Forget your digital strategy - do this instead

“You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you.” Leon Trotsky

It’s common for organisations to talk about their “digital strategy.” But here’s the thing: they don’t actually need one.

“Digital” is simply how people in the 21st century interact with the world. It’s not a separate entity that needs its own strategy. Instead, organisations should be incorporating digital into the strategy they already have.

So, what does that look like? There’s an 8 step process for doing this:

Step 1 - Clarify objectives and assign relative priorities

What does your organisation want to achieve? Identify these objectives and assign them a priority ranking. Do this with key stakeholders as early as possible.

Step 2 - Identify who you serve

Who are the people whose needs your organisation cares about? Assign a relative priority to them.

Step 3 - Discover jobs-to-be-done

What are the tasks or problems these people need help with? Identify their jobs-to-be-done.

Step 4 - Prioritise jobs-to-be-done

Assess which jobs-to-be-done are most important to the people you serve, and which also help accomplish your organisation’s objectives.

Step 5 - Collect and evaluate digital ideas

Collect ideas for how digital tools, channels, techniques could help people accomplish their jobs-to-be-done. Evaluate these ideas to determine clear priorities.

Once these priorities have been established, there are 3 more steps to take:

Step 6 - Identify required resources

Determine what resources (budget, time, skills) will be needed to implement the digital ideas.

Step 7 - Develop a roadmap

Create a roadmap for implementation that takes into account timelines, dependencies, and resource availability.

Step 8 - Execute plan and monitor progress

Put the plan into action and monitor progress regularly. Evaluate how effective the digital initiatives are at helping people accomplish their jobs-to-be-done. Adjust as necessary.

By following this process of incorporating digital into an existing strategy, organisations can ensure they’re meeting the needs of those they serve in a way that is relevant in our current era. So forget about creating a separate “digital strategy” – instead, focus on using technology as a tool to achieve your organisation’s overall objectives.