The Rules of the Game have Changed, but the Goal is the Same

I'm on the board of our local hockey league. I coached my son (who is now 19) all the way from House league to Midget and my daughter continues to play today. Earlier this month we got the call we had all been waiting for: the kids could get back on the ice.

Because it's 2020, there were a few new rules in play.

One of the big updates was the rule that centermen must wear masks. Not just their helmets and face shields but also a mask. They can pull the mask down after the puck is dropped but should the puck go into a corner, the play is immediately stopped.

Hearing these new rules had me wondering if watching these hockey games would be like watching a game of table hockey. But then I realized that no matter what the rules are on how to play the game, the goal remains the same.

We’ve got some new rules in business, but the goal remains the same

It’s almost the six-month mark since the world went into lockdown and many companies are back to business. Just like the kids getting back on the ice, the scenario for us in business is the same. While this global “time-out” has changed the way we view the world, a transformation has taken place.

We’re still doing business, but not in the same way.

Remember how we used to get coffee? You’d walk up to the counter, line up directly behind the person ahead, and you’d tell the person behind the counter what you’d like in your coffee. Then it was all about crowding at the other end of the counter to wait for the barista to mispronounce your name.

No masks, no gloves, no social distancing.

Now, there is no chance that someone will mispronounce your name because you’ve written it on the cup yourself. Today, you download the app, plug in your information including your credit card, place your order, and pay for it. Then you go to the location, where your cup, with your name on it, waits for you.

The time-out accelerated the transformation that was already happening

This is the real transformation: we’re experiencing a digital reality that has changed the way we live, work, and play in a manner that modifies how we do business well beyond 2020.

“Digital transformation is fundamentally about changing the operating model of the business. Transformation happens only when a firm begins to use software to create sustainable differential customer value. In effect, the business evolves into a hybrid technology company — or a digital business.”[1]

For most companies, the only way they are staying in business is to transform digitally, and it is people that are driving that imperative. We’ve fundamentally changed the way we live and work, and this is impacting all businesses. Take real estate, for example. The need for office space is falling, but the demand for bigger homes has increased because people are now working and playing in the same space.[2]

We’ve changed how we buy coffee, where we want to live, how we want to work, how to be more productive; companies that embrace that change will succeed. The rules of the game are different but the goal remains the same.

Play by the new rules, or get off the ice.

“Enterprises that have customer centricity and a data-driven mindset are the most likely to succeed with a digital transformation initiative.”[3]

Back on the ice and ready to move forward

Now is not the time to move to the side or backwards. Like a game of hockey, it is time to move the puck forward.

This year taught us that we cannot always predict the future, but we can certainly plan for it.

“Right now, companies must focus on modernizing their core digital capabilities to seamlessly sell, engage, and support customers on digital channels. This is table stakes.”[4]

Get your sticks on the ice – we’re playing to win.

[1]Forrester, Growth-Mode Digital Strategy: Modernize and Transform, Nigel Fenwick, https://go.forrester.com/blogs/growth-mode-digital-strategy-modernize-and-transform/

[2] The Globe and Mail, ‘It’s a 180-degree turn’: Toronto realtors see signs of a pandemic exodus, Carolyn Ireland, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/article-toronto-realtors-see-signs-of-a-pandemic-exodus/

[3] Forbes, Why Digital Transformation Always Needs to Start with Customers First, Louis Columbus, https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/08/30/why-digital-transformation-always-needs-to-start-with-customers-first/#50267a752c61

[4] Forrester, Growth-Mode Digital Strategy: Modernize and Transform, Nigel Fenwick,   https://go.forrester.com/blogs/growth-mode-digital-strategy-modernize-and-transform/