MIT Sloan Management Review Article on The New Digital Mandate: Cultivate Dissatisfaction

What’s the most powerful driving force behind digital transformation? It’s not mobile or analytics or even artificial intelligence (AI), although those are enablers. It’s not fastmoving, well-funded digital startups, although they accelerate the pace and put pressure on incumbents. It’s something deeper and more overarching; something powerful yet underappreciated in management. The most powerful driver of effective digital transformation is dissatisfaction.

People who transform their organizations must be aggravated enough with the current situation that they’re willing to bear the effort and risk to change it. Leaders who want their organizations to continuously transform must not only look for dissatisfaction on which to capitalize, but also be willing to cultivate dissatisfaction in their employees.