DBRIEF
Five keys to a modern operating model
Ask a dozen consultants what the term “digital transformation” means and you’ll likely get a dozen different answers. The term has become so overused and so lacking in definition it has become meaningless. This lack of clarity is problematic for senior executives...
Does your strategy have a plan (for execution)?
Now that the New Year’s revelry and celebrations are a distant memory, it's time to get to work and put all of last year’s planning and analysis into effect. And that's where it gets tricky. We all know how important it is to have a great vision and a well-thought...
Is your organization’s technology a mess? You need ‘Principles’
January 10, 2019If you hold a leadership role in any type of enterprise, you’re well aware that digital technology will make or break your organization’s success. But, if you’re like many executives, you may also feel your organization is saddled with technologies...
Putting a square peg in a round hole: Lessons from Apollo 13 on team problem-solving
The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock. If you’re looking for a good team-building exercise to kick off 2019, try what I call the “Apollo 13 exercise:” Identify a difficult problem. Do some inventory. Dump all your stuff on a table. How can you solve...
What to know, and avoid, to truly be a ‘thought leader’
Does there exist, in the language of business and nonprofit leadership, any phrase more overused and yet misunderstood than “thought leadership”? (okay, “synergies” and “digital transformation” aren’t far behind, but you get my point). It seems every organization...
Seven steps to accelerate your velocity
“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough” – Mario Andretti, car racing legend Companies in slower-paced industries used to be able to dismiss Mario’s sense of urgency because they felt safely removed from the digital fast lane. As the pace...
Yes, your business needs a messaging app strategy
Of all the technologies and buzz words in the headlines, one has to go pretty far down the list to find “messaging apps.” This is surprising, because messaging apps are in the middle stages of disrupting communications just as deeply as Uber and Airbnb disrupted...
To win with digital, get personal, fast
Most people want to feel special and unique when considering a purchase or transaction. They want to be recognized, catered to and treated as individuals with specific needs and requirements. Personal touches have long been a tool to motivate buyers, and they can mean...
The key to retaining young professionals: Think ‘digital first’
Many organizations, for-profit and nonprofit alike, remain baffled over how to create the right environment and culture for young professionals. Whether the goal is hiring and retention or attracting new society members at the early stages of their careers, the...
Science societies should look to the past for their new operating model
The form and purpose of the modern scientific membership society is based on a template created by the guild system of early and late middle-ages Europe and the foundation of the Royal Society in England in 1660. The concept was simple: Like-minded individuals or...
Looking back from the future
Many dPrism engagements revolve around significant transformations of how our clients think about, and operate, their businesses. We help them identify and execute on market opportunities, new digital products and services, new business models and ways to improve...
Five trends that will shape winning data strategies
As Amazon becomes the second company to top a market capitalization of $1 trillion and investors are all agog over FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google), what’s the single word you’d use to describe why these companies have been so successful? That’s right:...
Make digital transformation part of your culture
We at Digital Prism Advisors are hardly the only ones to write about digital transformation. Some days it feels like a deluge of comments, content and hype. We’re honored that this blog ranks as a Top 25 source in this topic. Part of our value as a firm is that we...
Mapping your market to ‘get a sense of where you are’
I don’t follow sports. But years ago, I read a biography of a famous basketball player and it stuck with me. His approach to the game offers us a useful framework not just for sports, but for leading successful organizations. John McPhee’s A Sense of Where You Are...
Facebook is out of the news business. Now publishers can focus on publishing.
From the days of the Gutenberg printing press until, oh, around the early 2000s, one rule seemed to hold firm: People would pay money for news that interested them, as long as it was easy to get, priced fairly and fresh when they got it. Along with it held a corollary...
Want an effective agile process? Stop obsessing about agile
There are many reasons to like the agile development process. Its focus on adding value to a “minimum viable product” in iterative sprints is a great way to avoid waiting until the end of a project to see if you’re on the right track. Also, its practices of working in...
Five steps to achieving a modern data strategy
In an age where data is one of the most valuable commodities in the world, organizations across the business landscape are racing to build or rebuild their data platforms to make sure they are equipped to meet the demands of an increasingly data-dependent future. The...
Data alliances are booming, and it’s only the first inning
In the mid ‘90’s I was part of a very successful internet media start-up. As we grew, and as the market exploded into hypergrowth, I recall our CEO (a baseball fan) constantly repeating this simple phrase, “and remember, we’re only in the 1st inning”. This line...
Top B2B executives must find and defend their market ‘white spaces’
Last week the Washington Business Journal published an article highlighting FiscalNote’s planned acquisition of CQ Roll Call, in which the author insightfully observed “The deal is just the latest example of a young upstart buying a traditional — and often larger...
Three keys to sustainable (software) development
Executives making substantial investments in new technology platforms and capabilities have a not-unreasonable expectation that their investments will have a lifespan of over a decade or more. This is particularly true for leaders of organizations whose businesses are...
COMPANY WE KEEP
