BEFORE

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

&AFTER
HOW TO BUILD A DIGITAL CULTURE
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
LINDSAY HERBERT
GLOBAL HEAD OF DIGITAL at PRECEDENT
PRECEDENT LONDON
JULY 2015

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WHAT IS DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION?

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Evolving an organisation’s ways of
working in order to continue
delivering its mission in the face of
changing technology, competition,
audience need and behaviour.

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EVERYONE
LOVES
TRANSFORMATION

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10 Best CDO Practices for Dealing with Digital
Transformation
1. Build a high-performance digital team
2. Digital should be everyone's job
3. Don't do digital for the sake of digital
4. Do fewer things better
5. Create an atmosphere of collaboration
6. Bake data-informed thinking into the culture
7. Think from the outside-in
8. Sometimes it's better to beg for forgiveness then ask permission
9. Get experimental and analytical
10. Management needs to live digital

Perry Hewitt, Harvard Chief Digital Officer

BARRIERS TO
CHANGE
• Departments trapped in silos
• Traditional culture and mind sets
• Rewards for being risk-averse
• Slow moving and evidence based
• Small budgets (and getting smaller)
• Wide audience knowledge gaps

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REASONS TO
CHANGE
• Students are digital-first
• Competition from private sector
• Competition from other countries
• Competition for top staff talent
• ‘Traditional’ education under scrutiny
• Course ‘shelf life’ will only get shorter

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WHAT’S YOUR
BEFORE&
AFTER?
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BUILD YOUR VISION:
SIX GLOBAL
TRENDS
@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
1 Generation Z don’t want
what came before them.
2 47% of all jobs will disappear
over the next 20 years.
3 ‘Global’ is achievable
and everyone’s a jetsetter.
4 We experience life through
our devices.
5 Cybercrime is escalating and
no device or platform is safe.
6 Local, bespoke & personalised
are the new Big Business.
HOW WOULD YOU LOOK
IF YOU WERE FOUNDED

TODAY?
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WHAT WOULD BE
YOUR UNIVERSITY’S
VISION?
WHAT WOULD
YOUR UNIVERSITY
OFFER?
HOW WOULD
YOU MANAGE AND
TEACH?
WHAT WOULD
IT LOOK LIKE
ONLINE?
BEFORE
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

&AFTER
HOW TO BUILD A DIGITAL CULTURE

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

3 STAGES
OF TRANSFORMATION

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SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
SUPERFICIAL CHANGE TO TEST THE
CASE FOR BIGGER CHANGE.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
SUPERFICIAL CHANGE TO TEST THE
CASE FOR BIGGER CHANGE.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
SUPERFICIAL CHANGE TO TEST THE
CASE FOR BIGGER TRANSFORMATION.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
TRANSFORM THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE
WITHIN EXISTING CONSTRAINTS.

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SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
COMPLETE AND CONSIDERED
TRANSFORMATION INSIDE AND OUT.

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LEARNING FROM PROS:

BEFORE
&AFTER

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LEARNING FROM PROS:

BEFORE
&AFTER

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BEFORE
BEFORE AFTER
£1 BILLION ONLINE
3 STAGES
OF TRANSFORMATION

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
SUPERFICIAL CHANGE TO TEST THE
CASE FOR BIGGER TRANSFORMATION.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
The Method:
Which tactics will be used?
How will they be planned
and implemented?
H O W T O B U I L D A D I G I TA L C U LT U R E

STAGE 1: LEARNING FROM

CARDIFF UNI
✱ Tackle one problem at a time and put specific
measurements in place.
✱ Incentivise the adoption of any new digital
tools or channels.
✱ Track everything and share victories in a
structured manner with senior leadership.

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SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
TRANSFORM THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE
WITHIN EXISTING CONSTRAINTS.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
H O W T O B U I L D A D I G I TA L C U LT U R E

STAGE 2: LEARNING FROM

MONASH
✱ Focus on improving the student experience (even
if everything’s still messy behind-the-scenes).
✱ Use a project with tangible outputs to frame
bigger strategic discussions.
✱ Track and escalate barriers to map out routes for
overcoming them.

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SURFACE
AUDIENCE
TOTAL
COMPLETE AND CONSIDERED
TRANSFORMATION INSIDE AND OUT.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
shared idea

lived experience

how it works

effective plumbing
H O W T O B U I L D A D I G I TA L C U LT U R E

STAGE 3: LEARNING FROM

ABERDEEN
✱ Get the right investment, set expectations and
communicate changes throughout.
✱ Tackle business critical processes and systems
first with clear benchmarks and targets.
✱ Identify and complete ‘quick wins’ throughout
using existing resources and skillsets.

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BUT WHAT
DOES IT
ALL MEAN?

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EVERYONE
LOVES
TRANSFORMATION

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

BUILD YOUR VISION:
SIX GLOBAL
TRENDS
@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
HOW WOULD YOU LOOK
IF YOU WERE FOUNDED

TODAY?
@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem
WHAT WOULD
IT LOOK LIKE
ONLINE?
MEANINGFUL IDEAS,

”
INTELLIGENTLY DELIVERED.

@lindzeiy @precedentcomms #precsem

DIGITAL
STRATEGY
WEBSITES,
TABLET & MOBILE
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION

PRECEDENT.COM

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26 YEARS
140 EXPERTS IN
DESIGN, TECH,
STRATEGY & UX
6 LOCATIONS

PRECEDENT.COM

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QUESTIONS &
THANK YOU.

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