MGMT 601: Book Review - Driving Digital: Business Transformation

This report provides a comprehensive review of the book "Driving Digital: The Leader’s Guide to Business Transformation Through Technology." The review is structured into three parts: a summary of the book's key points, an analysis addressing the purpose, audience, authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage of the book, and a section detailing the reviewer's key learnings. The book emphasizes the importance of digital transformation and provides a practical guide for leaders. It covers topics such as digital strategy formulation, IT and business practice transformation, the role of culture, agile practices, data science programs, product management, and digitally driven decision-making processes. The review assesses the book's strengths and weaknesses, considering its relevance to current business trends and the qualifications of the author, Isaac Sacolick. The report highlights the book's practical approach, its focus on actionable strategies, and its potential for helping leaders navigate the complexities of digital transformation within their organizations. The analysis also points to the book's limitations, such as the lack of a reference list, and suggests areas for improvement. Overall, the review offers valuable insights into the book's content and its applicability to real-world business scenarios.

''Driving Digital: The Leader's Guide to Business
Transformation Through Technology ''

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................1
PART B: ADDRESSING EACH CATEGORY.............................................................................2
PART C: LEARNING FROM BOOK............................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

PART A: SUMMARY
The book Driving Digital: The leader’s guide to business transformation through
technology is closely linked to digital transformation over the years. In this book, there is
presence of different theoretical concepts related to significance of digital transformation to
business offered an actual game plan for purpose of driving the digital transformation. It has
stated about transformation imperative and at beginning of case and continuing for the digital
transformation for avoiding obsolescence. Each company has plan for updating technologies,
products and business processes but in the present scenario, digitalisation is on race. The
individuals who were charged through leading the company’s technology driven change, intense
pressure due to correct path is unclear.
Further, until chapter 7 it has shown practices engaged in digital transformation and
offering of relevant examples that drive home the points. It has also described about business
requirements to initiate through creating a digitally driven IT company and also utilizes the agile
practices driven through market and customer feedback. In the similar series, there is description
that how to create alignment of the organisation through instituting data driven and digital
practices in other enterprise parts. It comprises product development, Sales, Marketing and
Finance. Henceforth, there is discussion of significant culture role in transformation program
laying focus on requirement to gain the support of stakeholder group i.e. Executive team, CEO,
Board, employees and management. For purpose of driving digital, there is presence of detailed
aspects to formulate the digital strategy, transforming IT and business practices (Sacolick, 2017).
Driving digital has absence of better time as cycles of technological change directly
appear to accelerate. In the present scenario, it seems that if business has absence of blare related
to commitment of forward thinking to Big Data, artificial intelligence, Internet of things or
Cloud. The business and information technology is in tight embrace within 20th century and
consideration and growth momentum in the 21st. The similar pattern of decreasing size and cost,
raises power along with adoption of innovative techniques to continue to hold well in 21st
century. In this, information age directly seems enamoured of its success and even there are
numerous guides for helping business to attain success for driving gains and to observe progress
via digital transformation (Brown, 2017). Numerous leaders information technology is highly
cost centre first along with unreliable guarantor for success in the future.
1

