In a connected business environment, binary signals are no longer sufficient.
The recent Vatican conclave, steeped in centuries of tradition, offered more than just a moment of spiritual significance—it served as a striking metaphor. Behind closed doors, a small group of leaders debated, deliberated, and ultimately declared a decision to the world with a puff of white smoke. Following a speedy deliberation and election, Chicago-born cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected on the second day of the conclave. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
This ceremonial approach works well works well for Catholicism, but less so in business. Indeed, many organizations still treat digital transformation in a similar manner. Initiated within closed executive circles, strategic direction is shaped, technology investments approved, and roadmaps defined—all behind the scenes. The broader organization often only sees the outcome, not the process.
As organizations operate within increasingly agile, transparent, and connected environments, the question arises: can lasting transformation truly be driven in isolation? Or must organizations evolve toward a more open, participatory model that empowers insight and ownership from the ground up?
Communicating decisions without context or clarity
Transformation decisions are often communicated with great fanfare — announcements, all-hands meetings, slick slide decks. But for many across the organization, these moments resemble smoke signals from a distant tower: symbolic but vague. The decision is clear, but the rationale, trade-offs, and implications are not.
Whether it is the selection of a cloud platform, a shift to agile delivery, or a complete redesign of the operating model, announcements without contextual transparency create uncertainty. Teams scramble to interpret direction, while middle managers attempt to reverse-engineer the thinking behind strategic pivots.
This disconnect results in lost time, misaligned execution, and diminished trust. In a connected business environment, binary signals are no longer sufficient. What is needed is clarity on how decisions are made, why certain paths were chosen, and what success looks like.
The politics of closed rooms
Digital transformation is often framed as a technical or operational initiative. But at its core is political alignment. Like a conclave, the process often concentrates decision-making among a select group of influential stakeholders, typically executives who are both the architects and potential beneficiaries of change.
These leaders must navigate internal power dynamics. Functional heads may lobby for systems that protect their operational autonomy. Transformation officers may push for standardization that enables control and reporting. Budget holders often weigh innovation against short-term performance.
In this context, decisions are shaped not just by strategy, but by alignment of interests and trade-offs between competing priorities. Some of this is necessary. But when politics override participation, transformation becomes less…well…transformative. Excluding frontline insights, product team perspectives, or customer feedback in the early stages can result in solutions that are misaligned with operational realities. The architecture may be sound in theory but fragile in execution.
Transformation cannot succeed as a black box exercise. Governance must account for diverse inputs while avoiding paralysis. Political alignment is necessary—but not sufficient. Executive sponsorship provides critical momentum and legitimacy, but it must be matched by genuine engagement from all levels of the organization. Strategic direction set at the top should create the conditions for broad-based participation, where insight flows upward and action cascades downward in sync.
Unlocking bottom-up momentum
While leadership sets the tone and vision, execution at the edge ultimately determines success. Bottom-up momentum is not simply a cultural aspiration—it is a practical necessity.
Organizations that outperform in transformation tend to decentralize experimentation. They provide local teams with the frameworks, tools, and autonomy to adapt global strategies to real-world conditions. This includes structured experimentation with minimal viable pilots, cross-functional squads that test solutions early, and platforms that allow for scalable iteration.
Modern technologies enable this shift. Cloud-native architectures support modular deployment. Low-code platforms reduce development bottlenecks. Digital twins simulate impact before committing real-world resources. AI and analytics offer continuous feedback loops from operations and customers.
When employees have the means and mandate to contribute to transformation, they become co-creators, not just recipients. Engagement rises. Resistance drops. Execution accelerates. And critically, early warnings surface faster, enabling quicker course correction. A bottom-up approach also democratizes ownership. It cultivates a culture where individuals at all levels recognize their stake in the outcome. Transformation becomes embedded in daily work, not isolated in a PMO.
From ritual to renewal
True transformation is not a symbolic gesture. It is a system-wide renewal process that demands transparency, adaptability, and inclusion. Success depends on shifting from episodic initiatives to a continuous capability for change.
In this model, transparency is not just about sharing decisions—it is about sharing context. That includes access to roadmaps, visibility into interdependencies, and real-time updates on progress. It means creating systems where feedback is expected, not requested. Collaborative dashboards, open architecture reviews, and real-time KPI monitoring move the organization beyond annual reviews and stage gates. Governance becomes lighter and smarter.
Most importantly, the organization learns to manage tension between vision and execution, global alignment and local flexibility, leadership direction and grassroots innovation. This is the essence of digital maturity. Conclaves serve their purpose. But they are designed to select, not to transform. In business, waiting for white smoke is no longer viable. Decisions must be made in daylight, informed by insight from across the enterprise.
