Digital-first may be the business habit we need most: it’s an under-appreciated mindset that could literally change the way we think ahead.
In just three weeks every service offering with which I am currently engaged, domestic violence prevention, higher education, ecological design, fine homebuilding, pest control, and independent education, has been abruptly faced with an existential challenge: can we deliver our service while minimizing physical human contact?
Wilson Fletcher has been considering this question for a long time. In 2018 he shared this article that posits that from here on out we should be approaching any new opportunity, or problem, "with the assumption that the solution should be as digital as possible".
"Fundamentally, this is very simple:
- Imagine as much of the service that you are creating as possible being used by customers in digital form.
- Imagine as much of the service as possible being powered by underlying digital platforms."
To illustrate his point he asks us to consider redesigning the airport. "We’d start by reframing the challenge to be more digital-friendly. Instead of thinking about how we create a place where travelers go to get on planes as smoothly as possible, we’d try to get to the more fundamental question: how do we create a process to get travelers onto planes as smoothly as possible?"
Article: Digital-First: the Essential Modern Business Mindset