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Inside the Mindset Shift That Separates Failing Projects from Industry Leaders
The Harsh Reality: 70% of Digital Transformation Projects Fail
Digital transformation is everywhere. Everyone’s talking about it, investing in it, and banking on it. And yet—70% of these projects still fail.
I’ve seen it firsthand.
Years ago, I was part of a massive initiative involving stakeholders across four continents. Every few weeks, global teams would fly in for discovery workshops. The effort was enormous. The investment? Even bigger.
But four months in, I walked away. It was clear: the project wasn’t going anywhere. Eventually, it was scrapped altogether.
It was a painful reminder that digital transformation without clarity and strategy is just expensive chaos.
Why Does Digital Transformation Keep Failing?
We turn to digital transformation to create a better version of our business—a new reality. But often, we find ourselves in a mess even worse than where we started.
So what’s going wrong?
We chase tools, copy others, attend workshops, and build fancy roadmaps. But when there's no solid foundation, when innovation becomes a buzzword instead of a process, we set ourselves up for failure.
And whether you’re in FinTech or not, the truth is simple: you can’t afford to ignore transformation anymore.
I’ve seen companies fall behind because their competitors offered a smoother mobile experience or used AI to streamline credit assessments and slash operational costs. In a world racing toward innovation, doing nothing comes at a very high price.
Innovation Is the Answer—But Not All Innovation Is Equal
We all know innovation is key. But how do you actually get there?
Does it mean booking more discovery workshops? Flying teams around the globe again? Dedicating hours to brainstorming sessions that start to feel like déjà vu?
Workshops matter, of course. Listening to users and clients is essential. But here’s the twist—everyone is doing that now. The question is: are you doing it right?
If you’re not deeply aligned with user pain points, operational realities, and strategic vision, you’ll likely end up as just another failed case study.
A Personal Story: What Happens Without the Right Mindset
Let me share a story close to home.
My cousin runs a successful business. He reached out to me while I was leading my UX consultancy, TheUXprts. He wanted to transform the way his company handled digital operations.
We had some promising conversations. But eventually, he backed out. He was hesitant—scared to take risks, unsure about real change. Instead, he returned to buying mediocre tools from small vendors. They were easy to plug in but rarely solved the real problem.
It’s a cycle I’ve seen often: quick fixes, familiar decisions, and the illusion of progress. But eventually, the tools fall short—and they’re back at square one.
That’s where a true digital transformation consultant becomes critical—not to sell another tool, but to bridge the gap between where you are and where you need to be.
What Real Digital Transformation Consulting Brings to the Table
Digital transformation consulting is more than just strategy decks and new software. It’s about transformation at the core. A great consultant helps you:
Create a strategic vision that aligns innovation with business outcomes
Spot operational bottlenecks and optimize efficiency
Build a data ecosystem that enables smarter, faster decisions
Design secure and scalable solutions that earn user trust
And most importantly: craft human-centered experiences that solve real, painful problems
At the heart of every successful transformation is user-centric innovation—and that’s where UX strategy plays its most powerful role.
The Hidden Gold in User Pain
Let me tell you about a user I interviewed during an enterprise redesign. She was frustrated. She told me:
“Every time a competitor updates their system, it’s like they flipped a switch overnight. Suddenly, we’re all lost.”
Most people might treat that as just another complaint. But for me, it was an insight that could change the market.
Instead of a massive system overhaul, the solution was a progressive rollout—introducing change bit by bit, with testing, validation, and user feedback at every step.
It only takes one competitor to listen deeply and act smart—and they become the market leader before the others even understand what happened.
That’s what happens when innovation meets empathy.
Lessons From the Field: Two Stories, Two Outcomes
The Wrong Way
At one FinTech startup, I introduced a sleek innovation framework. It covered everything—from ideation to execution. It was structured, elegant, and backed by leadership.
But I made a mistake. I pushed it too fast.
The rollout triggered resistance. Some team members felt threatened. Meetings turned political. At one point, I had 40 people in a workshop—most of them just there to prove a point, not to collaborate.
It was a mess…
The Right Way
Later, I joined a complex, global team using outdated systems and processes. This time, I took a different approach. I didn’t try to sell a vision.
I just started drawing.
Small wireframes. Visual concepts. Tiny, tangible improvements. I combined what users told me with what I knew could be better—and showed them, not told them.
And that changed everything.
Conversations shifted. Debates turned creative. Teams bought in because they saw the value. We built an experience that transformed the way their organization conducted food science research—impacting millions of users globally.
So, When Does Innovation Really Happen?
Innovation doesn’t appear out of thin air. It happens when organizations can:
Identify user pain points with precision
Match those with business opportunities
Translate strategy into real execution
It's not about luck. It's about process, persistence, and timing.
Digital transformation sits at the center of it all, unlocking the agility, intelligence, and human insight needed to turn vision into reality.
The Bigger Picture
The impact of digital innovation goes far beyond convenience.
Take M-Pesa in Kenya. By analyzing mobile usage and behavioral trends, they refined their mobile banking model and increased financial inclusion for millions.
Or consider this: research shows that even a 1% increase in digital payments can boost a city’s GDP growth rate by 6% to 8%. That’s transformational.
And let’s not forget: if Google AI hadn’t picked up early signals of the pandemic, how much worse could things have been?
Digital transformation isn’t just about saving time or money. It’s about changing lives.
Final Thoughts
Digital transformation is your gateway to the future. It drives inclusion, improves operations, fuels innovation, and enables smarter decisions.
But only if it’s done right.
So don’t just transform—transform with purpose. Work with experts who see beyond the surface, who understand users, who lead with empathy, and who know how to build innovation from the inside out.
Because in a world moving this fast, the greatest risk… is standing still.
About the Author
Michael Garas is a senior UX strategist and digital transformation expert with 19+ years of experience across FinTech, e-commerce, and enterprise platforms. A LinkedIn Top Voice in UX and former founder of TheUXprts, he currently leads transformation initiatives for global financial clients at Capgemini. His mission? To turn user-centric innovation into world-changing results.