| | FEBRUARY 20208CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONWAYS LEGACY COMPANIES CAN BECOME DIGITAL DISRUPTORSBy Scott Snyder, Partner, Digital & Innovation, Heidrick & Struggles [NASDAQ: HSII]Digital is the new normal, and the role of the CIO is even more critical to driving digital transformation initiatives. This is especially true for legacy companies who are being challenged to quickly transform their businesses as the pace of digital disruption accelerates. But just because you’re established doesn’t mean you can’t challenge the status quo.Our idea of what a digital disruptor looks like has become staid and cliché: A Silicon Valley startup run by tech-savvy entrepreneurs who move quickly and disrupt the industry as we know it. But the startup, “David,” doesn’t always beat out the established “Goliath.”It’s time to disrupt the disruptors—or at least shatter the vision of what they look like. In Goliath’s Revenge: How Established Companies Turn the Tables on Digital Disruptors, my co-author, Todd Hewlin, and I examine how legacy companies can leverage their incumbent strengths, such as a powerful brand, broad customer base, and data-driven customer insights, to innovate and reinvent their businesses. The trick is knowing how to use those strengths. CIOs can follow these six new rules to lead digital transformation with leadership, talent, and culture at the center of their digital disruption strategy.Rule 1: Deliver Step-Change Customer OutcomesOne thing Silicon Valley startups get right is that incremental improvement isn’t enough to keep customers and stay ahead. You need to aim much, much higher. Established companies should strive for improvements to their customer experiences and operating models that are 10X better and bigger than what they offer today to get ahead of digital disruption.Rule 2: Channel Both “Big I” and “little i” InnovationEstablished companies don’t have to choose. They should operate at two speeds to drive innovation from both top-down and bottom-up. “Big I” innovation means large-scale 6Scott Snyder
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