The Digital Organization is Context Savvy

When events, data, decisions and actions are considered in too narrow of a context, the results can often be undesirable in the long run. While the outcome may seem successful, for the moment and even profitable, short sighted decisions and the resulting actions (or inaction) can lay the seeds for negative long term consequences. This post focuses on the seven areas that should deem further consideration.

Perspective and Scope:

If you look at the illustration image above, you have no idea what the colors mean, what date this image created and what streets of Manhattan are included. We know that the image was on or before Sept 11, 2001 because the twin towers are still standing. The picture,today, would look very different. It's easy to assume that the colors mean height, but do we know for sure. If we zoomed out would the colors change? Context makes the difference.

Because technology is allowing for the ability to process much more data, thousands more of event feeds, consume and understand more knowledge content, try different analytic alternatives before taking action in seconds, organizations are going to be able to expand their contexts from transactions operating now to considering alternatives in a predictive way and adjust emerging business needs.  The savvy digital organization is working hard to consider all contexts and produce better outcomes.

1. Relationship Contexts: 

It is easy to just focus on the customer context and lay out better CRM in the context of expanding history. There are partners, employees, vendors and investors to consider when guiding today's adaptable processes and systems.

2. Economic Contexts:

It is important to know if your organization is acting in an expanding or contracting economy. While the global economic picture and trends play here, so to local markets and the state of the individuals that participate with you as prospects and customers.

3. Goal Contexts:

When organizations adjust goals, usually in a more assertive fashion, it is important to understand what other goals might suffer or have to take a lower rating in the clustering of the typical multiple and linked goal model established for organizations.

4. Change  Impact Contexts:

When organizations initiate change, they need to consider the number of changes that are hitting at all levels of the organization. While a change might be good in and of itself, however, in context of other change programs, the risk the failure increases for the combination of changes. Organizations often forget how multiple and separate change efforts affect the first and second level workers.

5 Competition Contexts:

Organizations need to consider what their competitors are doing or likely to do in response to many of the same contexts that are affecting them. This may have to be considered in light of each market place, but decisions here need to be taken with care.

6 Community Contexts:

Often organizations will consider the community as one unit. There are multiple threats running through the community an organization touches.  Today organizations can be hurt by reacting to consequences of actions on any one of these threads or smaller streams of the community at large.

7 Compliance Contexts: 

Legal frameworks can have significant impact on an organization and its processes. Building in compliance  in your processes ahead of time instead of measuring the risk after the fact is a must in today's world.

Net; Net:

With all that technology affords to organizations, there is really no reason ignore contexts that didn't seem to matter in the past. If you don't pay attention, your competitors will and you will find out too late.