Digital Transformation: Embracing the Emotions

Photo by Madison Oren on Unsplash

I’m an emotional person.

As in, I’m highly sensitive to the emotions of those around me, which has its pros and cons. It helps me bring empathy to my work, but it also makes me operate in a ‘I must find a way to make this better’ mode, which isn’t always realistic or achievable. 

This got me thinking a little about my own experiences, witnessed and lived, and the emotions involved in digital transformation.

Being in this space for a while I’ve observed how the emotions tied to different stages in transformation dictate the way the cultural norms are set for the team, and in some cases a whole organisation. 

In the majority of cases transformation is done with all the best intentions. Be it:

• Creating cost efficiencies in the organisation

• Making users lives easier

• Better experiences

• Better security

• Doing the right thing

• Automation and modernisation

This all affects the leaders and teams involved in making it achievable. Tough decisions need to be made that won’t be easy and as humans, change can usually feel uncomfortable. 

What fascinates me is how emotions evolve along the way. And how they radically affect the cultural norms that are perceived as accepted behaviours during these times.

To help illustrate this, let's take two points in a transformation journey as examples from the perspectives of a team member and team leadership:

Inception emotions

Testing emotions

The above only covers a couple of phases and emotions but the main point I’m trying to convey is how they can set the tone for the cultural vibe. It’s important to get it right and communicate rigorously so everyone hears, understands, and has an opportunity to respond.

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Having observed and absorbed a lot from teams that have done transformation well and sometimes not so well, I've learnt:

1. It's hard: At the start it can feel exciting. It can feel overwhelming. It can feel pretty exhilarating looking at the possibilities of what can be achieved. But at some point, it will also feel frustrating. Frustrating coming up against all the governance of an organisation, and all the battles you need to win as a leader. The words courage, resilience and bravery come to mind. To feel courageous, you need unparalleled confidence and that only comes with a level of stability that you need as a leader to steer your team, and your organisation forward.

2. To own it: If you’re a leader, take accountability and embrace the uncertainty in a collaborative way. You won’t be the only one feeling it. If you’re in the team delivering, be honest and open with peers and seniors. Don’t hold back. Be bold.

3. It’s a rollercoaster. There are levels of: 

   1. disappointment that sets in when things don’t go to plan

   2. frustration when governance blocks creativity.

   3. overwhelming exhaustion from fighting the good fight

   4. contentment that may stick when individuals make it purposefully hard to construct any resolution and success. 

   5. absolute relief when it all works. 

   6. pure excitement when users are engaging and feeding back consecutive positivity. 

   7. renewed energy you get to make things even better. 

   8. grace and gratitude you feel for your colleagues and your team, and the people that believed in the mission.

   9. forgiveness you hold for those that made it difficult, with a stoic set of humility and belief to help educate others through their own journeys.

      
      

4. Graceful acceptance: You win some, you lose some. And that’s not an easy pill to swallow.

Throughout the years I've learnt that the one emotion that trumps it all is patience. It’s absolutely necessary, sorry, crucial, to create a culture of honesty and camaraderie.

And that’s not just patience with the system or the cogs that make it work. It's patience with your team, your leadership, your stakeholders, shareholders and all the people that believe in the mission. It's emotional transformation.