In the video series “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li,” Steve Miranda, Oracle Executive Vice President of Applications Development, spoke with Charlene Li, founder of the Altimeter Group. Altimeter Group helps leaders thrive by providing research and advisory on how to leverage disruptive technologies.

The pair discussed several important topics during their Cloud talks, including:

• Top of mind issues for business leaders
• Thriving in disruption
• The Cloud mindset
• Aggressive adopters
• Advice for change and lessons learned
• Transformation strategy
• Transformation culture
• Blockchain
• Chatbots

Top of Mind Issues

During her work, Li gets to talk to a lot of customers and executives. She said that the biggest question that has been top of mind for these individuals regarding business concerns and business opportunities is, “How do I change, and how do I create huge, disruptive, transformational change?” Organizations know that where they are today is not where they need to be tomorrow. Li has been researching the idea of how to go about creating change and disruption for the past several years.

Miranda asked if she thought customers were asking these questions in a reactive (due to competitors) or proactive (fearing disruption) way and if there were advantages to either approach/mindset. Li said that in the last 20 years or so, she’s noticed a big shift that was highly reactive to change that was happening around them, but in the last five years or so, customers have become more proactive. Organizations are looking to get ahead and take action before change hits them.

In the past, people were unsure if they could disrupt themselves. However, there are more and more role models for doing so in today’s world that makes people think they can also achieve disruption.

Miranda also asked Li if she had noticed any trends in whether the desire for change and disruption stems from technology, competitors, customers, etc. She said that people are starting to realize that their competitors are no longer only the people in their same industry. Customer experience expectations are being set by big companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc., so companies are expected to meet these same standards and meet the needs of their own customers. Companies are realizing that customers and their expectations are changing faster than before, so they have to be proactive and think about what customers even want in the first place.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers top of mind issues for business leaders, check out the video below.

Thriving in Disruption

One thing that customers have to keep in mind when dealing with the Cloud is the speed of change and disruption – not just internally, but externally as well. In Cloud, change is exponential and not linear at all. It allows you to leapfrog in ways that you could have never imagined before.

Many customers handle disruption and the speed of change through an incremental, phased approach. They change a little bit at a time and adjust to smaller pieces at once and continuously implement more and more bits of change. Huge, big bang changes can be quite taxing on organizations. Those who thrive in the age of disruption take on a large number of small changes over time. This makes their cycles of change much shorter.

In addition, many people believe that the next generation that is coming into the workforce seems to be much more familiar and comfortable with change and the rate at which it happens. However, Li surveyed business leaders and reported that there was no change in terms of disruptive leadership aptitude and expectations by age or job level. It was interesting to see that age didn’t really play a part. More often than not, accepting change comes down to workforce culture factors, personality, acceptance, and comfort level with change – not age. There are millennials who are just as uncomfortable with change as baby boomers. Change is hard to accept at any age, job level, organization size, etc., but those who want to thrive in the age of disruption will find a way to make it work.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers how to thrive in disruption, check out the video below.

The Cloud Mindset

When people talk about change, they often refer to it as disruption. Some call it continuous or constant disruption. Miranda asked Li how she advised customers on how to thrive in disruption instead of being bogged down by it. She attributed the success of many to having the right “Cloud mindset.” When you look at change, is it an opportunity to make things better or is it something that you want to get rid of or that you fear? Having the right mindset can completely change how you handle and accept change. More often than not, people are firmly planted on one side or the other. Nobody is really sitting in the middle on the issue.

Li said that having the right Cloud mindset is the No. 1 characteristic of a company that succeeds and thrives in the age of disruption. Those who are open to and accepting of change tend to fair better than others.

However, those who are the “glass half empty” kind of person actually play an important role in developing the right Cloud mindset. They often ground the optimistic “glass half full” folks and make them realistic. It’s not to say that the “glass half empty” people can’t change and eventually see the benefits, but they often operate more cautiously, thoughtfully, and deliberately when handling change, which can be helpful.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers the Cloud mindset, check out the video below.

Aggressive Adopters

As they discussed companies who either thrive or fall behind in the age of disruption, Miranda and Li addressed the audience who is not necessarily the aggressive adopters of change and disruptive technologies. Miranda asked what these companies could stand to learn from those who are early, aggressive adopters of change and technology. Li said that one interesting part of aggressive adopters is that they usually have a really good system and process in place for creating disruption.

Many would think that disruption ensues chaos and a mess, but those who do it right experience quite the opposite. Companies can actually move much faster when they have solid processes and operating models locked in place. It’s not a loose guideline for handling change – it’s a firm plan with solid steps. In a world where everything seems to be changing, many foundational components actually don’t change at all. Having solid processes and operating models allows companies to be much more creative when handling disruption.

As part of this process, many have a time element baked into their processes. In disruptive organizations, things often tend to move a lot faster than in other organizations. Having this constant, solid foundation is what actually the thing that allows so many organizations to change. That sense of consistency through processes provides many with a sense of comfort. Even though they are going through change, having standard processes helps people feel as though they know a bit about what is coming and what can be expected.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers aggressive adopters, check out the video below.

