Aligning Mindsets: Interview With Dr Gordana Ilic

Today we have the huge privilege of having Dr Gordana Ilic, the Business Development Director at Creitive Singapore! In this interview, Dr Gordana expounds about the digital transformation process some companies face. Enjoy the feature!

Transcript is edited for brevity

Wan Wei: Thank you so much for coming on board our interview series. So Dr Gordana, would it be okay to start with introduction of yourself and what you’re currently doing?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Thank you very much for this opportunity. I am Gordana Ilic. I am a Business Development Director at Creitive Singapore. And what I do is I make businesses happen–I establish the relationship between businesses which want to digitally transform themselves and the team that well makes it tangible, right. We are a digital innovation agency.

And we like to say that we help our clients accelerate forward. How we do that is we use our own set of methodologies called the innovation framework. We like to position ourselves as the catalyst team that like very, very different types of expertise. And then we all meet the clients and try to create an overall wholesome picture of what is for them digital transformation. And then we work from there, we really try to understand that on an individual level with every client.

Wan Wei: Thanks for the introduction. Before we start the discussion, would it be okay to first define what digital transformation is?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Sure. For many people, digital transformation probably means how they can bring in technologies into different aspects of business.

But I think it’s further than that. And I think that is what we realise from working with clients– that digital transformation really means different things for different types of businesses. Because there is this misunderstanding between digitization which is just making your processes faster, and digitalization is taking it to the next level.

So there’s a lot of misunderstanding there.

And that is because different businesses have evolved in different ways. For some that is this digitalization that is turning Excel sheets into dashboards. For some others, it is trying to understand customer behaviour and using advanced analytics to improve their businesses and how they serve their customers.

On top of all of that, digital transformation is actually a mindset change. It really has to come from the key stakeholders as a message to their employees that we are stepping into a change in how we run things, and that technology is not something to be feared, but something to be embraced. And bridging that gap is actually I think, the key to enabling digital transformations in in companies.

Digital transformation is how you bring technologies to improve your businesses, and it’s also marrying that with what customer wants and also with the culture that you’re trying to build internally.

Wan Wei: Recently, the Singapore government just announced a $500 million budget to accelerate digital transformation in companies. What is your take on this initiative?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Well, I think assigning that much of a budget is really hard –this is actually taking a stand that digital transformation is very important to us as a country. This is a way we see everyone moving forward and this is our way to see how the economy can be restored quickly right?

Before COVID-19 digital transformation was I think perceived as more as something as like a good to have feature. Like eventually we’ll get there. Okay, let us think about and see how to go about it.

And then COVID-19 happened and everyone started to say, okay, we need to digitally transform because we now have to work remotely. And digital transformation is now a way to keep businesses going.

And especially in terms of digital payments–we realise how much of a risk it is when you don’t have like digital payment systems in place. Businesses just have to have to digitally transform so that we can keep it like business as usual, as much as possible.

So I think that the budget that’s coming from the government actually shows a determination that we are ready to invest a lot even in uncertain times, because we are sure that that will bring us returns for businesses. It’s also good for businesses to have monetary relief.

But on the other side, it’s also like a certain certainty that they’re going into the right direction, especially for SMEs maybe that I’m not sure. Like, okay, this this approach, makes them trust the process more so I think it’s really good.

Wan Wei: There is one possible issue that arises from this. For example, there’s also a sub initiative called the “Seniors Go Digital” movement. So Singapore is an ageing population. Some elderly don’t even have smartphones or laptop. How do you think the government can deal with this challenge– Any idea?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Yeah, here are many courses that are available for free and the government is subsidising many courses for those who are trying to switch to a new career and and are in their post 40s. I think these are steps in the right direction.

But if we are talking about the elderly population, say over, I don’t know 65, I can see that challenge there. Yet I think they can be educated with the teaching that technology is not something to be feared.

Again, it is like it is something to think about, what are the must haves on that list? And then what’s the easiest way to fulfil the must haves for the other elderly people? Right?

I think Singapore is doing much better than then most of the countries because even from my own experience, this is something that I really admire about Singaporeans. That they are so open to new technology.

But still, I think the percentage is much, much lower than in other countries. So I was always quite amazed by how like older people are still trying to install apps and scan QR codes. And I think that Singapore has the least reasons to worry about how to make them switch.

Wan Wei: Thanks for sharing. Actually, I’m curious–In your whole career, what is the one favourite project that you have about digital transformation? Can you share that with us?

Dr Gordana Ilic: I’ve been in the enterpreneural circles for quite a bit. And I think I’ve learned from that as well.

Definitely, I’m still amazed by how many businesses are trying to create platforms that would on one hand do a lot of analytics about the customers and about the market research. On the other hand, they also do predictive predictive solutions and on top of that, embed digital payment systems and wallets and reward systems.

My mind is quite amazed by the amount of information that we are able to just take in and process and get such specific recommendation and output. That is something I’m still amazed by and I see a lot of businesses going into that direction because all of them are trying to understand how to add more value to the customer.

Okay, what is the right way to approach them? And I think this is similar to what I was mentioning before, that often times people think that evolving with technology means excluding people. But from my experience, I’ve seen that very often, people and the need of businesses to cater to people is what’s driving the digital transformation. So it’s actually like, it seems that the digital transformation depends of the people.

That that’s something that I find interesting.

Wan Wei: I’m curious– referring back to your point that sometimes people think that technology is exclusive. Where do you think that misconception comes from, from your experience?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Perhaps fear comes from the Sci-Fi movies that we see. Like how, when the world is becoming more and more automated or like how with more robots coming and replacing people’s jobs, people would be left behind.

