Transformer in chief: the newest member of the c-suite
It may be telling that one of the smash hit books of the past year has been on sleep. Berkeley professor of neuroscience Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep was a comprehensive analysis of why humans need to sleep, which doubled up as a polemic against the habits that lead to insomnia.
He marvels: “A hundred years ago, less than 2 per cent of the population in the United States slept six hours or less a night. Now, almost 30 per cent of American adults do.” The health implications are shocking. Lack of sleep leads to mental illness, diabetes and chaos. More than 1.2 million accidents are caused each year by sleeplessness.
A key reason for sleepless nights is pressure at work. Change has never been faster. Companies are simply struggling to adapt to the multitude of threats to their existence. The pressure to transform is immense.
A survey by Couchbase, a customer engagement database provider, of 450 digital transformation project leaders revealed 54 per cent worry their business would go bust if their digital transformation failed. Fashion brand Jaeger went to the wall for precisely that reason. A further 89 per cent of enterprises say their industry is being disrupted by digital technology. Worse, 90 per cent of digital projects fail to meet expectations.
Could there be a solution? For a rising number of firms the severity of the situation calls for a new role: the chief transformation officer.
Delivery company UPS created the role in November. The new chief transformation officer reports directly to the chairman and chief executive. The position is “charged with driving and facilitating organisational change that will help UPS to both identify and execute opportunities for profitable growth within its existing business units and in yet-untapped markets and product segments”.
Advertising giant WPP’s first chief transformation officer is settling into the job. Lindsay Pattison’s remit is to unite efforts across the 160 or so agencies under the WPP umbrella. It’s a job so big she could be forgiven for a sleepless night or two herself.
But is the role necessary? The consulting world is divided. Ben Pring, director of Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work, says: “It is magical thinking that one person could do everything required to make a large company fit for purpose in the 21-century digital economy. It is just not possible.
“Digital transformation requires a fundamental shift from previous models and impacts the customer experience, a company’s operations and back office, the way it markets and sells, how its employees work, and the products and services it delivers.
“A single digital transformation officer cannot be responsible for all of this on their own.
