Contrary to popular belief, folks who are paid to think often have a hard time proving that they’re doing the work.
// Go ahead, take some time to digest that. //
Consider what happened during a meeting between the board of directors at a major Canadian corporation, Canadian Tire, and its CEO, Michael Medline. Also present at the meeting was the controlling shareholder, Martha Billes.
They all got together to discuss Mr. Medline’s digital strategy for keeping the 94-year-old retail chain competitive and relevant. The conversation climaxed around a seemingly simply question, which, you would think, Mr. Medline would not have trouble answering: “What are you thinking?”
Before we tell you how the above chat ended, let us say two things:
a. It’s good to see that the Billes family is trying to avoid the debacle of their one-time rivals like Eaton’s or Zellers. Those two bit the dust because they did not keep up with the times.
b. It’s encouraging to see that the Billes family seems to, finally, be appreciating the idea that digital isn’t a buzzword or a passing trend. It’s a mindset, and it’s the bridge to the best business opportunities of the future. (We’ve been talking about this for years — for an example, see http://bit.do/krispcrew10.)
Let’s now return to the meeting between the Canadian Tire board of directors, the controlling shareholder Martha Billes, and Canadian Tire’s CEO Michael Medline.
We don’t know exactly how Mr. Medline answered the question about his thinking re the digital strategy for keeping Canadian Tire competitive and relevant.
But we do know this: the Canadian Tire board of directors and Mrs. Billes told Mr. Medline that he’s no longer the CEO of Canadian Tire.
The takeaway from the above story? Here’s our 2¢:
Whether you call it a strategy or a road map (or even just simply focus), the future belongs to those with a digital-first mindset re all fundamental parts of their business.
Over to you: What does ‘digital’ mean to you? Is it a buzzword? A passing trend? Or, do you, hopefully, see it as a mindset and the bridge to the best business opportunities of the future?