Chess Not Checkers: A Definitive Architectural Path to Succeed Your Digital Transformation

Chess not Checkers:
Architect your Transformation
Sriram Sabesan
November 8, 2018
Inspired by the book: Chess not Checkers: Elevate your Leadership Game by Mark Miller

Agenda
Defining Point A and Point B
The Value Gap
Misconceptions leading to ineffective outcomes
Defining the Journey to Bridge the Gap
The Seven Levers Model
The Assessment and Governance Model
Traveling Light – 7 Week Sprints
1© Conexiam, 2018 (Free Distriribution)Straightforward Answers to Complex Problems

Understanding the bookends

Change Initiative
Point A
A spectrum of achievements or barriers
Isolated automation / excellence
Experimenting / using modern technologies
Zone 3 (Incubation throughput)
Future Risks
Margins
Incomplete M&A
Locally optimized
Opportunity gaps
Point B
Achieve
improved/better human experiences
and
(personal / business) operating efficiencies,
and
by evolving the products and services
to which customers will remain loyal

The Value Gap
Desired Future
Reality
Planning HorizonCurrent State

This, Not That

Root Cause Buckets
Picture Credit: Noun Project Xela Ub and Pixabay
EnterpriseVision / “Why” is not clear
Shaky Foundations
FOMO Based Initiatives

Automation ≠ Amplification
There are four different kinds of IT
(Automation)
To improve efficiency of (value adding) internal operations
To improve efficiency of technology management & delivery
(Amplification)
As an insight provider for next generation of products, services and decision makers
Be an integral part of a product or service to maximize utility
Technology Boundaries are being erased
Operational Technology and Information Technology are merging
Specialized activities are happening outside the traditional legal or physical boundaries

Digital ≠ Digitized
Digitized
Focus is on efficiency and operational backbone
Commoditized activities over differentiators or judgmental / intuitive
Operational Excellence and cost management
Digital
Innovation
Revenue Generation and Growth
Churn vs loyalty

Agile ≠ Agility
A Project Management Approach
Move Quickly / Being light in movement
Think, Understand – being alert
Willingness to Fail & Improve
Adapt to change
Delivery of Incremental Value
Alertness
the ability to quickly detect changes,
opportunities, and threats
Accessibility
the ability to access relevant information
Decisiveness
the ability to make decisions resolutely using
the available information
Swiftness
the ability to implement decisions within the
opportunity window
Flexibility
the ability to modify tactics and operations to
implement its strategy
Characteristic / Behavior of a Business

Not Incurring A Value Gap
Picture Credit: Pixabay

What is needed?
1. Completeness and Confidence Model
2. Understanding and Analysis Model
3. Architectural Thinking
4. Timely & Incremental Delivery
5. Agility by Design




We Got The Right Model - 1
Supported by:
Risk
Security
Ethics

Significance of the Sequence
Digital Backbone (business process
transformation)
Do you have insights into your
operations? Repetitive, Rigidity, Cycle
Time, Value Add
Customer Experience & Engagement
How difficult it is for you to know
what delights & what the essentials
are?

Information Technology Transformation
Are you using technology to amplify or
automate? Are they limited by change
frequency?
Products & Service Digitization
How difficult it is for you to
understand the usage patterns of your
solutions?

Organization Culture (Execution, Delivery,
Risk-Reward)
How is the know-how protected? And
the directional correctness managed?
Leadership (Strategy & Vision)
Are you deliberately making “dark
pattern choices” or “collective growth
choices”?

Supported by: Risk, Security & Ethics
Are you pushing or guiding the
industry choices regarding its
operations and customers?
Ecosystem
Can you balance differentiation and
standardization? Are you delivering a
whole package to your customer?

Penalty of Not Pulling a Lever!

We Got The Right Model - 2

Assessment Focus
A set of 25 questions about the Moving Parts
Understanding Static vs Dynamic
Automation vs Integration
Rate of Change vs Isolation of Change
Margin and new Revenue
Origins of Debt – Inability to achieve value from a change initiative
Preferences
Controls

What do we Build?
Goal
Objective Capability
Value
Proposition
Business
Process
Information AutomationStakeholder
Concerns
Specification /
Requirement
Initiatives Projects
Technologies
Business
Financial
Information
Technology
Threats /
Risks
Controls
What
Products &
Services

Create
Solutions
Realize
Value
The Lifecycle
22© Conexiam, 2018 (Free Distriribution)Straightforward Answers to Complex ProblemsImages by Unknown Author(s) licensed under CC BY-NC and
Noun Project
Refine
Architecture
Enable
Parallelism *
Elaborate
Architecture
Fund
Initiatives *
Assure Directional Correctness Iterate
Create
Architecture
Guide
Decisions
* Steps where the architect reduced the information burden for decision making

Conclusion

Key Takeaways!
1. Inculcate and develop an Architectural Mindset
2. Work toward 4 different technology organizations
3. Empower the leadership and delivery management teams with
full traceability
4. Balance the top-down thinking with the bottom-up innovations

Three Things to Remember
Completeness check Model – the 7 Levers
Assessment & Governance Model – Navigate™
Iterative & Incremental Delivery before Decisions

We Share
We take pride in sharing our thinking
openly
Provide useful guidance for people
who want to shape their team & deliver
value to their enterprise
Raise the bar on the professional
conversation
Differentiate framing the problem &
approach to solving the problem

Thank you
‘Be Assured of the Path to Completion’
Picture Credit: Noun Project – Gan Khoon Lay
sriram.sabesan@conexiam.com
+1.201.204.0528
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sriramsabesan/

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