Going digital is quickly becoming common practice—or at least a common mandate—at many companies. But while most executives have high expectations for the business benefits of digital initiatives, according to McKinsey’s newest survey on the topic,1 the results suggest that digital’s promise seems more of a hope than a reality. Issues of scale remain a challenge, as they have in previous years.2 Few executives say that their companies’ business activities are more digital than not or that their companies have captured a meaningful share of the potential value that digital could bring their business. The most common hurdle to meeting digital priorities, executives say, is insufficient talent or leadership, which tops a longer list of complex challenges. The companies that are succeeding at digital (our “high performers”) have a more active digital agenda than others, are more effective at attracting and retaining digital talent, and offer other lessons for success—among them, taking more risks in their digital programs, moving faster to implement initiatives, and reallocating their resources and their best people to digital work.
