Clients that work with digital consultants are, by now, accustomed to hearing the constant refrain that, in order to survive and thrive in the digital age, they must become agile, innovative, and collaborative organizations that inspire passion in customers and employees alike by fostering a fun-loving but hard-working culture and by using digital technology and design thinking to create uniquely compelling customer experiences. And if you can look past the jargon and hyperbole, there is a lot to be said for each of these recommendations. You'd be hard pressed to find a consultant who would seriously advocate that any corporate leader should pursue the opposite approach (after all, given a choice in the matter, few people would want to work with or for a torpid, unoriginal, unilateral organization that inspires loathing or indifference in customers and employees).
The issue isn't so much the advice itself, or the "strategic vision" this overwrought language is meant to conjure up (although it does all fall squarely into the "easier said than done" bucket). Rather, the issue is that digital consultants so often hold up the wrong examples for clients to emulate. Established companies in mature sectors from manufacturing to mining to banking are exhorted to turn to Silicon Valley technology startups, not just for general inspiration, but as a source of specific strategies and tactics that clients across a wide range of industries can apply to their benefit. And at a superficial level, this idea seems to make some sort of intuitive sense. Certainly there is much to admire from the extraordinary success enjoyed by digital leaders such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc., and who better to look to as a model to follow when navigating the stormy seas of digital disruption than the world's leading digital technology companies themselves?
