Building a robust digital and innovation strategy from the boardroom | Business Post

Led by Garvan Callan, Strategist, Innovator and Transformation Advisor. This online short programme, Leading digital and innovation strategy from the boardroom, will take place over four morning sessions starting this October. Focusing on a four-point strategy for digital transformation: setting the direction of the strategy; building capabilities; maximising company culture; and managing risk.

In this digital age of information overload, navigating technology and data as sources of inspiration and innovation for a boardroom brainstorm, is often time consuming and confusing. This new programme has been created to help business leaders manoeuvre through the digital landscape with ease to create forward-thinking innovation strategies to take to their boardrooms.

This new programme is a key element of the IoD Ireland CPD Framework for Directors. Designed for directors by directors. This framework will enable executive and non-executive directors to respond astutely to the ever-changing world of business, such as digital strategy, AI, and hone the practical know-how they need to lead successfully. There are four key dimensions of competency in the IoD CPD Framework: Governance Framework; Technical Knowledge and Skills; Creative Strategy Formulation; and Psychology of the Boardroom. This programme sits within the Technical Knowledge & Skills dimension.

Heading up the new programme for the IoD is an expert strategist, innovator and transformation advisor, Garvan Callan. Callan, who founded ONEZERO1, a dynamic transformation consultancy, is well versed in helping companies and boardroom members understand the critical importance of good governance when it comes to data and analytics. His clients range from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Microsoft, to mid- and small-sized companies. But regardless of size, Callan said companies can experience the same digital roadblocks when it comes to achieving seamless strategic goals and excellence.

What the IoD’s new programme, developed by Callan, manages to do, is strip away the digital noise that often hampers the building of a clear and concise strategy. It will help both executive- and non-executive board members to refresh their competency and know-how in the area of strategy and the digital landscape. In short, a four-point strategy that encapsulates setting direction, building capabilities, maximising on a company’s culture, and driving delivery while accounting for complex execution and risk.

“I’d like attendees to go back to their company with a fresh perspective as to how strategy needs to be refreshed to reflect on the type of business they’re in, the type of market they’re in and where that needs to evolve to in the context of this perpetual increase in change,” he said. “I’d also like them to go back and say: ‘we need to look at our capabilities and ask, are we set up for success in the context of the necessity for new strategies? The third thing is how we are feeling, how is our philosophy and mindset, how is the culture in the organisation, and does the culture map to the capabilities in order to execute strategy? And number four, can we manage risk and complexity as we try to build new capabilities and evolve the culture with a refreshed strategic approach in mind?”

Callan said strategy is less about looking to what can be achieved, and more about how it can be incorporated into a company’s model with speed, accuracy, and clear goals - more about understanding how it will make an impact and difference.

“It’s harder than ever before to execute strategy,” he said. “The world continues to accelerate at an exponential rate. We’re seeing the adoption of technology-driven innovation at a pace we haven’t seen before. We now have more tools and opportunities than ever before, but we have less time to do something with it. Strategy has become less about ambition and more about execution and a lot about building new capabilities, developing new cultures, and working in very different ways to achieve very different things in shorter time spans. Rather than concentrating on, for example, a product, successful organisations are looking at who the market is, what they want, and how we can put technology to work to help them do the jobs they want to get done. It’s moving from a starting point of product to beginning with the customer, which is a fundamental shift in how many companies work. I saw this in my own sector and wanted to put this to work with others.”

Callan’s history is in financial services, where he worked for 26 years, beginning at the coal face and then moving back into strategy before setting up his consultancy business. He made the move to build his practice to help a wider selection of industry and organisations, while also teaching in Trinity College Dublin’s Business School and the Institute of Banking and writing his book, titled Digital Business Strategy.

“There’s a thirst and a need for knowledge and practical experience,” he said. “I’m a ‘pracademic’, so I take my practice work and apply academic frameworks and rigour to help people figure out where they want to go and how they can get there. This programme is all about helping people figure out why we’re in a world of exponential change, what this means for strategy, what’s the new way to think about executing strategy, building capabilities, developing cultures and get lots of things done cheaper, simpler, faster and better than ever before.”

“This is a board-focused programme, and I’m hoping to see a mix of non-executive and executive board members cross-sector coming together and working through those topics and themes. Cross-sector pollination is magnificent. For instance, I was with 80 medical leaders from Sao Paulo through the World Health Organisation recently, but I focused the conversation on Audi and the car industry as a learning opportunity, to share how they are rethinking transport solutions for people, rather than just selling cars.”

Callan said the essence of this teaching is about unravelling and unpacking what is going on in the world, figuring out who is leading in relevant areas, and asking how this level of success is being achieved. Over four modules from 8th October, 2024, he will guide course participants across the drivers and outlook in digital, data and innovation trends, as well as practical tools for building the core competencies of a digital business. Digital transformation leadership, and ambidextrous transformation and risk management will help participants understand what makes a successful digital business tick, as well as an understanding of good governance within a digital model. Using current case studies, Callan is able to help organisations lead with confidence, and set the right culture and tone to enable it to pivot and transcend forward.

“Technology is an enabler but the opportunity to innovate is an entirely human thing,” he added. “The board needs to come together and think about how to adopt strategies that allow them to move forward to execution faster. Capability building so their organisation can get fit and stay fit, and lead by harnessing the opportunity to actually create value.

“The cycles of development and adoption are becoming so short now that boards need to be ready not just to take what’s happening today but look at what’s coming next. What does quantum mean, or what does bioengineering mean? There are risks and pitfalls too, which we cover in the course. What has gone wrong, what’s likely to go wrong and how to stay ahead of that risk. Strategy is the process of risk taking. In a world that is moving faster and in organisations that are trying to do more new things than ever before, risk increases, and this risk needs to be managed. Where are the blind spots, the biases, and how do we navigate this?

“The importance of looking back to look forward through a new lens is paramount. We’re taught in school to think linearly, but in such a fast-evolving world, we need to reframe our thinking and understand why we need to think exponentially. Understanding exponential drivers and how businesses are responding? Who’s winning and who’s not? What I call ‘stradaptability’, or adaptable strategy, the new practice of strategy. Whereas before we’d have strategy set for multiple years, now we need to refresh and recalibrate strategy multiple times a year. Our world is moving so fast on the outside that we need to move equally as fast on the inside.