Usually, popular culture does not show how businesses can transform to include people and what naturally suits their nature. In reality, people did not get left behind. Their jobs instead got restructured.

So we come back to the discussion of how Artificial Intelligence helps us think outside of the box, or make new inventions right? Because there’s always something new And that’s again to me very much aligned with what human nature is, because we are curious creatures, right? So it is just like a little bit of discomfort because we are diving into something unknown.

And for those who are not in this field, might fear, based on popular misconception of technologies from Sci-fi movies they have seen. But when you like dive deeper into it, you realise that it’s all revolving to the question of how to enable people to live more efficiently, more conveniently. And how to optimise their efforts, their time and the choices that they make.

So yeah, I like this new marriage.

Wan Wei: As a whole, in your extensive experience working with startups and consulting for startup, what is the one biggest myth about digital transformation that you have encountered so far?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Some people assume that the core of digital is business processes, when in reality successful cases of digital transformation is actually driven by people.

And the core of the success of digital transformation is stakeholders’ alignment from the beginning. Many of us assume that digital transformation is “just technology”, and we kind of miss out on strategic planning and constructing the approach on how to do it.

Some departments may come in and proclaim, “Oh, we want things tomorrow. And we think we know what we want and build it.” In this way however, there is a tendency to spend lot of resources because there is no alignment yet.

It’s actually taking a step back and thinking okay, what is this company about? What is digital transformation for us? We need to seriously consider what digital transformation means for our staff and then align that from the beginning. Because it will be different for each company.

Thereafter, we can then carefully plan the steps on how to go about one project, and how to go about the second project and what you actually want to achieve in the long term with this digital transformation approach.

And this is what we really aim to do with our clients like to understand what that end goal is. And to do separate smaller projects that that are kind of like tying up to each other in order to reach that end goal. Like I don’t know, sometimes that is like winning big, big bets. But while you’re winning these big going towards the winning the big bet, you’re actually winning the small bets as well.

So and that requires alignment from the beginning and everyone being on the same stance internally as a company to realise that this will be about the mindset change and that that mindset change needs to be communicated well to the staff. Most companies seem to miss this part, which is perhaps the overall key to how successful their digital transformation process will be.

So yeah, that is, I think, one misconception.

Wan Wei: Would it be accurate to say that the bigger company gets, the more difficult it is to do digital transformation?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Hmm, I wouldn’t generalise because it really depends on the hierarchy and the culture.

And again, even if you take Singapore like you can find three companies in like the same same field that are having a totally different approaches and the way they do projects is different, so I wouldn’t generalise it.

But it is much easier when people have like internal already like quick sprints, when were different deployment. And gets aligned and when they do like fast reviews of changes and fast implementations, depending of the feedback that they get from customers so it is easier to do it and when of course, like people are in general like open to change and open to digital ways as opposed to like very traditional companies that like find even Excel overwhelming, right?

So that they are you have to really invest a lot of time in like changing the mindset so that everything else can be much easier and much faster. Otherwise, you will keep on like facing this, how to say discrepancy along the way and it will be much slower.

So I wouldn’t be able to generalise– digital transformation is unique to every organization, so we also take very crafted approaches. Because it’s such a complex field, it’s easy to try to copy paste, even between the companies in the same field.

But that’s definitely not the right approach. Take a step back, forget about the competition. Look who you are as a company, what drives you? What do you want? Is that something that you think is good to have?

Do you want to follow what your competition does–say an app–or do you actually want to do something different? Maybe you need something else, maybe you don’t need that app. And so that is the playground in which we feel we are playing in

Wan Wei: Wow, what is the one tip you would give to companies who want to change mindsets of their employees and stuff?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Don’t overlook the importance of communication early on. For example, one way that we do that is through a lot of stakeholder alignment workshops.

So people are eager to get moving with their project to include the features that they need, you know. But actually, it takes time to invest in this beginning and define the mindset and achieve stakeholder alignment. Because even you and I will have a different perception of what digital transformation is.

Let’s say we want to build a digital wallet, I imagine purple, you imagine green so if someone talks to you say I want this green one, but I’ll say purple and then someone will not be happy.

So even like if we sit down in the beginning and understand what that means for everyone, and we align and shake hands and we said like okay we will do pink because it makes sense. Not green, not purple, but both of us are okay and having that clarity from the beginning is what will ensure like a winning digital product at the end.

So I think not overlooking this beginning as a bunch of fluff is important. Let’s make sure what winning means for me is the same as what it means to you. Or maybe you have a better idea what winning means, right?

So let’s define each of these, I guess steps of the approach overall, and then it’s super easy to create whatever they want to create, like, so I think that is my tip. Be patient, plan and be open to questioning your thoughts.

Wan Wei: Before we end this interview, do you have any parting note that you want to share with our audience?

Dr Gordana Ilic: Oh, definitely. We are working we see a big trend in digital payments and digital wallet. Overall, I think it’s a it’s a regional trend, and I think it’s becoming more and more a global trend.

So right now we are rolling out a separate separate set of offerings. for digital payments and we are working with with amazing partners, rails bank is one of them. We’re working with next money and overall the regulator for, for all the banks.

In general, the Southeast Asian region is already quite ahead of the rest of the world in this area, which is good because if we have edge here that means that we have an edge beyond Asia, which is great for our business.

But yeah, I think even with with the COVID-19 people will start thinking quite outside of the box, in terms of digital wallets and digital payments and how that can be even more interesting.

Wan Wei: Wow. Thank you so much for your time today.

Dr Gordana Ilic: Thank you. Thanks so much.