01A phrase that means everything and nothing
Every consultancy sells digital transformation, and the phrase has lost its edge. It's been used to justify software purchases, cloud migrations and reorgs — anything that involves a consultant's invoice. Underneath the jargon, there's a real idea worth rescuing.
02Friction is the enemy
A business is a set of workflows. Every workflow has friction: duplicate entry, waiting, rework, handoffs, version mismatches. Transformation is the removal of that friction. When you remove friction, the same team produces more with less effort — that's the entire economics of it.
03Technology is the last step
Transformation begins with understanding workflows, then redesigning them, then — and only then — choosing technology. Most projects fail because they pick the technology first and freeze the broken workflow in a new interface.
04The honest version
The honest version of transformation is unglamorous: map the process, measure the cost, fix the worst bottlenecks, measure again. It compounds. And because it compounds, it's the work that actually pays for itself.