After leading one of Procter & Gamble's largest Fabric Care Initiative Bundles and holding the COO role for the startup of the Tide Cleaners Franchise business, Amy Rardin recently transitioned to her current role as senior director of Global Fabric & Home Care Digital Transformation. She came to the Leading in the Digital Era program at HBS Executive Education to create a framework for taking the organization's digital culture to the next level.
While we've been very focused on technological advances in digital and creating equipment digitization, it's the end-to-end visibility, decision-making, and problem-solving that require a step change in our culture. I came to Leading in the Digital Era for insights on how to focus on the right problem statements collectively and to figure out how to create a framework that allows the organization to rally behind the vision that we're leading.
It's very lively and engaging. There are so many different points of view, cultures, and approaches, and that leads to a lot of sharing on how to deliver a new digital culture. I'm excited about what could be and where we are headed.
Digital transformation is changing constantly, and the case studies that we reviewed on Monday were in the news two days later. So it's been very real time, which I think is important in the digital space.
The space that we shared within our smaller living group allowed us to have lively discussions about our case studies for the next morning. It facilitated a team environment that you don't necessarily get in other executive programs. The faculty is very engaged and invites those types of conversations that allow us to be flexible in discussing where we're headed with our learnings in our own organizations.
The exposure to participants from different cultures has been priceless, especially for those of us who are in global roles. The conversations around your purpose as a company, understanding why you're doing what you're doing, and the many ways that comes to life across different channels or businesses is another reminder of the importance of community impact and emotional connection.
I didn't think that some of the case studies would be relevant for an organization as large as ours, but these companies are doing very creative things that I can take back and apply. Because our organization has been around so long, I also find myself teaching and helping other participants. So striking the right balance and learning from each other in these sessions is important.
There are definitely some actions and insights that I've gleaned from a leadership perspective and an organizational structure standpoint. For example, we have IT people embedded in our businesses, but we don't have businesspeople embedded in our IT structures where they're prioritizing data and architecture and digital priorities. I'm also thinking about taking more actions relative to hiring and talent acquisition.
The application labs help us bring the strategy and topic conversations in the morning to life in the afternoon.
In one of the labs, we went through a simulation to think about decisions that could look differently based on where you are with your data or digital maturity. Where you are in your journey allows you to think very differently about the types of solutions, engagement, and direction that you as a leader need to do based on your organization's mindset.
Before coming to the program, think through the challenges around driving your culture so you're prepared as you read through the case studies and attend the application labs. To get the most out of the program, it's important to stay focused on your problem statements, your needs, and your framework requests.