The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation
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- Create Date：2021-05-12 08:54:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Gerald C. Kane
- ISBN：0262039680
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Summary
Why an organization's response to digital disruption should focus on people and processes and not necessarily on technology。Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape， leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete。 This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions--but it is not a book about technology。 It is about the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology。 The authors argue that digital disruption is primarily about people and that effective digital transformation involves changes to organizational dynamics and how work gets done。 A focus only on selecting and implementing the right digital technologies is not likely to lead to success。 The best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile， risk tolerant， and experimental。
The authors draw on four years of research， conducted in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte， surveying more than 16，000 people and conducting interviews with managers at such companies as Walmart， Google， and Salesforce。 They introduce the concept of digital maturity--the ability to take advantage of opportunities offered by the new technology--and address the specifics of digital transformation， including cultivating a digital environment， enabling intentional collaboration， and fostering an experimental mindset。 Every organization needs to understand its "digital DNA" in order to stop "doing digital" and start "being digital。"
Digital disruption won't end anytime soon; the average worker will probably experience numerous waves of disruption during the course of a career。 The insights offered by The Technology Fallacy will hold true through them all。
A book in the Management on the Cutting Edge series， published in cooperation with MIT Sloan Management Review。
The authors draw on four years of research， conducted in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte， surveying more than 16，000 people and conducting interviews with managers at such companies as Walmart， Google， and Salesforce。 They introduce the concept of digital maturity--the ability to take advantage of opportunities offered by the new technology--and address the specifics of digital transformation， including cultivating a digital environment， enabling intentional collaboration， and fostering an experimental mindset。 Every organization needs to understand its "digital DNA" in order to stop "doing digital" and start "being digital。"
Digital disruption won't end anytime soon; the average worker will probably experience numerous waves of disruption during the course of a career。 The insights offered by The Technology Fallacy will hold true through them all。
A book in the Management on the Cutting Edge series， published in cooperation with MIT Sloan Management Review。
Reviews
Alok Bhide
，
Interesting read， however， it is focussed more on smaller companies/teams。 Nonetheless makes for a decent quick read。
Richard Newton
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I enjoyed this book， which is not something I say about that many professional books。 It gives a clear description of the nature of digital transformation， with the big hint given in the title that the authors do not think mastery in this field is just about technology。 The acknowledge the critical importance of technology， but technology alone won't transform a business - its is application along with the culture and climate of the organisation - you know the soft stuff all about people。 Like m I enjoyed this book， which is not something I say about that many professional books。 It gives a clear description of the nature of digital transformation， with the big hint given in the title that the authors do not think mastery in this field is just about technology。 The acknowledge the critical importance of technology， but technology alone won't transform a business - its is application along with the culture and climate of the organisation - you know the soft stuff all about people。 Like most books that talk about things like digital transformation I'm sure this book will age quickly， but as I read it in early 2021 it seems a good place to get a broad understanding of the subject。 。。。more
Ronnie Yee
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Good explanation on how to navigate through this digital world， with tips to enhance personal businesses/enterprises to enhance the usage of technology。
Riccardo Bua
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It is one book of a kind covering the specific missing element from any digital transformation， people。 It digs deeply on how technology adoption needs to be coupled with a change in organisation values， practices/processes and most importantly its human elements。 Priceless reading for anyone looking to adopt leading edge tools and shift away from their legacy environment
Sunny Jaggi