It has been stated that one who had stayed in transformation is capable for demonstrating
the best practices as success path as this book consists of different examples that what could not
be done. The businesses care through demonstrating strategic advantage and growth in top line
revenue for smarter decisions as well. There is also representation for those who serve as CTO,
CIO and in other leadership role with requirement of work with code or legacy systems that is
created originally. With reference to critical errors that different leadership positions make with
reliance on spread sheet and database silos are not taken lightly. The best way to attain the
strategic objectives of organization could be done via process and technology.
The book has also inhibit the components related to modern digital world and all the
prospects of digital thinking that can be directly related to any business activity. The book has
included various digitally driven decision making process that a leader can adopt for any critical
decision making process. All the contents that directly suggest the involvement of digitally
driven techniques are framed to align with different leadership activities also.
The book has generated all its suggestions highly based on practicality and ease of
implementation and execution of every detailed plan. It has also provided the selection of
management activities to increase customers’ opportunities and value to the organization with
the help of innovative techniques taking into consideration to data sciences.
Similarly, the content of book has provided all the elementary function of supporting
agents that are required within an organization to conduct a digital based activity and operation.
It has laid its focus on building a suitable team of operation by formulating different
management and leadership techniques and models. The book is highly interesting in generating
its lessons inclining towards the development of agile culture to facilitate all the digital driven
activities. It has recommended different systematic process for leaders to manage manpower.
The leadership program given in book has highlighted the importance of digital
technologies to perform processes. It has focused on the advantages of using technologies such a
different business software to gain cost effectiveness and to cope up with time constraints. There
is recommendation for leadership’s four step process such as getting the IT team ready with
different digital practices, propelling innovation and investment, developing the foundations for
digital execution and driving digital culture and growth. The book has suggested the processes of
team building capabilities with respect to the management, execution of all digital driven
2

activities. The lessons can be applicable to all the primary, secondary and tertiary activities
which facilitate leaders to design suitable plan with the involvement of digitalization.
The special emphasis is on team and culture features are highly thoughtful due to that
anyone has operated in profession of IT, as one could not undertake transformational challenge.
The book has laid emphasis on making the content clear for entrepreneurs, businessmen,
executives of the organization. It has included the components of strategic practices for digital
transformation, IT practices and other related practices. Further driving digital is highly replete
through practical lessons on varietal complex topics and to manage for good read. It had laid
focus on three particular practices such as data science programs, agile development and product
management. However, organizations have requirement of product management for researching
markets, determining customer opportunities, elaborated persona and value proposition of
innovative offerings are documented. In addition to this, the content has also promoted initiatives
related to track and capture ROI with the involvement of strategic data sciences and decision
making practices. Agile is highly censorious as this enables for bringing customer feedback
within development cycle and in need of participants for collaborating on priorities, speeding
market along with constraints. Furthermore, data sciences have presence of two key roles as in
initial it is very hard for delivering new product along with service with some data form or
capability of analytics (Rovniak, 2017). Secondly, data scientist could aggregate information
through various sources and representing the point of truth related to quality, productivity,
customer opinion or performance of the product.
PART B: ADDRESSING EACH CATEGORY
Purpose and
Audience
The book “Driving Digital: The leader’s guide to business information
through technology” shows impact of digitalization in business which is in
the race. Its main purpose is to state secret that every business should
confront for succeeding with digital transformation. In the present era, the
disruptive startups have outperforms industry stalwarts, executives pushes
greater innovation and growth. For purpose of staying competitive demand
has completed digital transformation and for professionals charged
withrough leading technology driven change, intense pressure along with
forward path is not clear as well. It has a principle aim of guiding the
3

readers about strategic digital frameworks that can be taken into
consideration while making elementary business decisions. Furthermore,
there is also an intention of conceptualizing various suitable model of
building technological capabilities to design digital products through
strategic product management processes. The main audience of this book is
CIO, CTO as leader in a company contemplate business transformation or a
person tries for making sense of everything digital and would attain benefit
through driving digital in clear format, straightforward manner which
signifies to be a digital business. It is based on secondary source as data has
been undertaken from Forbes interview, scholarly books and journals.
Authority Isaac Sacolick is successful CIO which had led digital transformation, agile,
data science programs and innovation in multiple companies. There is
transformation for business which is underperforming through offering
unique digital products, enabling the agile practices, investing in strategic
technologies, outsourcing major commodity services and develops
performance metrics. The author is technical and has presence of actual
been hands on for at least three transformations. There author could speak
with authority due to deep enough in weeds for perspective of reader for
trusting recommendations and analysis. On basis of education, he has done
BS, Electrical engineering from Binghamton University and MS, Electrical
Engineering from The University of Arizona. Further, he has experience of
more than 30 years as of now he is president of Star CIO, digital
transformation. The qualifications and experiences have provided adequate
knowledge to the author to lay out suitable practices in terms of all
elementary business decisions and product management activities. Isaac
Sacolick has generated all the content of this book on the basis of past
learning he made in the field of digital driving through promotion of IT and
agile practices and other similar digitally driven initiatives. It is published
through American Management Association which is world leader in talent
development, skill advancement for driving success of the business.
Accuracy & In this book, there is absence of reference list such that information could
4

