The Shortlist: Rewire your organization

McKinsey & Company

The Shortlist

FOUR OF OUR BEST NEW IDEAS

Curated by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

Twice monthly, we bring you four new insights out of the dozens we publish that we think are worth a second glance from any business leader in any geography. In this edition, we look at the new rules for digital transformation, how to get out of the way of a good idea, and more. We hope you enjoy the read.

—Liz and Homayoun

An image linking to the web page “The McKinsey guide to outcompeting in the age of digital and AI” on McKinsey.com.

What’s new

Transformation without tears. McKinsey research finds that 90 percent of companies have tried some flavor of digital transformation, but they’re capturing only 30 percent of the value they expect. That’s why our colleagues wrote Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI. It’s a practical guide on how to get hundreds of technologies to work together in a way that wows customers, cuts costs, and creates value. It’s the playbook we use, distilled from hundreds of transformations and packed with state-of-the-art guidance on how to make digital transformations succeed.

Unearth the secrets of digital transformation in Rewired to outcompete, by Eric Lamarre , Kate Smaje , and Rodney Zemmel , and order the book .

An image linking to the web page “Beyond belt-tightening: How marketing can drive resiliency during uncertain times” on McKinsey.com.

What’s now

When the going gets tough, the tough cut marketing expenses. Why? For one thing, it’s easy to do—canceling an ad campaign takes only an email from above. But a slowing economy is precisely the time when high-performing companies double down on marketing. The trick is to do it with an investor mindset.

Invest in growth with Beyond belt-tightening: How marketing can drive resiliency during uncertain times, by Julien Boudet , Marc Brodherson , Kelsey Robinson , and Eli Stein.

An image linking to the web page “‘The creative process is fabulously unpredictable. A great idea cannot be predicted’’” on McKinsey.com.

What’s next

Hungry for your next great idea? For inspo, we talked with Jony Ive, legendary designer of a string of iconic products at Apple, about his new design collective that counts Ferrari and King Charles III among its clients. The most important thing he’s learned from his new gig? Companies need an appetite to create. From that appetite comes the motivation to build a culture in which good ideas are more likely to flourish.

How can your company get cooking? Read ‘The creative process is fabulously unpredictable. A great idea cannot be predicted.’ McKinsey senior partner and chief marketing officer, Tracy Francis , led the interview.

An image linking to the web page “All change: The new era of perpetual organizational upheaval” on McKinsey.com.

What’s needed

Make it stop. You can’t blame CEOs who are feeling dazed and confused by the unending changes shaking their organizations, from hybrid work to generative AI to quiet quitting. We documented these shifts in our April report, The State of Organizations 2023. Now, we’ve written a pocket guide for CEOs who want to future-proof their companies.

Stabilize your world with All change: The new era of perpetual organizational upheaval, by Homayoun Hatami , Dana Maor , and Patrick Simon .

We hope you find this synthesis helpful. See you in two weeks with four more ideas from McKinsey.

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