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With emerging technologies and business models， companies today are having to decide whether to follow this trend of digital transformation or rely on maintaining the status quo of historical successes。 The Technology Fallacy is not about technology per se but instead focuses on the cultural elements of digital transformation。 The authors argue that implementing new technologies alone will not suffice for an organization to become digitally mature。 Instead， the leadership has to set the focus on With emerging technologies and business models， companies today are having to decide whether to follow this trend of digital transformation or rely on maintaining the status quo of historical successes。 The Technology Fallacy is not about technology per se but instead focuses on the cultural elements of digital transformation。 The authors argue that implementing new technologies alone will not suffice for an organization to become digitally mature。 Instead， the leadership has to set the focus on its people and their interaction and adoption of new technologies。 Subsequently， this implies a cultural shift for many organizations ready to leap forward。 This book is based on four years of study on how various organizations are having to change as more and more industries are being digitally disrupted。 By surveying 16，000 professionals on matters related to digital transformation， the authors could define three categories of digital maturity; 1） Early， 2） Developing， and 3） Maturing。 The companies falling into Early adopters are typically lacking the right ingredients to leverage new technologies and may not have it as an internal priority。 These companies are often on the losing end of any digital disruption。 Developing organizations have generally initiated a fragmented transformation journey but not yet scaled it up to deliver significant outcomes。 Maturing companies are digitally savvy and have upskilled their workforce to quickly adapt to new technologies and business models。 Such companies have incorporated digital maturity as part of their core strategy。 This book provides great practical examples of how companies in these categories are evolving and navigating their people through the ubiquitous digital disruption。 。。。more
Lee
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" The Technology Fallacy” emerged from the annual work that MIT and Deloitte have partnered on， with "Coming of Age Digitally" being the most recent version。 The book digs deeper into the topic and provides a view across multiple years of the study。Digital transformation is hard。 There are many aspects and complexities to consider in the transformation。 The authors: Gerald C。 Kane， Anh Nguyen Phillips， Jonathan R。 Copulsky， and Garth R。 Andrus have provided a strong view into the complexities， c " The Technology Fallacy” emerged from the annual work that MIT and Deloitte have partnered on， with "Coming of Age Digitally" being the most recent version。 The book digs deeper into the topic and provides a view across multiple years of the study。Digital transformation is hard。 There are many aspects and complexities to consider in the transformation。 The authors: Gerald C。 Kane， Anh Nguyen Phillips， Jonathan R。 Copulsky， and Garth R。 Andrus have provided a strong view into the complexities， considerations and thoughtfulness needed when pursuing a Digital transformation。 And， right from the cover， they make it clear that people are the key to success （and I’ll add， the reason why transformation are so hard！）。By moving from a short publication to a full book， there’s space to get much more detailed — providing more insights and more guidance。 Kane et al， take advantage of this space by offering a more fine-grained look at the data through the lens of Digital Maturity， which they define as: “aligning an organization’s people， culture， structure， and tasks to compete effectively by taking advantage of opportunities enabled by technological infrastructure， both inside and outside the organization。” Viewing transformation as an ongoing activity related to continuous growth and maturity appeals。 Too often， transformation appears within organizations as “the” goal， an end state。 Such a view misses the point of being digital and will lead to poor choices and disappointment。 Further， this view on maturity is also helpful as it takes a broad view of the alignment needed to take advantage of technology。 We can’t just focus on org structure or just some training。 Without alignment， it will be impossible to build the trust needed to take chances， gaps in knowledge， or share vulnerability。 And in a world of volatility， uncertainty， complexity and ambiguity （VUCA） — how far can we get without trust？A few additional things I’d like to highlight:- Importance of ongoing learning， adjustments and planning is critical to the success of having a digital strategy。 If the digital world is dynamic and continuously changing， how can you have a strategy that is static and followed like a script？- “In a digital environment， organizations must shift from a world of ‘scalable efficiency’ to one of ‘scalable learning。” This quote is introduced in discussions about “Digital Leadership” highlighting that there is a significant change in mindset needed — both from leadership and throughout the organization。 Who cares about efficiency if we’re not creating the right products or offering the right services？- Continuing on the topic of leadership， this following quote is important both for how we work and how we learn: “To enable change， organizations must harness effective leadership at all levels of the company…。digitally maturing organizations are less hierarchical and drive more decision making down to lower levels， where those decisions can be made more quickly and in a more informed way。” This flattening of the organization is critical both for executing and for learning — with the two moving in lockstep。- STEAM vs。 STEM: I’m a fan of discussing STEAM rather than just STEM and appreciated seeing Kane et al。 embracing this view as well。 Diversity of backgrounds is needed in organizations and the teams within — and that diversity needs to include the arts。And one last quote that I’ll highlight sets the stage for discussion: “A key facet of developing digital talent is cultivating a growth mindset。 Of course， no matter how much of a growth mindset you nurture， not everyone in your organization is capable of learning advanced technical skills， like Hadoop or machine learning。 Yet， everyone can become more digitally literate， learn to adapt better to change， and think more critically-the skills our survey respondents identify as most important for success。” 。。。more