Advice for Change and Lessons Learned

Miranda asked Li what she feels that customers are doing well to overcome setbacks or issues that they encounter during Cloud projects. In order to achieve change and disruption, companies have to make best guesses and go through many experiments in order to figure out the right way to go about their project. Mistakes in this process are inevitable, but the key is to learn from mistakes and adjust in the future. If companies don’t learn from their mistakes and failures, there is no benefit of going through these experiments. It is unrealistic to expect companies to always succeed, but it is not unrealistic to expect them to learn from where they’ve been.

Naturally, in businesses, there is a sense of discomfort that comes with the idea of change. Li said that in order to combat this discomfort, she does an exercise with Cloud customers – she asks them where they think they can realistically be within three years.

For example, if a customer says that, within three years, they can grow 50 percent, Li then asks what it would talk for them to push that and grow 100 percent. She finds the missing piece to push it further and do even better than companies think they can. If companies can think of how they can get to 100 percent but think it’s unrealistic, maybe they can come up with a realistic way to get as close as they can – maybe 75 percent. Either way, 75 percent is still an improvement over 50 percent. Instead of focusing solely on meeting the goal of 100 percent, it’s important to strive to do the best that they realistically can and find a way to serve their customers instead of focusing only on metrics.

Companies have to overcome the fear of failure – the fear of not meeting internal company goals – and focus on doing the best that they can and serving their customers. Instead of looking at it as a fear, think of it as a goal for your company. It’s not about the metrics, it’s about the customers.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers advice and lessons learned, check out the video below.

Transformation Strategy

With so much change happening in today’s workforce, there’s undoubtedly a sense of uncertainty about what tomorrow brings. Miranda asked how Li see customers set a strategy for future change and transformation and anticipating what will come next. The key is for a company to focus on its future customers. Think about what those future customers look like. If you don’t know who your future customer is, or if your organization as a whole doesn’t agree on what future customers the company should move towards, it’s nearly impossible to come up with a transformation strategy. Not having that vision for future customers means that the strategy is grounded in today, and that won’t take companies far.

Companies need to think about changing customer expectations, wants, and needs. How might your customers change moving forward? What products or services can your company offer to meet those changing expectations, wants, and needs?

The level of disruption that you can achieve is dependent on how far into the future you can look. So, if you want to be very disruptive, try looking beyond three, five, or even 10 years into the future. What will your customers look like then?

Betting on what the future will be like is just your best guess, and you may only get 10 percent (or less!) of it right. That’s okay. It just matters that you’re looking to the future and trying to anticipate the change. Companies with a culture and strategy that is focused on future customers can better weave through and navigate disruption. However, it requires getting your entire organization on the same page about what your future customer looks like and what your goals are for the future.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers transformation strategy, check out the video below.

Transformation Culture

The pair also addressed how to approach transformation and the cultural impact on change. Miranda asked what Li thinks works best for approaching the culture of transformation and change. She said that she likes to focus the company’s beliefs that hold people back from transformation or push them towards it. She does an exercise where she has customers write beliefs that hold them back onto sticky notes. When they look at those beliefs together as a team, the organization can decide what they should or should not believe. This can help catapult them forward and take on transformation.

When companies are made aware of their beliefs and behaviors, they can change those behaviors and beliefs easier. You can absolutely change your culture – the question is if you truly want to. When you have a clear purpose and identify what isn’t working, you can begin thinking about how to build a culture that does work with transformation.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers transformation culture, check out the video below.

Blockchain

Miranda asked Li what she sees as the benefits of blockchain. She said that the fact that blockchain creates more transparency and openness helps develop more accountability within organizations. It also creates more of a sense of trust.

She said that the idea of blockchain is great, but the implementation leaves something to desire. Miranda said that there seems to be a struggle to nail down a use case to make blockchain come to life. Li agreed and said that many still aren’t seeing the network and systemic benefits of having a platform when everyone “gives up” ownership. She’s hopeful that blockchain will prevail, and she thinks that customers are most likely to come up with the best use case. All it needs is something to set it in motion.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers blockchain, check out the video below.

Chatbots

Li expressed that she had concerns about where chatbots were falling short. She said that she sees a lot of customers who want to build chatbots to automate processes. That’s great, but she said that they also need to think ahead about how conversations happen, which can be difficult. Customers expect perfection in their interactions, and it can be hard to achieve that when machine learning and chatbots learn from gaining more data through experience over time. She said that the lack of that true conversation is where chatbots fall short right now.

Miranda said that it’s important to know how to effectively use chatbots in today’s stages. Knowing the right keywords or questions to ask can be helpful. He’s optimistic that chatbots will continue to evolve and move toward achieving more natural conversations as they continue to learn.

For more on the episode of “Cloud Talks with Charlene Li” that covers chatbots, check out the video below.

Additional Resources

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