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Digital Transformation at Scale: Why the Strategy is Delivery
"This book is for people worrying about their sinking ship. Based on experience, it is a guide for navigating the blockers, buzzwords and bloody-mindedness that doom any analogue organisation trapped into thinking that while the internet has changed the world, it won't change their world.
Companies that grew up on the web have changed our expectations of the services we rely on. We demand simplicity, speed and low cost. Organizations founded before the Internet aren't keeping up - despite spending millions on IT, marketing and 'innovation'.
This book is a guide to building a digital institution. It explains how a growing band of reformers in businesses and governments around the world have helped their organizations pivot to this new way of working, and what lessons others can learn from their experience.
It is based on the authors' experience designing and helping to deliver the UK's Government Digital Service (GDS). The GDS was a new institution made responsible for the digital transformation of government, designing public services for the Internet era. It snipped £4 billion off the government's technology bill, opened up
public sector contracts to thousands of new suppliers, and delivered online services so good that citizens chose to use them over the offline alternatives, without a big marketing campaign. Other countries and companies noticed, with the GDS model now being copied around the world."
Companies that grew up on the web have changed our expectations of the services we rely on. We demand simplicity, speed and low cost. Organizations founded before the Internet aren't keeping up - despite spending millions on IT, marketing and 'innovation'.
This book is a guide to building a digital institution. It explains how a growing band of reformers in businesses and governments around the world have helped their organizations pivot to this new way of working, and what lessons others can learn from their experience.
It is based on the authors' experience designing and helping to deliver the UK's Government Digital Service (GDS). The GDS was a new institution made responsible for the digital transformation of government, designing public services for the Internet era. It snipped £4 billion off the government's technology bill, opened up
public sector contracts to thousands of new suppliers, and delivered online services so good that citizens chose to use them over the offline alternatives, without a big marketing campaign. Other countries and companies noticed, with the GDS model now being copied around the world."
232 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 4, 2020
I have been working in the field of digital transformation for 15 years witnessing the change of government from paper work to web to mobile to creating platform and venturing into new technologies. Some were successful others were challenging and surely some failed.
When we talk about digital everyone think it’s about technology and IT department. Few organization if any have changed at organization level to become digital.
The book clarifies the definition of digital as the change in how organization deliver. It’s not about the technology alone. The book shares valuable and useful insights based on the success of the Digital Agency in UK right from the establishment to the delivery of its initial successful initiatives. I found it useful not only for building digital agency but for any organization in specific government that would like to become digital.
I am sure anyone of us who works in digital transformation would have had one or more questions that were unanswered about a project that did not succeed. These questions are likely to be answered reading this book. The book covers basic aspects such as what you would need in order to start a change, where do you start from, what do you focus on as you can’t be fixing or changing the whole world, what do you need to sustain what you do, what kind of teams and skills you need, etc. Change does mean replace everything within your organization, or just hire new set of people. It’s about knowing what it takes and finding the skills within before you get them externally.
The book highlights simple yet powerful methods such as defining the design principles, building a culture, having different teams to focus on the flood after the success, building the strategy around delivery and having catchphrases that are simple to remember yet the core of the strategy.
COVID-19 is a global crisis that challenged everyone readiness of being digital. Thus I find the book important for everyone to read at this point in time.
When we talk about digital everyone think it’s about technology and IT department. Few organization if any have changed at organization level to become digital.
The book clarifies the definition of digital as the change in how organization deliver. It’s not about the technology alone. The book shares valuable and useful insights based on the success of the Digital Agency in UK right from the establishment to the delivery of its initial successful initiatives. I found it useful not only for building digital agency but for any organization in specific government that would like to become digital.
I am sure anyone of us who works in digital transformation would have had one or more questions that were unanswered about a project that did not succeed. These questions are likely to be answered reading this book. The book covers basic aspects such as what you would need in order to start a change, where do you start from, what do you focus on as you can’t be fixing or changing the whole world, what do you need to sustain what you do, what kind of teams and skills you need, etc. Change does mean replace everything within your organization, or just hire new set of people. It’s about knowing what it takes and finding the skills within before you get them externally.
The book highlights simple yet powerful methods such as defining the design principles, building a culture, having different teams to focus on the flood after the success, building the strategy around delivery and having catchphrases that are simple to remember yet the core of the strategy.
COVID-19 is a global crisis that challenged everyone readiness of being digital. Thus I find the book important for everyone to read at this point in time.