GColucci
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change and transformation is mostly about people， stupid！。。。 but it’s complex， sometimes scary。。。 in comparison， the deepest tech is so comforting in its simplicity and its logic
Fannisa A。
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This book introduces key concepts by which readers can understand and are practical in the realm of management in a digital world。 I appreciate the practical side of things as writers have succinctly described how one would go when encountering a particular trouble and have admitted that it will inevitably be hard。 Good read for those wanting a deeper insight to digital transformation。
Peter
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A great number of books address the disruptive nature of technology and how companies can ready themselves for change。 In The Technology Fallacy， the authors deep dive into the role of people in this change process。 This often-overlooked ingredient of transformation is analysed in-depth and with sufficient examples to make a strong point for focusing on people。
Swathi Ashok Kumar
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I picked up this book for a project on Digital Maturity and I kept reading even after I was done with the project because the book is amazing and explains everything in layman's terms。With the comparison to the Wizard of Oz and the simple diagrams， even someone like me， who has really no knowledge about digital transformation and digital maturity was able to understand。A definite recommendation to anyone who is trying to learn more about the future of work in the matter of people。 I picked up this book for a project on Digital Maturity and I kept reading even after I was done with the project because the book is amazing and explains everything in layman's terms。With the comparison to the Wizard of Oz and the simple diagrams， even someone like me， who has really no knowledge about digital transformation and digital maturity was able to understand。A definite recommendation to anyone who is trying to learn more about the future of work in the matter of people。 。。。more
Dan Gorman
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It's well researched。 There's some boilerplate corporate language， but I guess that's standard for a business book。 Themes: "Digital maturity" — integrating new tech into the workflow — is what all corporations should aim for。 Organizations have to become more collaborative， （somewhat） less hierarchical， and open to experimentation to keep up with digital technology。 People adopt technology， then businesses adapt to technology， and finally the law catches up and assimilates technology。 Still， th It's well researched。 There's some boilerplate corporate language， but I guess that's standard for a business book。 Themes: "Digital maturity" — integrating new tech into the workflow — is what all corporations should aim for。 Organizations have to become more collaborative， （somewhat） less hierarchical， and open to experimentation to keep up with digital technology。 People adopt technology， then businesses adapt to technology， and finally the law catches up and assimilates technology。 Still， the fundamentals of leadership and business relations do not change， just because everything is online。 。。。more
Rob
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If there is a single thing in this book that is novel or surprising to you， you probably shouldn't be leading digital transformations in the first place。 Insights like that employees need to be able to learn quickly， or that it's important for executives to have strategic vision are so banal as to be useless。 This book is useful only as a third party source to back up conclusions you've already made based on intuition and common sense， so I'm sure it will get cited in a few corporate PowerPoints If there is a single thing in this book that is novel or surprising to you， you probably shouldn't be leading digital transformations in the first place。 Insights like that employees need to be able to learn quickly， or that it's important for executives to have strategic vision are so banal as to be useless。 This book is useful only as a third party source to back up conclusions you've already made based on intuition and common sense， so I'm sure it will get cited in a few corporate PowerPoints in the next few years。 。。。more
Per Berggreen
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This is an important book for anyone involved in any technology-related topics and most are these days。 The main conclusion seems， in short， to be: Technology considerations without People considerations is a poor investment and People considerations without Technology considerations is a poor investment。 Like many other similar books， we have heard this or alike statements for ages and to little avail。 Kane and Co。， however， takes the reader into the combined universes of technology， business， This is an important book for anyone involved in any technology-related topics and most are these days。 The main conclusion seems， in short， to be: Technology considerations without People considerations is a poor investment and People considerations without Technology considerations is a poor investment。 Like many other similar books， we have heard this or alike statements for ages and to little avail。 Kane and Co。， however， takes the reader into the combined universes of technology， business， leadership， employment， organisation， market， talent etc。 