What happens when a school decides iPads equal digital transformation? The same thing that happens when billion-dollar corporations choose ERP systems before understanding their problems.
This episode dissects a real school’s iPad rollout disaster and connects it to failed transformations at General Electric and Haribo. The pattern is always the same: organizations choose their tools first, then spend all their energy implementing those tools without ever questioning whether they’re solving the right problem.
Why do we keep confusing means with ends? Why do the loudest voices win while the quiet ones with better ideas get ignored? And what happens when we actually start with people and processes instead of products?
Key Takeaways:
- Tools are never solutions – they’re means to an end
- Start with people, especially the quiet voices who often have the best insights
- Design processes with those who will live them
- Choose tools last, based on what you learn from people and processes
- Test small before scaling big – pilot projects save millions
- Most digital transformation failures happen because we digitize the wrong things efficiently
Real examples from a school iPad program, GE Digital’s billion-dollar failure, and Haribo’s supply chain disaster – plus what organizations that get it right do differently.
