“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success nor dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”
—Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, in 1513

Recently, I was meeting with a friend and speaking about why digital transformation fails. This exec works at a global software provider where he heads content planning for client demonstrations and solution architecting. He offered this insight, “We have corporate C-Suite visitors come in to see what new technologies we can offer them to stay competitive and become more effective. They are always wowed. And then they say they have introduced new tech in the past, and the biggest problem is cultural acceptance, adoption, and in essence, changing the way the company works. We can provide all sorts of technical advancements, but at the end of the day, if we can’t help the client with the culture change that is needed, we won’t build trust and ensure repeat and increased business.”

Today’s business world is driven by a never-ending game of catch-up with technology. We continually introduce new apps, platforms, and devices and are increasingly adopting AI, Big Data, and robotics—all in an effort to increase efficiency and drive performance. But humans can’t keep up. In fact, most of us don’t like change. And organizations (groups of humans) are even more inclined to reject change. The foundation of change requires making and keeping commitments, communications, and collaboration. Recent research by Gartner shows better communication and collaboration can increase productivity by 25-35%. What is the role of culture in change and transformation in creating an environment where people show up, take care of each other, and take risks in advancing personal, team, and company success?”

In this Roundtable, you will see and hear how Territory, a design consultancy, has worked with organizations around the world to manage strategy, innovation, planning, transformation to create better outcomes by leveraging a work forward approach and creating compelling visual activation tools to inspire and delight.