Digital Adaptation

by Paul Boag, Smashing Magazine (Editor)

Nothing is more frustrating than stubborn management entangled in dated workflows and inefficient processes. That's why we created Digital Adaptation, a new practical book on how to help senior management understand the Web and adapt the business, culture, teams and workflows accordingly. No fluff, no theory — just techniques and strategies that worked in practice, and showed results.

The book will help traditional businesses and organizations to overcome their legacy, and help you plant the seeds of change with very little power. If you do want to finally see changes happening, this is the book to grab.

Written by Paul Boag. Designed by Veerle Pieters. 176 pages.


YOU'LL LEARN

Tackle bureaucracy and overcome legacy culture,
Develop a flexible and effective digital strategy,
Use responsibility matrix to minimize delays and costs,
Adopt a digital culture and become digital by default,
Apply techniques from mid-sized and large organizations,
Avoid toxic working practices and improve internal processes,
Organize teams and boost their efficiency,
Embrace social media and use them effectively,
Understand the value of a digital team and invest in them,
Break down the walls and nourish collaboration, ownership and innovation.

Genres: Design, Business, Nonfiction, Web

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2014

Reviews

[Tomi Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book felt as though Boag shadows my day-to-day life at work (to a certain extent). It’s a must-read for anyone interested in helping their organisation scale up in business strategy enabled by digital solutions.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book represents exactly what I am going through in middle-management as the Art Director at a newspaper. I have been doing a lot of these things, not knowing whether or not I was going to the right direction or not. Now I have the most cohesive guidance I've ever had. Newspapers are inherently opposed to digital anything and have lost over 50% of their revenue in the last 10 years or so. Things need to change organizationally NOW! Thanks, Paul Boag for what you've written here. Easily, the best book I've read all year!

[derek allard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I've been in the web design / digital world in various capacities for 15 years, but I didn't think there was a lot of new ground covered in this book. I could see it being useful to someone unfamiliar with digital design but it was a bit thin otherwise. I did take a few little nuggets that will be useful (the responsibility matrix, etc.) in my work but it seemed a bit too surface skimming to be of concrete use to me.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

„I suspect that you could change more than you think, if only you had the confidence to persevere. Too often we hold ourselves back for fear of how others would react.“
This is the best book I've read in the last year! Paul Boag's book is full of truth. The book explains in a clear and understandable way how to act and re-act in companies that can't find their way in the digital era.

[Richard Fieldhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think this book was particularly relevant to me, but the more I read the more fascinating it became. Lots of insights into corporate digital adaptation, but lots too to learn about business as a whole. Great read, great illustrations.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips for working with companies that don't focus on digital

Paul Boag has always been one of my favorite authors/podcasters and this book has delivered his humor, clarity and style focusing on digital first methodology. Great read, highly recommend.

[Bryan Wezwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starting point on the concept of a digital workplace. It seems to be a bit more appropriate for smaller IT shops. Overall though, it was fun to read and spurred a few good ideas.

[Abdulhamid AlAttar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I wanted to read at this period of my career.
The real challenge now is to spread the word and educate people .

[Renae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably a better read for an early career digital professional. His approach to design & collaboration is spot on, I guess I was hoping to pick up some more new tricks though.

[Griffalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for the initiated to pass on to the uninitiated to get the story of digital across.

[Hugh Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful perspective on approaches to lead and guide clients as well as peer and supervisors towards the adoption of digital capabilities.

[Gabriel Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Events have overtaken some of its examples (eg Zapo's company culture!) but still thought-provoking and worthwhile.