Just Another Transformation

Different approach, same outcomes.

Have you ever seen any transformation working?

If you have, please share what made it successful because more people need to learn from it. Most transformations fail. And they fail for predictable reasons.

Let’s travel back in time a little bit.

A few decades ago we had several digital transformations taking place, consultancies made big money, but the results were often questionable. Then after that was the time for Agile transformations, smaller companies went with Scrum, bigger ones with SAFe, loads of hiring, more consultants, big money for them, and what about the results? You know what happened. And I’m not challenging agility here, but how things get transformed without really transforming anything.

It’s kind of like buying the newest On running shoes and expecting to run a marathon tomorrow, even though you don’t even go jogging. If you want to run a marathon, the best running shoes won’t do. You’ve got to put in months of preparation, change your behaviour, habits, and approach. Then, yes, you will run the marathon, but within months, or years, not days or weeks.

The New Lie: The AI Transformation

Today, we hear about AI transformation. How does that differ from the transformations we’ve been experiencing for decades now?

If I had to bet, I’d say 90%+ of “AI Transformations” will create no different results from the poor digital transformations or failed agile ones. And the reason they will fail is the same as always: Lack of courage to address the foundations that enable any transformation to succeed.

It’s a vicious circle. C-level focuses on transformations all the time, but who’s talking about alignment, culture, strategy, collaboration, clarity, and so on?

I really don’t get it. Loads of AI transformation taking place right now while ignoring the hard problems companies have faced for years. I don’t understand why we need an AI transformation when the culture is broken, strategy absent, and teams compete among themselves.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this post, huge engagement around the principle that people are getting AI transformation wrong. My challenge is another one: why should we care about it?

People are smart, but somehow we’re putting too much hope into AI at the cost of forgetting the real frictions we face everyday.

AI is an amplifier. When you have confusion, you’ll get more of that.

Most companies lack the foundations to thrive with any kind of transformation, not only AI.

Transforming What Needs Transformation

How often do you run into anything like this?

• Cannot make a decision because you don’t know what defines a good one

• Talk about outstanding features without knowing the outcomes

• Toxic culture demotivates people from bringing their best

• C-Level cannot articulate the strategy in a way people understand

• Teams compete against each other instead of collaborating

• Struggle to understand the impact of your work because data is absent

These are real problems, and they need fixing.

If you’re serious about taking your company to the next level, you will need to understand how solid the foundations are in your place. Then, address what’s shaky, and from there, AI may be your good ally, not before.

For me, the foundations aren’t complex, though we tend to complicate them. Here are the core aspects any serious company needs to thrive in reality, not fantasy.

• Strategy → A good strategy works for you when you’re not in the room. It simplifies decision-making. For that, you need to answer who you serve, who you don’t, how you differentiate, the game you’re playing, and what matters most right now.

• Success Clarity → Where do you want to land? This may come as an outcome roadmap, objectives, or something else. The vital aspect is that teams know what success is so they can work towards it.

• Sustainable Culture → Trust and safety are the foundations of any culture. People should feel they have the trust to execute their work, and freedom to speak up, and do their best without repercussions.

• Collaborative Environment → Teams should have end-to-end responsibilities to deliver value without dependencies. When teams have dependencies, they compete against each other, fighting over who will get the necessary support.

• Data Structure → It’s fundamental you have solid data to make evidence-based decisions. Without data, you will struggle to understand what’s working and what’s not.

Most teams I know would strongly benefit from addressing the above. They’d become stronger teams creating more results.

Yet, most teams are “doing AI transformation” hoping to achieve something outstanding.

Making Real Progress

Today, most people already build with AI, which is cool, but not everything. What I don’t agree with is renouncing decision-making. You’ve got to make that intentional. By that, I mean creating decision points where you, the human in the equation, choose where to go, and where not to. This is where you ensure real progress in the right direction.

I will run the 100X Product Builder Masterclass on the 8th and 10th of September. It’s a limited live session for those who want to build to succeed, not just to check boxes.

Join us if you want to know how to structure your development flow empowered with AI.

Grab your spot.

Your Turn

I don’t believe AI can make you better when your foundations are broken. Buying the subscriptions to all relevant tools, giving tokens to everybody, and bringing the “AI Gurus” will just lead to the same questionable results we’ve been seeing for decades.

As the famous saying goes, often attributed to Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Too many people are just doing what we’ve done for decades, but expecting different results. That won’t happen.

Now, how do you avoid that?

Your homework: Rate on a scale from 1 to 5 how solid your foundations are (Strategy, Success Clarity, Sustainable Culture, Collaborative Environment, Data Structure). One means unhealthy, and five means outstanding. This is your first step, and it will take you two minutes only, but don’t stop there. Ask the question, “What could I do to change one aspect for the better from now on?”

I know you cannot change everything, but you can pick one, and do something better. And if you do that continuously, you will create momentum, and that will get more people onboard. Here are a few examples:

• Nobody knows what success is, write down success for what you’re working on right now

• Strategy is completely absent, define your differentiation aspect now, and start using it to make better decisions

• Data structure is chaos, define a key missing data point, and then work to fix it

Real transformations happen when brave people take action while most people just wait for things to happen.

Define your brave action for this week, do it, and share it with me. Yes, I mean it, share it with me, and I will write back to you.

Let’s rock this world together.

David Pereira
100XPM Coach & Advisor