• Accept Failure

Nothing teaches you more than trying something and failing. Start small and fail, then learn. Try once more. Create sketches, mock solutions, and talk to people to see if your concept is needed. This knowledge assists you in deciding what to do next, what to invest in, and what to forego.

• Continuous Learning and Feedback

Learn more about the industry you work in, understand your competitors, monitor how the market landscape is evolving, and improve your abilities. Discuss your views with others who share your viewpoint. Make your atmosphere conducive to learning. Debate and express your point of view. Every day, we pick up fascinating details in informal encounters; consider these interactions to be interviewed, which are an excellent tool for identifying needs.

Conclusion

Finally, have fun with it. It’s far less tasking if you’re having fun with it.

Hidden Brains provides enterprise IT solutions and consulting services to modernise technology, adapt businesses for the future, and rejuvenate workforces to stay ahead in a fast-changing world. We create digital solutions with the right product mindset, aiming to generate value via disruptive technology. Visit [email protected] or visit beta.rockeye.africa/