What exactly is a digital
mindset and how to develop it? Mary is a young professional
who easily transitions between the physical and digital worlds.
Because of this skill and mindset, she can accomplish things more
effectively in the physical world. Let's take a closer look. Mary begins her day
using a smartwatch to track her sleep patterns and monitor her heart rate. She also uses an app on
her phone to plan her schedule and stay on track. At work, Mary uses various digital tools
to collaborate with her colleagues, such as video conferencing software
and instant messaging apps. She also uses cloud storage services to
access her files and documents from anywhere. In her personal life, Mary uses social
media platforms to stay connected with friends and family. She also uses online
shopping websites to purchase products and services and make digital payments.
In all these cases, Mary essentially models, manages, analyses, and makes decisions on
information in the digital world and then uses those decisions to drive
change in her physical world. For example, she prioritizes her tasks on a
digital list but actually gets them done in the physical world. Similarly, if she detects
terrible sleep patterns, she takes action to get sleep better at night. By using cloud
storage, she does not have to physically carry information with her when travelling.
Mary has developed a digital mindset. A digital mindset is a way of thinking where
you use technology to create new opportunities, solve complex problems,
communicate, and collaborate. You are comfortable using digital tools and
adapt to new technologies as they emerge. In today's digital age, having a digital
mindset is increasingly vital for success in both personal and professional spheres.
In this video, I will discuss the personal sphere. In a following video, I will talk about
the professional sphere where companies must create an environment where people can
develop and grow their digital mindsets. The goal there is to create new business
models and accelerate digital transformations. How do you develop this digital mindset?
First, think about your future digital expertise as a T shape. On the one hand, you should have a
broad understanding of many of the technologies, and on the other, have an in-depth knowledge
of one or two specific technologies. A broad, general understanding of technology
will help you continuously and creatively design better futures by pulling relevant
pieces of technology that you can use. A focused, deep understanding of specific
technologies will help you differentiate yourself. With this combination, you'll help accelerate
personal and organizational transformation. Here are some of the skills to
develop for a digital mindset. Critical thinking to analyze situations,
creativity to develop new solutions and ideas, collaboration to work with other experts,
digital analysis to interpret and make inferences from data, and continuous learning to
stay up-to-date with the latest technology trends. With such a foundation, you’ll instinctively start
thinking about a digital way of solving problems. In other words, you’d be able switch to a
digital world, where you process information and then switch back to the physical
world to act on your digital analysis. If your kitchen sink is broken, the
first thing you would do is perhaps go on YouTube and identify
solutions to that problem. Once you've understood it, you’ll get the
parts from the store and fix the sink. You have effectively used digital technology
to solve a problem in the physical world. If you live in a small town
but want to get healthier, you may access the Internet to find a fitness
coach from across the world to be your trainer. This coach will help you develop a healthier
lifestyle and increase your fitness level. You have effectively used digital technology
to solve a problem in the physical world. If you develop a novel idea to rent out a spare
bedroom in your house, you might create an app where tourists can find it in the digital space
and pay for the room. Then they physically stay overnight. This is exactly how AirBnB started –
by people with a digital mindset who created a business model where customers can transition
between the digital and physical worlds. You can also use appliances to help with the
transitions. For example, when it's freezing outside, you can remote start your car to
warm it up through an app on your phone. In this case, a digital signal
initiates a physical change. As this example shows, to think through
possibilities of how the digital world can influence the physical world, you need
to be aware of the technologies that help. As you seamlessly transition between the
physical and digital worlds more often, it becomes second nature, and you
internalize the digital mindset. To accelerate internalization of a digital
mindset, make a conscious effort to be curious and think about digital ways of navigating your
environment and solving problems. Soon you’ll be able to quickly identify and leverage digital
resources to influence your physical environment. If you'd like to accelerate your organization’s transformation with clarity
and simplicity, we can help. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe
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summary of this video. Thank you for watching!