Reliability not be verified. Apart from this, this book also gives trustworthy
information because experience is the most important aspect in this present
scenario. On the contrary, there is presentation of numerous facts which are
documented in systematic aspect. The content of book is reliable and
relevant enough with the current scenario within organizations because of
the efficiency and capability of author of presenting all his strategic
learning with perspective of modern organizations.
Objectivity This book has stated about digital transformation which not only says about
implementation and technology. This is all about observing the strategy of
business via lens of technical capabilities and how the alterations has
operated and generated the revenue. The main aim of digital transformation
is about automating numerous operations, producing revenue leveraging
digital capabilities and up bring the convenience and customer values. It has
also covered some practical techniques of developing data science and
digital decision making processes with an objective of digitalizing an
organization in every possible aspect. It has been observed that book is
biased for businesses must go digital but the fact is that digitalization is
actual business future to gain competitive advantage throughout the world.
Currency The information in this book is current as its publication year is 2017 and
digital business is current trend. In this context, there are various disruptive
startups which lead to advancement of technology of latest development
programs. It must be on basis of current information as every business has
desire for undertaking transformation of the business via technology.
Moreover, it should be appropriate to undertake current information
because it would be implied to coming generation so it should be linked
with things which are based on current scenario. By going through the
relevancy of techniques and digital technologies involved by the author, one
can find that the content is build in reference with latest business
technologies and can be easily adopted by modern organizations.
Coverage This book had covered the entire topic related to leadership and human
behavior at the workplace. It had omitted the use of digital trends with
5

cultural perspective because in this era, culture also plays significant role
for generating revenue and competitive edge. The most important aspect
has been omitted is working as per interest and moving towards unique
steps. It is acknowledged as well as this book significantly contributes to
specific field and discipline. The book has basically covered technical part
and requirements of a digitally driven technology and associate it with the
organizational culture and leadership entity.
PART C: LEARNING FROM BOOK
The most important aspect of subject of book is driving digital transformation every day
reflects other opportunity for performing something which aggregated value of customers for
making company in faster and smarter aspects. While driving digital, author lays out the building
blocks vital for successful transformation and shows an approach. Along with it, the book has
introduced me with the fact that the agile practices can be highly profitable for a digitally driven
organization which can also facilitate the organizational culture and model (Liu, Zhang, Leng &
Chen, 2019). It has shown that agile is considered as key for transformational practices from
chapter two as establishing basic agile practices might enable companies for executing at higher
level. On the contrary, for truly transforming a company and agile practices should evolve for
considering operation and marketing with other functional areas. Moreover, the organization
should adopt the agile culture. Further, other aspect has attracted as IT culture as team shares
same principles and values would develop their own culture. The team values might be tied to
different practices like agile whereas other values might be business related and aspirational
along with capability for delivering new and unique solutions. Moreover, culture brings people
together for collaborating and solving issues and it is very significant for working on unique
culture in the Information system. I have learnt that application and development of suitable
working environment is highly important for bringing any change within any workplace and for
cultivating a digitally driven organization, the need of agile culture is elementary.
The data driven organization is innovative aspect gained in this study where data and
analytics are leveraged as core competency for enabling transformation with high necessity in
the company. To be highly data driven is business imperative for organizations which are trying
6

