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Transformation is about the journey, not the destination

Tessellate Advisory's Thandi Demanet urges firms to keep two important things in mind on their digital journeys: Plan flexibility and people.

24 Apr 2020
Transformation is about the journey, not the destination

Transformation is about the journey, not the destination

In this video, filmed in January at Digital Transformation Middle East in Dubai, Thandi Demanet, Director, Tessellate Advisory, urges firms to keep two important things in mind on their digital journeys:

  1. Planning to change plans

  2. People over technology


No perfect transformation plan


Demanet urges companies to look at digital transformation not simply as a project with a beginning and an end, but something more living and continuous.

“When you embark on a digital journey, it's really important to remember that the journey doesn't actually have an end state,” she says. Particularly, she adds, because any changes happen at speed, and there are new changes all the time.



So, while it's important to have a plan in place, businesses should “not to wait for the perfect plan to appear,” as Demanet puts it. They should instead act on the plan they have and adjust and evolve it as they learn.

“The important thing is to make incremental steps,” she says. “Chances are your plan is going to have to change. Set yourself targets by all means, but be agile in the changes to those targets.”

People power


Where many believe technological considerations should be top of mind during the transformation process, Demanet has other ideas:
“I think that one of the main difficulties in digital transformation is the realization that it’s not about the technology first and foremost. The technology is a tool, an enabler, but the real transformation has to happen at an organizational and human level.”

She believes that firms underestimate the difficulties that can arise from a cultural, organizational and a leadership perspective:

“It’s really important to get buy-in from the whole organization. Clearly, it will be led from a senior level, but it really has to be well communicated across all teams in the organization, in order for a digital transformation to happen end to end across the organization, and for it to bear its fruit.”

Find out more about Digital Transformation World in Copenhagen, with new dates 7-9 October announced.