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Should we still use the term “digital”?  A colleague challenged me last week on whether we should strip it out of our vernacular and simply say Strategy instead of “Digital Strategy” or Business instead of “Digital Business” and just transformation instead of “Digital Transformation”.  I’ve always thought of digital transformation as a level of maturity, a gradual process that unfolds across the organization over time. In that context, disruptive technologies in my experience, are much further ahead than most organization’s ability to capitalize on them. This is not a slight, but rather the reality of exponential tech and the pace of change. Technology is simply progressing much faster than our operating models are able to adapt.

So in this context,  I think it's fair to still use “digital” as a qualifier...to almost everything. Yes, even if it seems outdated. Why? Because change is difficult. In...

For those of us who remember a technology-free childhood without the stress of being liked on Instagram or unfriended on Facebook, we likely remember a workforce where leaders were a much different breed than they are today.  

Starting out in my career, I recall the expectation of “leadership” excellence was different than it is today:

• Information was power. Leaders were expected to have all the answers. Companies were not yet “ecosystems” where knowledge flows in and out. They were mostly insular and closed.
• Leaders drew power from their exclusive access to data. They seemed to be the only ones “in the know”.  Data was not yet in the cloud, networked or accessible to all.
• Leaders had to appear in control, sure of the direction and confident in their 10-year strategic plans.
• Mistakes were not easily tolerated, definitely not encouraged nor something you should readily admit to.

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Fast Forward a short 10 years and the world is:

Fear is a gift. I’m not talking about fear of fire or heights - the common sense, life-saving fear. I’m talking about the ego-based self-talk kind of fear that tells you to move away from discomfort. We all know this inner voice. It tells us that status quo is good, it’s safe. Stick to security and avoid the unknown. Yet the unknown is the space of pure potential.  I’ve learned to trust in fear as a sign that I’m heading in the direction of growth and purpose.

Very early in my career, I began to use it as fuel.   I left a secure University position with benefits and a pension to take a one-year contract with an NHL club (a dream position as an avid sports enthusiast.) Are you sure about this?, they said.  It’s so hard to find a pension these days. Free education for yourself, your spouse and future kids they continued. I not only pursued the opportunity but managed to turn a one-year maternity leave contract into nine...

A doctor, a lawyer and a cop walk into a bar… This classic joke opener is a sure bet because it offers up three different “types” of people that we are likely to recognize or will be able relate to. You could call these characters personas.

In working with marketing, BI and sales teams over the years, I've noticed a regular misuse of the terms segments and personas. Although often used in complementary ways, they are not one and the same. Here’s how I would differentiate:

Market Segments

The purpose of market segmentation is to identify groups of customers (or potential customers) within a market. Markets tend to be geographical or a particular industry vertical.  Once identified, these groups are referred to as segments and allows the organizations to then target particular products, services or marketing messages to those segments over time.

Photo by Jens Johnsson on Unsplashtation

Customer Segments

Customer segments are created primarily to be...