In this podcast episode Francis Wade discusses his Jamaica Gleaner article about why CEOs are increasingly frustrated with their teams during the COVID‑19 pandemic and why they must accelerate digital transformation. He explains that the pandemic has compressed a multi‑year shift to digital into months, exposing silos in marketing, HR, operations and IT that prevent a joined‑up vision. Wade offers three practical recommendations for CEOs: (1) forgive weak early attempts at moving offline processes online, seeing them as signs of willingness, and model cross‑functional collaboration by pulling in talent wherever it resides; (2) focus on the underlying business results rather than merely replicating old processes, encouraging experiments that achieve the same emotional or functional outcomes; and (3) personally learn new digital tools and platforms (social media advertising, Zoom, WhatsApp, private community forums) to become visible role models of digital adoption. He stresses that CEOs who embrace uncomfortable learning and break down silos will be better positioned to lead their Caribbean companies through the crisis. The episode ends with a call to action for listeners to seek help on strategy, productivity, engagement, or process‑improvement via his blog.
Chapters
Hi and welcome back to Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle podcast. I'm Francis Wade and here's an article I wrote for the Jamaica Gleaner. It's entitled Crisis Fapers Digitally Bold CEO. Why are top executives getting frustrated at their teams during COVID-19? One reason: it's obvious to them that the company needs to become a digital operation They may also be very demanding, but don't blame them. They alone can see a joined-up world beyond the pandemic that most subordinates can't. In the past few years, my consulting firm has implored our clients to include a digital strategist on their boards, executive ranks, and strategic planning retreats. Only a tiny few have risen to the occasion, adding someone, usually much younger, to strategy discussions, which seemed to be about a faraway future. COVID-19 has changed the timeline. As we scan the outputs of prior client retreats, we see that the long-term plans they made were painfully slow. They imagined a gradual drift into a digital world where people's behaviors would change eventually, imperceptibly. Today they must make changes to go online from offline in a matter of months. However, CEOs are having a difficult time getting their executive teams to envision a future that even their youngest employees can see. Why? In a nutshell, each company function is lost in its own silo. Marketing, HR, operations, IT, each is unable to lead the way. The new vision is beyond their grasp because it requires joined-up thinking. What should CEOs do to accelerate the process of forging a digital transformation? 1. Forgive weak repetition. Many top executives get mad when their functionaries simply try to copy the offline world to the one that's online. For example, advertising on the internet involves more than putting up digital billboards. It requires an understanding of engagement psychology, content, and technology which few possess. The average marketing department won't know how to gamify an audience or perhaps even how to create one. But this is to be expected and forgiven. While initial attempts may be weak, they represent a certain level of willingness and the start of a steep climb. However, CEOs must insist on an unprecedented level of cooperation right away. They need to role model an eagerness to cross internal boundaries to discover ideas and talent wherever it may be found. For example, if the new receptionist has 10,000 followers on Instagram, pull her in. 2. Focus on underlying business results. To overcome the initial disappointment, executives should encourage experiments which aren't meant to replicate old processes but still achieve the same objectives. For instance, a company which is used to engaging its walk-in customers in ways that make the experience special cannot offer the usual free coffee, air conditioning, and relaxed banter. Instead, they must ask themselves why those features worked and what emotions they were intended to evoke. In like manner, pastors that relied on the right blend of hymns, testimonies, and sermons to keep congregants coming back for more can't rely on these elements. In these times, they need to go beyond the superficial form of these activities and find the underlying benefit that is being delivered. In other words, they must begin all over again. Unfortunately, Facebook, Instagram, and Netflix are just a single click away, along with every other online church service in the world. The only hope they have of competing is to experiment and make mistakes to learn what will deliver the same experience via the internet. Number 3: Learn new functionality. Recently, I hosted a virtual conference that attracted several hundred global registrants. Behind the scenes for the Time Blocking Summit, I was forced to pick up new tools and with it, unique capabilities I barely understood. In retrospect, I can laugh at my mishaps running ads on Facebook, Instagram, Quora, and Google, but I had to make an effort. It was the only way to apprehend the power of these tools. Which have no equivalent in the offline world. These capabilities are highly nuanced, able to break down old barriers. For example, think of your employees using WhatsApp and Zoom to organize themselves into cross-functional teams. They do so on their own time without the involvement of management, training themselves to use these apps to create new connections across boundaries. In the offline world, it would have been impossible. Case in point, companies now need a private community forum to keep dispersed staff members together. Too many executives stuck in "mi nuh use dem ting deh" social media prejudices can't lead the charge. The COVID-19 crisis favors CEOs who are willing to push themselves to learn uncomfortable lessons that used to be optional theoretical or futuristic. Today, they need to be visible role models of learning in order to lead in these extraordinary times. Thanks for listening. Do you have an unsolved problem in your Caribbean company related to strategy, productivity, engagement, or business process improvement? Just visit searchable listing of all my prior articles, and you may be able to help yourself to a fresh line of thinking. Go to blog.fwconsulting.com or see the show notes.
