Digital Tsunami in 2020 – Year In Review #17 [Countdown #4]

Digital Tsunami in 2020

We have now begun the final countdown to 2021 in this Year in Review Series of 2020. In the previous post, we looked at the journey and the milestones in 2020. One of the defining attributes of 2020 was the massive adoption of digital. The impact of the digital tsunami in 2020 was felt across all walks of life. In continuation of the pattern in the previous post, let us look at some thoughts that I had shared at the start of the year (“opening note“). In this next post of the Year in Review, let us continue our countdown to 2021 by examining the force of the Digital Tsunami in 2020.

20 Thoughts About 2020

As mentioned in the previous post while initiating the final countdown, I will be looking at four thoughts from 2020 in each post. I will keep quoting the relevant extracts and the context so that you can follow. In case you need to cross-refer to my “opening note”, I will be referring to points 12, 16, 18 and 19. These pointers weave together the themes of digital transformation and the workforce.

Innovate or Die

When I said “Innovate or Die” while discussing #16 – Augmenting Lawyers in my opening note, I did not mean it literally! The degree to which this statement has turned out to be true in 2020 astonishes me, as much as anyone else!

I had written this in the context of organizations, even in traditional industries, not being able to survive, if they do not embrace change. The backdrop was the RSG Grow India event, where I had shared my thoughts on augmented lawyers.

The year 2020 played out the script, quite literally. It did not give a chance at survival to those who did not toe the line. If an organization did not have digital infrastructure and an enabled remote workforce, survival was tricky. If people did not take adequate precautions, their lives were in danger. Survival became the central paradigm, and that explains the use of the tsunami metaphor.

Interestingly, these discussions around the inevitability of change management continued in 2020 as well. I was privileged to participate in the exclusive Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Roundtable held under the Chatham House Rules. This implies that the discussions can be referred, but not attributed to the concerned individual. This enabled a candid discussion and the overarching feedback was that people willingly or unwillingly did adopt digital and were forced to change during the year. Even the most innovative organizations had to wait for an ‘opportunity’ such as the pandemic to drive change and accelerate digital adoption. I have already shared the details of the pitstop metaphor and how we used that as a mental model to anchor our journey.

Learning to ride the Digital Tsunami in 2020

Before I write more about the digital transformation journey, here are the reference points from my opening note of 2020. I wrote about an inspiring TEDx talk in #12 of the note that you can see below. If you thought learning was a decathlon, this video will tell you that it is a 50 metres race. It debunks the myth of the 10,000 hour rule and proposes a 20 hour timeline to learn any new skill. The 10,000 hour rule was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in ‘Outliers’. The rule asserts that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be good at anything. To be fair, this rule deals with gaining expertise and not with acquiring basic skill sets. However, the comparison helps make the point!

The lockdown took most of the world in its grip in March. It is debatable whether we had enough time or not. However, most people were not mentally prepared for the subsequent turn of events. Effectively, the situation forced people to learn new skills in 20 hours, or in a relatively short time. You could either adapt to navigate the waves of the digital tsunami in 2020 or you could be swept away! And you had to do all this very very quickly.

I have been part of some miraculous digital transformation stories during the year. Our business users developed new skills, as we learnt what it means to be citizen developers. I have already covered these aspects of citizen development in a previous post. However, looking back at the 20 hour rule and our journey of acquiring new skills, I can now connect the dots.

I had worked with the team to identify the exact skills that we needed to add to our repertoire. And we went about plugging the skill gaps in a focused manner. If we tried learning everything about a subject that was not aligned to our academic or professional experience, the results would have been different. Our approach helped us delineate the required skills and learn them faster so that we could put them to use right away.

Cross-functional Collaboration

One of the hallmarks of these transformation efforts was the creation of a cross-functional team. The digital transformation core team consisted of super users drawn from diverse departments. These super users were business users who had turned into citizen developers. But firstly, let us reflect on what I had written in my opening note. In #18 of the 20 thoughts for 2020, I had written that “multi-disciplinary perspectives, cross-functional teams and collaborations will become the grundnorm in 2020”. There are two examples from 2020 that come to mind that illustrate this.

Cross-functional collaboration by Citizen Developers

Firstly, cross-functional collaboration became the cornerstone of our citizen development initiatives. We created cross-functional teams to design, build and deploy end to end business processes. The project cut through erstwhile functional boundaries. All this was done remotely and without involvement of technical resources. Since the business users upgraded the skills and created a virtual ‘skill bank’, this model was sustainable. Requirements in one department could be met by super users from other departments too. This would not have been possible without flawless collaboration, despite working remotely.

