The Digital Transformation Guidebook: Equipping Leaders to Succeed with Digital Transformation is about equipping senior leaders in small to medium-sized businesses with a tactical checklist and roadmap to control the outcomes of their self-directed digital transformation journeys. 

My name is Tory Bjorklund and I am the author of The Digital Transformation Guidebook : Equipping Leaders to Succeed with Digital Transformation. I wrote this book because I believe with proper preparation and leadership, implementing significant business technology solutions can be accomplished predictably. Project execution has become a mature discipline and there are many people who have the proper training and experience to execute well. Yet, even with a seasoned project manager and skilled technical staff, most implementations fail. What is lacking is people with the proper training and experience to prepare the company for the transformation that is intended to result from the project execution.

My hope is that in reading this book you will discover what you need to know and what you need to do to control the outcomes of your transformational journey. In this book, I hope to instill in you an understanding of why you should take the steps I recommend along with practical instruction on how to do those things.

Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you take specific, proven steps to significantly increase the odds of your success and take ownership of the outcomes of your transformational technology initiatives.

In this book, you’ll learn about preparing your company for transformation and navigating the inevitable storms and obstacles you will encounter in your transformational journey.

We cover the three primary ingredients to a successful digital transformation (DX) initiative. Like a three-legged stool, if one of these ingredients is missing, your initiative will be unstable. It may succeed, but the probability is very unlikely.

• Preparation: The first ingredient is preparation. A poor plan well executed will simply fail faster than a good plan poorly executed. Preparation is a compound of two components: Vision: For a technology initiative to be transformational it needs to be driven by a vision for significant change. Vision must come from senior leadership. Vision is a top-down characteristic. It cannot be from the ground up. Ground up vision is what we call mutiny or revolution. Communication: Your first responsibility as a senior leader is to have a vision. The second responsibility is to effectively communicate that vision. Effectively communicating means those you are leading understand clearly what change is being envisioned, the need for the change, and their role in that change. 

• Execution: The second ingredient for DX success is Execution. For many people, vision is exciting. But without execution, vision is just a dream. Execution is what makes vision become reality. Execution does not come from senior leadership. Senior leadership execution is what we call micromanagement. Your role as a senior leader in execution is to assign competent executors and give them the support they need to succeed with the execution of the vision.

• Assimilation: The third and final ingredient in successful transformational initiatives is Assimilation. You can not command or control assimilation, you can only affect assimilation. Assimilation must be a grassroots initiative. When senior leadership attempts to manage assimilation we call that manipulation. Your role in assimilation as a DX leader is to foster an environment where people are encouraged to embrace experimentation, change, and even failure, as a means to continuously improve. Such an environment is necessary to support positive change.

You will love this book if you are an executive leader who is responsible for leading your company through a significant transformation that involves the implementation of one or more major business technologies.

The Digital Transformation Guidebook is a nonfiction book that speaks to non-technical and technical business leaders who are looking at planning to lead a digital transformation and want to make sure they get it right the first time.

The book is written in 4 Parts:

Part 1 contains the introduction, and the first two chapters. In this section I define digital transformation (DX) and establish the core challenge of DX initiatives, noting their high failure rates (70-90%). I also emphasize the pivotal role of senior leadership in ensuring DX success. I assert that preparation is the number one determining factor for success and explain how you can prepare your organization for DX success.

Part 2 titled “Preparing for Your Digital Transformation Journey” contains Chapters 3-6 and outlines the comprehensive preparatory steps essential for a successful DX journey. It begins with company-level assessments and culminates with defining business transformations and building a prioritized Technology Roadmap. The section then details how to assemble a high-performing transformational team emphasizing clearly defined roles with accountability via RACI matrices, and strategic integration of external vendors. It guides the creation of crucial project documentation. A foundational Organizational Change Management (OCM) strategy is also developed, addressing communication, stakeholder engagement, and training needs. The section concludes with the importance of a well-executed Project Kickoff event, formally launching the initiative and aligning all stakeholders on the path forward.

Part 3 titled “Executing Your Digital Transformation Journey” contains Chapters 7-11. This section describes the iterative and incremental execution of the digital transformation, emphasizing breaking large initiatives into smaller, manageable projects or phases to deliver value sooner and gather feedback. It advocates for a business-process centric approach, using tools like Minimally Viable Products (MVPs), Conference Room Pilots (CRPs), and Business Simulation Testing (BST) for early demonstration and refinement of solutions. The process involves assessing current business-process requirements (distinct from software requirements) using “Participant Stories”; designing the future “to-be” business processes through collaborative Joint Process Design (JPD) workshops; and creating all necessary deliverables, including off-the-shelf software configuration, reporting, custom code, and complex data migration (emphasizing data cleansing and rigorous validation). Critical attention is given to developing system integrations and comprehensive testing strategies (unit, functional, data validation, BST, User Acceptance Testing (UAT)). The “Implement” phase culminates in the Go-Live, with a focus on comprehensive end-user training, UAT, phased rollouts, and essential post-go-live “hypercare” support (typically 2-4 weeks of intensive support). The section reiterates that go-live is a starting point, not the finish line, for true transformation.

Part 4 titled “Reaping the Benefits of Your Journey” contains chapters 12-14. This final section focuses on the critical “Sustain” stage post-go-live, challenging the common misconception that an absence of immediate issues signifies success. It asserts that true success is measured by achieving the quantifiable business outcomes and objectives that justified the transformation. To ensure the long-term realization of benefits and ROI, organizations must proactively monitor, measure, and maintain their digital transformation initiatives. It explains why you should, and how you can establish strategic monitoring frameworks for process conformance, effectiveness, organizational adoption, and system health. Crucially, it explains the need for rigorous, ongoing data analysis, combining quantitative metrics with invaluable qualitative user feedback, to uncover root causes of issues, detect negative trends early, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. The ultimate goal is to move beyond reactive problem-solving to proactive optimization, ensuring sustained value and competitive advantage

About the Author 

Tory Bjorklund is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of his latest venture, Victoria Fide Consulting. As a technology leader for 40 years, he has guided hundreds of companies through digital transformation. His career includes C-suite roles as CEO, CTO, and CIO, with deep expertise in the manufacturing, software, engineering, and supply chain industries.

Inspired by Kierkegaard’s belief in the “infinity of possibility,” Tory is passionate about using technology to reshape the future of business. Tory helps leadership teams see what’s possible and build the roadmap to get there. His approach is grounded in decades of experience and a deep commitment to making technology work for business—not the other way around.

In Tory’s own words, “I wrote The Digital Transformation Guidebook because I am tired of seeing companies struggle and fail to implement transformational technologies. I believe companies can succeed with transformations. I have spent the last ten years developing the process and tools necessary to assure success with those transformational initiatives. Most executive leaders realize their organizations must adopt new technologies to remain competitive, but they either believe DX success is unattainable or it can’t be that hard. I wrote this book to show that DX success is attainable but it is also difficult and requires strong leadership and a disciplined approach.”

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Tory Bjorklund

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