Is it worth the risk?

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Co-Founder

But it’s hard to do that in such a rapidly changing world. It makes the quantity of available risks and innovative ideas a lot vaster, but is the payoff really enough to justify the majority of them?

Time after time, we have the same theme arise in our research; companies who have realised they are not fully utilising and seeing the promised ROI on their investments; especially when it comes to technology.

Being bold is obviously important in any aspect of life, whether it be business or personal. But what about when it’s a case of chasing your tail to keep up with very demanding customers, operational pressures and inevitable yet unforeseen and unpredictable tech developments?  

The common story seems to go along the lines of this … the business case for investing in whatever bold move you are set to make has been proven and justified, as has the execution strategy and the ‘people factor’ has been taken into account. But what I have heard over the course of researching approximately 30 conference agendas across such a wide array of industries and talking to hundreds, if not thousands, of senior executives is that most have not gained what they expected from their transformation, and those who have, have not experienced a smooth road in getting there.

The biggest barrier; effectively embedding new technology and ensuring it’s being used to its full potential. Even if they achieve this, they’re up against a huge problem – it’s evolving so fast that in just 6-12 months’ time, the newest, alluring piece of tech will cause frustration over the fact the big project they’ve just trolled out has become ‘’second-grade’’.

A recent study released last month by DHL revealed 95% of respondents don't see full benefits of digitization.

Respondents told DHL two big reasons for the lack of results are 1) "New technology is developing so quickly that businesses find it challenging to keep up with innovations and best practices," and 2) "organizational challenges" prevent technology from being implemented properly, efficiently and effectively.

However, if they aren’t to take the risk and invest, they’ll rapidly fall behind. It seems to be a matter diving head-first and gaining experience/knowledge around the tricks of the trade in terms of speedy and cost-effective tech rollout and upscaling pilots, along with an eye for the most stable and important piece of tech that your customer actually cares about or will create long-term, sustainable savings and efficiency to your operations.

Written by: Gracie Fea

Originally from NZ, Gracie worked as a Broadcast Journalist for a few years before moving to London, and then to Sydney, where she fatefully came across conference production and quickly realised it was her dream role. Getting to speak with such passionate and successful people and create an agenda so that people can see themselves in other’s experiences, really spins her wheels.

She has a hunger to hear everyone’s unique story and really thrives from creating a platform for them to share these and help move their industry forward through collaboration.