Thiago Kiwi speaks with Lyndsey Jones and Balvinder Singh Powar about how to make digital transformation happen: why it’s important, how to avoid roadblocks on the way, and how to create lasting change.
They are the authors of the recent business education book: “Going Digital: What it takes for smoother transformations”.
Implementing changes in the workplace can be difficult as most people are resistant to change. Implementing digitization can be even harder.
In this podcast, Thiago Kiwi speaks with Lyndsey Jones and Balvinder Singh Powar about how to go about digital transformation at work: how to avoid blockers, how motivation can go a long way, and how to create lasting change.
They speak about:
Former Executive Editor at the Financial Times and Author of Going Digital.
Lyndsey Jones is a publishing consultant, digital transformation expert, strategic advisor, and coach, working with media groups in Africa and Europe either independently or via Wan-Ifra, Women in News, and FT Strategies.
She also coaches European media groups on reader revenue models and business transformation as part of Wan-Ifra’s Table Stakes Europe programme.
Jones is a board advisor on journalism, leadership, and innovation at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK as well as a keynote speaker, chairing and presenting international webinars on digital transformation
With an outstanding career and over 20 years working with the Financial Times, she led digital transformation of the newsroom, streamlining operations from print to digital which in turn helped to drive subscriptions and boost revenue.
Learn more about Lyndsey Jones
Adjunct Professor and Business Mentor at IE Business School and Headspring, and Author of Going Digital.
Balvinder is an Associate Professor at IE Business School where he lectures on diverse topics of his expertise such as Leadership, Team Management and Motivation, Conflict Resolution Skills, Entrepreneurship, and the New Commercial Space Industry. He is also a Business Mentor at “The Founder Institute” and holds an MA in Mediation at the University of London.
Balvinder is CCO & MD Spain of as well as an Executive Board member of BOOSTER Space Industries, a pioneering and innovative entrepreneurial organisation with several divisions and subsidiaries around the World, that was built to coordinate and implement a private space transportation offer and change the future of luxury adventure travel.
Balvinder is passionate about the importance of building strong and effective teams and enabling projects which push boundaries. His extensive and varied professional background has taken him through a multitude of exciting projects where he is the partner or founder such as Rootevity, Pura, or Unfold Work .
Learn more about Balvinder Singh PowarEvery business out there is on its own transformation path. Are there any good examples of organisations that have got it right? One good example that we mention in the book is Zoom. Their culture is all about happiness. It’s amazing that that’s what the company is focused on around and that their core value is delivering happiness to employees, customers, and communities. And they really put the emphasis on soft skills and keeping their employees happy. I really liked that we really focused in on that as part of what culture can mean and, and part of that was trusting their employees as well. I think trust is something that came up time and again with delivering successful transformation projects, you've got to eat, you've got to trust your employees to deliver these things.
You mentioned getting people onboard who want to see the project happen. Are there any ways to ensure getting the right people on board from the start? BBVA started to do something which was surprising to us. To get rid of the power, and maybe the bias of the leader on some projects, they do something called liquid pool. That means that people bid internally to do a project. So, they're not being guided by a leader, the attraction is that they bid to a project that they find interesting, and you employ the best people for the job of the project. And that was very interesting for us, because that's normally what an external provider might do, or a type of website looking for talent, but they apply that internally into the company.