Multi-disciplinary approach at FTEM

The second example that comes to mind is that of FTEM (From The Experts’ Mouth) itself. Bringing together insights and experiences across multi-disciplinary fields became one of the key principles driving this platform. The encouraging reader feedback in the first couple of months bears testimony to the latent demand for such an approach. The rise of the digital tsunami implies that the battle fields have been reset. The rules of the game have changed and it is critical to be aware of key developments across diverse fields.

Digital Tsunami and Gender Diversity

In the opening note of 2020, I had spoken about gender diversity in #19. I had moderated a panel discussion on gender diversity last year with 400 CFOs in attendance. At the end of the discussion, all of us took a community pledge to take steps in our organizations to increase gender diversity.

This has played out during 2020 in a couple of ways. Firstly, at a micro level, our organization was awarded the best firm in the country for women. A favorable gender ratio, even at leadership levels, is quite rare in the legal fraternity indeed.

Secondly, at a macro level, the remote working environment has the potential to open floodgates of opportunities for women. This applies even more to women who have quit their careers, temporarily or permanently, to take care of the household. Or, even settled for roles that could allow them to juggle multiple responsibilities.

A remote working model can allow women (or men) to take care of personal and professional responsibilities simultaneously. One can switch on or off their professional avatar as many times during the day, as the situation demands.

Enabling Gender Diversity

I have seen several encouraging examples of the digital tsunami helping women personally and professionally. It has helped women (and men) to seamlessly juggle between responsibilities at home and at the (remote) workplace. Here are a few examples that I have witnessed, to illustrate the point.

One of my team members had to take care of family members. This required her to be away from work for a few hours in the middle of the day. This arrangement could not have been done in the Old Normal at all. The long commuting time would have further eroded any chances of this model working out. However, in the New Normal she was able to take care of her loved ones, while still working remotely.

In another case, one of my previous organizations created a role for a new recruit to enable her to ride the digital tsunami. The managerial role required supervision of the team members, none of whom were based in New Delhi. However, the new role so carved by the organization ensured that she could operate from New Delhi and attend to her responsibilities at home. These examples would not have been possible in the Old Normal in most organizations.

Even if the technology was still available, the collective mindset was not ready to accept it. The year 2020 has changed all that, and probably changed it forever!

Digital Tsunami in 2020 and Outlook for 2021 and Beyond

The operative word in all these examples is perception. It is our perception that shapes our reality and not the physical state of the world around us. In the case of digitalization, there was no breakthrough technology that became mainstream in 2020. We only saw increased adoption of tools and applications that were already available. For instance, the usage of Zoom zoomed up like anything. We had the funny side of Zoom calls too, which were also discussed in a previous post in this series! It was only because we changed our perspective, that we were able to ride through the digital tsunami in 2020.

As we step into 2021 and embrace the New Normal, let us reflect on the state of our digital adoption. I have explained the 5 ACEs framework of digital in an earlier post, that should prove to be useful. It outlines the 5 stages of maturity of adoption of technology. I will stick my neck out and make another prediction.

The digital tsunami in 2020 has only led to the first phase of accelerated digital transformation in many organizations. They have only enabled the remote workforce so far. However, they are yet to re-imagine the business models and change the core structure of some industries.

Some industries have already adopted new digital business models and their contours have changed beyond recognition. Music, books, cabs, travel and tourism etc. are prime examples. When we move from retro-fitting existing processes to re-imagining business structures, we will witness a much larger tsunami of digital.

The next wave of the digital tsunami in 2020 and beyond will sweep away those who do not adapt. Will you play a role in creating this revolution or will you be swept away in this tsunami?

Year In Review 2020

Check out the master article for the Year in Review 2020 that contains links to all posts in this series. Also, bookmark the master article on the browser to read all the 20 thoughts from 2020 and lessons for 2021.

About The Author

Rajiv Maheshwari is a business and start-up advisor, and the co-founder of From The Experts Mouth. He is a management professional with over 25 years of experience, and worked as CEO for a decade, and in leadership roles with NYSE listed companies such as Accenture and WNS.

He is a Chartered Accountant and MBA (Director’s Merit List from IIM Bangalore) and an autodidact, who is on the path of self-directed life long learning and sharing. He is a thought leader, author and keynote speaker and has developed several frameworks to bridge the gap between academia and industry.