The Octopus Organization

Digital transformation doesn't work, because it's rooted in 20th century management structures that no longer make sense. A better operating model for companies is one that allows for continuous, small-scale, autonomous transformations controlled locally throughout and organization, a living operating model that breaks with the past an creates a new way of managing an organization. This book shows you how to do it.- Grounded in practical advice. This book does not describe a perfect end state, but instead inspires action that is meaningful and manageable. Thought starters, and questions help drive to action.- Timeless. Not focused on any particular transformation (say, AI) but rather on the idea of it and how to manage whatever technology emerges that demands some kind of transformation.- Realistic. Does not make process seem like magic, shares what to expect when going through this process.- Succinct and snackable. Formatted around "anti-patterns" which are behaviors to identify and correct to become as very short vignettes allows reader to dip in and out of chapters based on current needs or to read end-to-end. It is intended to be concise while not skimping on context.- Serious subjects made engaging, positive, and accessible. Story-telling and real-world context setting help make the "how" easier to accept and execute.- Weasel word free. Throwaway phrases such as agile, digital transformation, and data-enabled are not used without being precise on what we mean by them.
Audience: Leaders, team leaders, change managers, managers, CTOs, COOs, operations managers, consultants, digital transformation experts.

Phil Le-Brun is an Enterprise Strategy Director at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and former Corporate Vice President of Global Technology Development and International CIO of McDonald's. He engages with hundreds of executives and executive teams of Fortune 2000 and public sector customers to mentor, advise, guide, and share best practices on their journeys to becoming cloud-based digital organizations. At McDonald's, he was a leader in accelerating the impact of technology across 38,000 restaurants conducting more than 70 million transactions.
Jana Werner leads AWS's Enterprise Transformation Practice in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, advising and guiding executive teams of AWS's strategic customers. Werner combines this broad insight with hands-on experience, having led a digital transformation at Tesco Bank UK across all levels, from executive to engineering, and facets, from culture to cloud.