visualising and documenting impacts， effects， emerging trends based on their research - it is not a thought experiment based project but at the same time produces thought experiments。 The subtitle illustrates well the intention: "How People are the real key to digital transformation" and they abandon the "digital transformation hype" by introducing "digital maturity" and hence moved from the abstract level of the unknown meta concept to concrete and relatable term and perspective - butterflies transform， humans develop！It is filled with valuable information， input and inspiration in a fashion that actually manage to succeed in combining perspectives as you go， and not in separate chapters。 It's complicated， even complex at times to do multi-domain relating but it is hugely rewarding。The essence is old， often cliche and repeated for decades， it's still no surprise and still true as it has been throughout human history - people are the most valuable source and （not） coincidental those who invent technology。 This book intertwines perspectives and combines knowledge and stresses that technology in itself will not save much - how people are allowed and choose to apply and use technology could potentially save a lot。 Many of us know this to be true and have been struggling for decades with user adoption， experience， engagement etc。 fascinated by a new ERP， CRM， a cloud solution etc。 must all acknowledge that success is found within the use of these， not their technical implementations。In the foreword to "An introduction to Enterprise Architecture" An Introduction to Enterprise Architecturethe grand old man of this topic John A。 Zachman draws on Peter Drucker （in）famous article "The next information revolution"， 1998 to focus more on the "I" than the "T" in IT leading him to conclude the following:"I know I have a rather radical view of this， but my observation would be the whole reason you want people with technical skills in your Enterprise is not for building and running systems。 Anybody can build and run systems， the employment of technology。 The reason you want these kinds of people in your Enterprise is because they have the capability of engineering and manufacturing your Enterprise for you。 That's the reason for their being， NOT simply for building and running systems。" （Scott A。 Bernard， 3rd edition， 2012， p。8。）。This book important because it manages to direct itself towards holistic perspectives and an equally holistic audience and the authors succeed in creating a merged and embedded "People-Technology" view that makes sense from a "people|technology|leadership|business|employee|。。。。。" perspectives - it actually succeeds in producing a highly needed， accessible， well documented， research-based and thought-provoking entity all in one - highly recommended。 。。。more
Ryan O'Connor
，
Required Reading for Leaders in this Century If you want your organization to remain relevant in the near future， you’ll need to understand how digital transformation will impact you。 You’ll need to know where this transformation is going and how prepared you and your organization are to deal with it。 This book get you headed in the right direction。
Petros Cheretakis
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Common knowledge nothing new here。 Interesting but 。。Moving along
andy noble
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A worthwhile readA great book and excellent introduction to building digital capability into your organisation。 I will be using this as reference material for my next assignment
Scott Lamb
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Require reading today and tomorrow if you want to succeedEveryone should read this book on the digital fallacy。 The authors are able to describe through 23 points of DNA what companies should do to survive in this digital age。
Paiman Chen
，
A survey of more than 16，000 businesspeople worldwide about the impact of digital disruption on their organizations。 The researchers gleaned numerous insights that can help guide any company to “digital maturation。” They found that technology alone doesn’t drive digitalization。 Rather， a firm’s talent， culture， adaptability and leadership matter most。 There is also a warning not to copy another firm’s digital path outright but to adapt the process to your unique culture。
Rafael Ramirez
，
Buen libro introductorio para los empresarios que estén planeando seguir un proceso de transformación digital en sus negocios。 Basado en cuatro años de investigación llevada a cabo por el MIT Sloan Management Review junto con Deloitte （y como el título lo indica） el libro se enfoca en aspectos de liderazgo y cultura organizacional， los cuales son fundamentales para una transformación digital exitosa。 Si los directores no entienden esto， lo más probable es que acaben gastando muchísimo dinero en Buen libro introductorio para los empresarios que estén planeando seguir un proceso de transformación digital en sus negocios。 Basado en cuatro años de investigación llevada a cabo por el MIT Sloan Management Review junto con Deloitte （y como el título lo indica） el libro se enfoca en aspectos de liderazgo y cultura organizacional， los cuales son fundamentales para una transformación digital exitosa。 Si los directores no entienden esto， lo más probable es que acaben gastando muchísimo dinero en tecnologías digitales a las que no se les saque provecho， que no ayuden a crear valor para los clientes o que no les permitan capturar parte del valor creado en beneficio de sus accionistas。 Una de las ideas más interesantes del libro y que permea el análisis es la de madurez digital: de manera similar a una persona madura que actúa con fortaleza y prudencia， y que sabe adaptarse y sacar el mayor provecho de los cambios que se dan a su alrededor， una empresa digitalmente madura no es la que ya llegó a ser digital sino aquella que tiene bases operativas sólidas combinadas con la capacidad de aprender y adaptarse continuamente。 La mayor parte del libro consiste en identificar qué distingue a las empresas con madurez digital de aquellas que están intentando desarrollarla。 。。。more
