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Back in July 2020, when I decided to become a COVID-19 vaccine volunteer, I thought that by 2022 the Pandemic would be over.
Last December 2021, I sent thousands of personalized greeting cards to friends, coworkers, and customers, asking for their opinion on the economic recovery.
Economic Recovery Survey Results (December 2021)
To my surprise, the responses varied greatly based on geographies and industry segments, so I published a LinkedIn survey asking people to share their expectations on the topic.
The feedback received was more than a thousand professionals saw the survey in two weeks:
- 65% of responders considered the economic recovery hasn’t started yet and,
- 46% have doubts it will begin this year.
Economic Recovery Survey Results Analysis
After reading all feedback, it was clear to me that something didn’t look right. People still think the recovery wouldn’t happen soon even though today we are better prepared with vaccines and have effective protocols to reduce hospitalization and morbidity.
Sadly, I learned that good news has a short-time impact on people, but bad news has a long-time effect on them. People are more compelled to do something to avoid harming themselves than follow the information or advice to reach a better outcome.
So, I ask myself, what can I do to reverse this effect?
Why did I create the Digital Acceleration Newsletter?
I think the time is right for professionals of credibility to share the good news about the challenge ahead and the possibilities to achieve these goals.
It is like offering an “emotional” booster, knowing that if many business leaders share the good news in parallel, it will trigger a Tsunami effect on business recovery.
So, I have decided to become part of the solution, not part of the problem, and this is my first confidence booster for the readers. This is the goal of the Digital Acceleration Newsletter, to share good news and excellent reasons to accelerate their Digital Transformation initiatives.
The New Normal and the Next Normal
In 2020, many consulting firms utilized the tag “The New Normal” to describe the challenge of businesses supporting customers living remotely with employees working virtually.
Some people also associated this tag with business disruption, loss, and despair, but that was not the original purpose.
Consulting Firms introduced a “The Next Normal” tag in 2021 to document the possibility of recovering the business activity before the Pandemic, benefiting from what we learned in the previous stage: supporting customers remotely with virtual organizations.
When should any organization continue their Digital Transformation Journey
So my question to you (no free lunch, here comes the homework) is to answer these two questions:
- Have your customers’ expectations changed regarding how they want to do business with you?
- Do you have a competitor willing to change its business models to match the new customer expectations?
If you answer YES to both questions, I recommend acting NOW. In future episodes, we will cover address industry segments specifics.
If you answer NO to any question, You may still decide to become an industry segment leader by acting now.
So, what is the challenge ahead? Why do I need to change?
What does the Digital Acceleration Journey look like?
Innovation and technology adoption is the golden formula for building customer value and eventually enabling new business models.
I know you think I want to call that Digital Transformation, and everybody has an excellent definition of what Digital Transformation is about. Probably you are an expert on the topic.
And believe me, the name is not relevant but the timing.
This newsletter aims to create a place for reflection and collaboration among business leaders and peers.
In the next chapter, I will discuss an industry segment’s typical challenge and some use cases of business transformation and technology adoption to meet and exceed customer expectations.
I aim to discuss as many vertical business segments as I have previous experience, with no preference for the industry segments. If you are interested in one particular industry segment, feel free to put your comments in this forum or direct message on LinkedIn.
Good enough?
Any thoughts on the subjects raised in this edition of the Digital Acceleration Newsletter?
Please share your thoughts and feedback with the audience in the comments below.
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