July 16, 2018
When I first saw people from the UK’s Government Digital Service present, I felt something magic had happened there: these people were transforming a confusing and convoluted web of online government stuff into good looking and easy to use services. This book his written by some of their most senior leaders. It explains partly how they did it, and partly what they could have done better. Chockfull of useful advice, and also a good introduction to some of the terminology. I now understand what a ‘digital service’ means and what ‘delivery as a strategy’ entails.
October 21, 2024
The GDS is an exemplar of transforming an analogue organisation into a digital one, and that’s exactly what the NHS needs right now with the latest Health and Care secretary coming in with new priorities. As such, with my work role, this felt like a good book to read and draw learning and inspiration from.
The book balances well the guidance on processes and systems as well as directions for digital leadership and culture. It’s this balance, drawing on national gov.uk examples that really make the book work well and very useful.
“Good digital work is a million silent nods of approval, not a single loud round of applause”
Some learning:
- focus on the foundations, get data and architecture right
- Ensure the right digital culture is place at all levels
- Ensure understanding of all digital assets in your Trust and get numbers of which are the most utilised and which are least utilised
- Ensure recruitment practice is modernised to obtain the right fit of digital talent, skills and leadership required
- Publish what we’re working on in the open
- Understand user needs first
- Be consistent, not uniform, flex arrangements where required to suit individual needs
- Keep learning. Iterate what you do and how you do it.
- The strategy is delivery, talking about something isn’t tantamount to doing something
Recommended?: a good read for anyone working in a transformation role, with advice, guidance and numerous case studies that can support you into building the right culture, processes and approach to running your own organisation’s digital transformation agenda
The book balances well the guidance on processes and systems as well as directions for digital leadership and culture. It’s this balance, drawing on national gov.uk examples that really make the book work well and very useful.
“Good digital work is a million silent nods of approval, not a single loud round of applause”
Some learning:
- focus on the foundations, get data and architecture right
- Ensure the right digital culture is place at all levels
- Ensure understanding of all digital assets in your Trust and get numbers of which are the most utilised and which are least utilised
- Ensure recruitment practice is modernised to obtain the right fit of digital talent, skills and leadership required
- Publish what we’re working on in the open
- Understand user needs first
- Be consistent, not uniform, flex arrangements where required to suit individual needs
- Keep learning. Iterate what you do and how you do it.
- The strategy is delivery, talking about something isn’t tantamount to doing something
Recommended?: a good read for anyone working in a transformation role, with advice, guidance and numerous case studies that can support you into building the right culture, processes and approach to running your own organisation’s digital transformation agenda
January 18, 2020
This was a book about digital transformation on a big scale for government and large organisations but the messages were clear for any kind of digital (or non digital) transformation. For me the key messages were preparations and planning to a level that you can start to implement. Get in some early wins on simple (Greenfield) but effective outcomes. Don’t get bored down in the detail learn as you go. Openness is key tell people what you have done rather than what you are planning to do. Make your communication modern short blogs and social media rather than lengthy reports Get a good team together and give it an identity ideally a place. Get the seniority buy in but don’t get blocked by the senior team get the right mandate and sometime acting like you have the mandate is enough. Get the the knob of the problem and use the changes to improve the users experience, this is a way to save money and to improve the customers experience of using digital services. Good design and operability are all important. Don’t get linked to IT digital is not about it equipment. Opensource systems are the way forward to develop services that can be hoisted on any platform. Be in a position to veto system that don’t meet the agreed standards for operation no exceptions. Consistent not uniform!
A well written book that I raced through because I was interested. Hightly recomend it for anyone dealing with change.
A well written book that I raced through because I was interested. Hightly recomend it for anyone dealing with change.
November 5, 2019
The good points are that we get real world insight into how a group of people transformed part of the UK government's web sites.
Even in such a relatively short book, I found points repeated, which was disappointing.
I believe the author tried to provide specific guidance through personal experience. So it was a jumble of "stories" and then specific learning points
It was useful, but I didn't find the trading process particularly fulfilling.
Even in such a relatively short book, I found points repeated, which was disappointing.
I believe the author tried to provide specific guidance through personal experience. So it was a jumble of "stories" and then specific learning points
It was useful, but I didn't find the trading process particularly fulfilling.
January 27, 2019
Excellent - full of the sorts of insight and perspective successful change is built on. I only wish I had opportunity to read this two years before it was published, as it would have saved a lot of pain! As it is, the book is a very useful debrief for a major project I was associated with.
One I will be referring back to and drawing from.
One I will be referring back to and drawing from.
February 2, 2020
The chapter on measurement was very relevant to some current work. I didn't finish the last chapter - will finish that in the future.
April 21, 2020
THE definitive book on government digital transformation.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews