Loyalty – Departments are often organized as separate entities with their own agendas, deliverables, and budgets. This mindset has to change: loyalty to the organization must necessarily come first, creating a shared consciousness. Departmental and personal agendas must be set aside; employees should be loyal to the organization’s mission, this will unite efforts, expertise, and resources.
Empathy – It is impossible to change an organization from within unless both the management and the employees feel the pain and understand the necessity for change to sustain the organization.
Relationships – The autonomous silo, formerly the core unit of the organization, needs to be replaced with relationships based on two-way communication between management and employees, department heads, and employees of different functional groups. Relationships based on loyalty to the organization need to bridge existing departments.
Transparency – At the center of these two-way relationships, stakeholders must let go of the traditional impulse to control or hoard information and encourage a culture of openness and trust. Transparency reveals opportunity.
Trust – Trust is four-sided. The management team must trust the employees with vital information; department heads must trust each other to share challenges and collaborate, not compete; the organization must share information and ideas with partners and suppliers across digital channels; and finally, the organization must deal honestly with its customers, developing trust.
Commitment and Consistency – The adoption of a broad-based strategic plan such as digital integration must be committed to and implemented consistently across all departments.
Proactivity – We need to proactively incorporate change and disruption, recognizing them as strategic opportunities instead of obstacles. Being proactive translates to being vigilant about industry innovation, acting on data related to user experiences, and designing responses that lead, instead of follow, the competition.