Marjorie Beaugad
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Informative and clear but a bit lacking in the last few chapters， just like other books of this kind when touching on actual implementation。 Still worth the read though！
David H Deans
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Talent Development: The Real Digital TransformationSavvy industry analysts will tell you that while many executive leadership teams like to talk about their embrace of digital transformation principles， very few can actually demonstrate their claims。 Why is there a disconnect between aspirational goals and the reality within typical organizations？ It’s not about technology adoption， it’s all about people-related （talent） issues。The authors of “The Technology Fallacy” believe that the best way to Talent Development: The Real Digital TransformationSavvy industry analysts will tell you that while many executive leadership teams like to talk about their embrace of digital transformation principles， very few can actually demonstrate their claims。 Why is there a disconnect between aspirational goals and the reality within typical organizations？ It’s not about technology adoption， it’s all about people-related （talent） issues。The authors of “The Technology Fallacy” believe that the best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile， risk tolerant， and experimental。 That being said， this book is about the multitude of reasons that digital reinvention is proven to be difficult to accomplish， and how to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of progress。The author’s observations from surveys or interviews， plus their recommendations and resulting guidance， is based upon the findings from four years of research。 The body of knowledge that they’ve compiled is organized into three sections -- Navigating Digital Disruption， Rethinking Leadership and Talent for a Digital Age， Becoming a Digital Organization -- and fifteen related book chapters。Focusing on the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology makes total sense to me， based upon my own experience in working with clients to address the digital disruption challenges they’ve encountered。 The notion of Digital Darwinism came to mind as I read the author’s insights - It’s not the strongest of the species that survives， nor the most intelligent that survives。 It’s the one that is most adaptable to change。Of course， most leaders want their organizations to change， but many individuals within the organization may fear and resist any attempt to upset their ‘safe’ status quo。 In the author’s assessment， an organization’s ability to adapt to disruption is viewed as their ‘digital maturity’ journey。 Therefore， they’ve suggested an approach that will help leaders to measure how mature their organization is currently， and where they’re placed relative to their peer group。Note， they define digital maturity as “aligning an organization’s people， culture， structure and tasks to compete effectively by taking advantage of opportunities enabled by technological infrastructure， both inside and outside the organization。”I found chapter 8， The Digital Talent Mindset， to be very insightful。 As an example， the author’s research suggests that the inability to attract and retain digital talent is one of the most significant threats brought about by digital disruption。 Moreover， they uncovered two key facts in chapter 14 -- Test Fast， Learn Fast， Scale Fast -- 1） The cultures of most legacy organizations have evolved to reduce or eliminate variations necessary for the experimentation that， in turn， leads to innovation。 2） Leaders find it challenging to innovate while also keeping the company’s core businesses running efficiently and effectively。In summary， I found the ‘takeaways’ paragraphs at the end of each chapter -- entitled “what we know”， and “what you can do about it” -- to be a useful recap after you’ve finished reading the book。 Meaning， this is an actionable resource that I’ll go back to periodically for guidance。 。。。more
Matthew Cahill
，
Based on years of research into digital transformations， the book shows how people - not technology - are the key to successfully navigating the digital maturity journey。 It provides practical approaches for navigating digital disruption， adapting personal and organizational leadership for the digital age， and cultivating an organizational culture suited to thrive in a digital environment。The findings and lessons in the book are consistent with what I've seen while leading digital transformation Based on years of research into digital transformations， the book shows how people - not technology - are the key to successfully navigating the digital maturity journey。 It provides practical approaches for navigating digital disruption， adapting personal and organizational leadership for the digital age， and cultivating an organizational culture suited to thrive in a digital environment。The findings and lessons in the book are consistent with what I've seen while leading digital transformations in financial services over the past decade。 By recognizing that people - both customers and employees - are the key to digital transformation， organizations can unlock the capabilities required to transform and compete in the digital age。I encourage any business or IT leader faced with guiding their organization through the digital maturity journey to become intimately familiar with the teachings and guidance contained in this excellent book。 I know I'll be sharing it with my clients and teams！ 。。。more
Sergio Caredda
，