This document discusses developing a digital mindset for non-digital leaders. It emphasizes that becoming a digital organization is about behavior and mindset, not just technology. A digital mindset values simplicity, customer obsession, and frontline focus. It also values speed, experimentation, learning from failures, and adapting through ambiguity. Leaders must create environments where teams can experiment quickly, remove impediments to speed, and prioritize customer value, collaboration, and transparency over bureaucracy.

1. DEVELOPING A DIGITAL MINDSET
FOR NON DIGITAL LEADERS
Fiona Phillips

2. PROJECT FAILURE
RATE IS HIGH
Gartner reports that 75%
of all projects fail to meet
their objectives

3. YOU DON’T
BECOME A DIGITAL
ORGANISATION
THROUGH
TECHNOLOGY

4. WHAT DO
WE MEAN BY
DIGITAL MINDSET
Hatred for
bureaucracy
& complexity
Obsession
with the front
line
Passion for
the customer
a mindset is a set of beliefs
and a way of thinking that
informs behaviour

5. SPEED IS THE
NEW FRONTIER
“Don’t break down big
things into big plans.
Break big things into small
things with small plans.”
- Jeff Patton

6. THE ZONE
BETWEEN GOOD
GOVERNANCE
AND COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
GOVERNANCE
FRAMEWORKS
CUSTOMER
VALUE
PROCESSES
& TOOLS
SPEED OF EXECUTION

7. It’s behavioural!
IDEAS
DATA &
INSIGHTS MVPs
BuildLearn
Measure
DELIVER VALUE
FAST

8. EXPERIMENT
BEFORE SCALING
Evolve from idea to delivery
using a thin slice of cross
functional capability

9. Founder-led companies outperform the rest by 3:1
Founder’s
Index
1990 20141994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Other 2014 S&P 500
Companies
Source: The Founder's Mentality. Zook & Allen
Autonomy - the need to direct
your own life and work
Mastery - the desire to improve
Purpose - working towards
something larger and more
important than ourselves
WHY THIS IS
IMPORTANT

10. BEYOND THE
THEATRE OF AGILE

11. Capable of
holding multiple
points of view;
being open to the
possibilities of the
unknown
TRAITS OF AN ADAPTIVE LEADER
Curious, always
asking “how does
that work?” or
“I wonder if?”
Tolerant of
ambiguity, using
experiments
and measures to
clear the fog
See the system
at work; gets off
the dance floor
and onto the
balcony

12. “The illiterate of the 21st century will
not be those who cannot read and write.
It will be those who cannot learn,
unlearn and relearn”
- Alvin Toffler

13. HOW TO RESPOND
● Create the condition that allow teams to
experiment and feel the new way of
working
● Identify and eradicate the impediments to
speed
● Get off the dancefloor and
onto the balcony
● Build feedback and learning loops
● Be patient

14. LOOK FOR
THE EVIDENCE
that shows you moving
in the right direction
CURIOSITY
over judgement
EXPERIMENTATION
over detail
From ENTERPRISES
to ECOSYSTEMS
SPEED
over perfection
COLLABORATION
over hierarchy
TRANSPARENCY
over compliance
DIVERSITY of thought

15. “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
- John F Kennedy

16. ● Get out of the way and create conditions
for aligned autonomy
● Measure the behaviour you want to change
● Use experiments to test and learn
and test again
● Prioritise connecting with your customers
and frontline
● Reward what you want to reinforce
● Recognise the discomfort of the anti-pattern
WHERE TO FOCUS

17. BOOK
CLUB

18. THANKS FOR LISTENING
fiona.phillips@thoughtworks.com