for competing in such environment of rapid alterations in market conditions. Simultaneously, to
build digitally driven team it must initiate through extracting the early adopters. There is
requirement of few supporters with context to executive team and within every business’s
functional area. It has been critiqued that individuals have varietal motivating constraints and
factors, enable to perform this best size which fits every approach.
The major context of the book is that I really like that descriptive nature of CIO could
begin driving through digital with application of agile. It is a practice and going for making the
IT team which is fully capable for purpose of solving the transformational issues. Agile is not
stated as answer of anything prior to complete the project. The agility within the company is very
important for any type of transformation and even digital transformation and Isaac has
phenomenal job outlining the method for driving the digital transformation with agile tasks in the
book. Thus, this book is both prescriptive and descriptive look for driving digital. On the basis of
given content by author based on the practicality of any digital processes, I have come across
with different associated factors of digital management ranging from automating minor business
operations to approaching major business deals by increasing digital capabilities.
Driving digital has attracted me due to description of holistic approach for purpose to
transform company to be digital. From my experience, it is one of the successful organizational
transformations whereas companies discounted the need and even under resourced as well as key
role as communications, planning, configuration or quality assurance management. It has
frequently outcome in the company which faces particular risks later for development project or
the process. Apart from this, I most liked from driving digital is that this espouses the multi-
dimensional approach to attain a successful transformation of digital business. On basis of data
science tools comprise analytic tools of modeling, data visualization and data wrangling tools.
This is major toolkit used through data scientists for purpose of discovering insights from the
data. It is helpful to all the professionals associated with the operations and management of data
sciences, IT and other related fundamentals applicable to organizational operations.
The book has provided adequate knowledge of assessing routine business activities with
the help of agile management process through digital technologies. By focusing on agile
practices, the book has made me clear with the fact that involvement of agile management in
organization can bring a desired change in daily activities and product development processes. In
7

addition to it, I have also learned about that digitalizing organization can facilitated systematic
review and tracking of ROI processes through relevant data sciences activities.
While observing these contexts, the book has been recommended to others because it
helps in attaining leadership and gives best strategies for improving work life balance. Apart
from work life, this also helps to improve productivity to work in team whether it is profession or
personal life as well. It has given actual game plan for purpose of driving the digital
transformation. It has focused on the fact that development of proper action plan for any digital
change is the principle requirement of any organization while heading towards any activity or
processes related to digitalization. Simultaneously, this book could be recommended to others
because this leads to gain unique position in the industry and for winning the race along with
fulfilment of the user with use of advanced technology. It can be extremely helpful to those who
are anyhow associated the any form of corporate or business dealings as its offers extremely
relevant lessons that can be adopted for required corporate situations. The content if this book
can be closely related to any organizational situations and best possible outcome can be derived
through it with the involvement of digital techniques. This will enhance the business career as
author has stated different logical theories, which could be implemented for accomplishing
success in the coming generation and in present as well. Also, it will enhance the knowledge of
reader with respect to scope of digital technologies in business. The learning from book can be
generalized for every organization and can be associated with the perspective of continuous
development through digital practices in nearby future. The lessons will facilitate organizations’
business operations by emphasizing on various digital technologies and software that can be used
to attain market value and long term productivity.
8

REFERENCES
Brown, E. (2017). Driving Digital by Isaac Sacolick – a book review. [Online]. Available
through: https://ericbrown.com/driving-digital-isaac-sacolick.htm .
Rovniak, S. (2017). Driving Digital: The Leader’s Guide to Business Transformation. [Online].
Available through: https://www.hellersearch.com/blog/driving-digital-the-leaders-guide-to-
business-transformation .
Sacolick, I. (2017). Driving Digital: The Leader's Guide to Business Transformation Through
Technology. Amacom.
Liu, Q., Zhang, H., Leng, J., & Chen, X. (2019). Digital twin-driven rapid individualised
designing of automated flow-shop manufacturing system. International Journal of
Production Research, 57(12), 3903-3919.
9