The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) role is coming of age... and about time too.
Rachel Botsman wrote a great piece in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) describing the challenges and interviewed three people currently in this role.
Some highlights
“There is a massive need for a senior leader to have charge of integrating digital with every customer touch point across the business.”
“But the problem with the CDO role is twofold:
By its nature the position won't have a fixed-in-stone description. But, at the same time, the description can't be so broad that the leader just plugs the gaps between marketing and technology or, even worse, gets lost in the weeds of gadgetry, social media and app projects. Secondly, finding the right leader – one who is tech savvy, speaks multiple business languages (IT, strategy, marketing, finance) and can get all relevant people on board with a vision of where the company needs to go – is by no means easy.”
“In my opinion, the near-term role of a CDO is to transform the lens of an organisation; to transform thinking around what customers want and how value in the digital age can be created differently. Perhaps the ultimate measure of their success should be when the notion of ‘digital’ needing a ‘chief’ is irrelevant and their role obsolete because digital is just the normal way of doing business.”
The hottest new job in the C-suite | Australian Financial Review | Rachel Botsman, April 2015
I agree that organisations don’t necessarily need to have this actual position just someone who takes on the responsibilities of the role. Depending on the digital maturity of the organisation this could be allocated in a number of different ways. Service or product managers in digitally focused outfits typically take this on.
Important things for digital leadership raised by the interviewees:
- Have a road map – overarching digital strategy needs to be understood and shared across an organisation
- Have a realistic vision – focus on the adjacent possible not the far future
- Manage turf wars – If the CDO and team are funded outside of the traditional frenemies of Comms. and IT then they can focus on aligning interests without feeling they have turf to protect
- Provide a tangible improvement to user experience - There must be enough visible change that people can get behind and support the digital service program
- Build a cogent and coherent business case - Commercial outcomes and big picture benefits must be illustrated to organisational executive to ensure support
Note: Rachel Botsman who wrote this is also an expert on collaborative consumption which is an economic model enabled?/exploited? by many modern digital service platforms like Uber, AirBnB, Kickstarter etc. That is why she is included on my list of digital thought leaders.