The late, utterly great, hugely lamented author Douglas Adams was a prescient man of pithy, genuinely funny words.  The characters he created for his 'trilogy in four parts' (later to become five parts), The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy, have accompanied me as virtual friends on foreign holidays (remember them?) for many years, re-reading as I do about their unlikely adventures across the universe and time itself.  Regardless of the number of times I read Douglas' books there are always nuances and carefully observed, tacit observations of the human condition that become apparent which I had failed to pick up on previously - surely the mark of a great writer.

At the beginning of our human protagonist's adventures in the very first book, Arthur Dent is faced with the demolition of his home to make way for a bypass.  During the course of proceedings the author makes the comment that "human beings are great adapters" and this innocent sentence has set me thinking about the difference between adaptation and transformation.  When it comes to Digital Transformation, have the efforts of Retail and Hospitality to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic meant that they have engaged in DT?

The article quoted below articulates the key differences between 'adaptation' and 'transformation' very nicely.  Whilst the article itself is about climate change rather than Retail & Hospitality, the etymology and succinct definition clarification of the terms serves us well:

"Adaptation generally involves a change of something in response to something else ... transformation, in contrast, involves a change from something into something that is physically or qualitatively different."

Since March 2020 and national lockdowns around the globe organisations have demonstrated their abilities to adapt to the challenging conditions brought about by the pandemic.  Luxury brands and high-street fashion manufacturers alike turned their production from clothes to PPE output; Formula 1 teams paused design and production of racing cars to create ICU ventilators; and Michelin-starred restaurants along with local, more humble hospitality providers turned their hands to producing DIY, make-it-at-home versions of their own recipes, complete with comprehensive instructions and ingredients kits.  As praiseworthy and, in some instances, altruistic as this is it is still adaptation, "a change of something in response to something else", in this instance, COVID-19.  But it hasn't transformed these businesses.

In order to transform, to achieve "a change from something into something that is physically or qualitatively different", organisations must adopt a more strategic view of why, how and in what order technology, people and processes need to change.  For me, the most telling part of our definition of 'transform' is the final part: a change which creates something qualitatively different - and for Retail, qualitative difference is about how the customer perceives and reacts to you as a business.  Adaption, such as that admirably demonstrated by our examples and countless other businesses over the past eight or so months, is but a tactical principle employed to survive but will, in the majority of cases, succumb to a retreat back to 'business as usual' if and when trading conditions become more familiar.  At this point it will be as if nothing has changed and many organisations will be expecting to fall gently back into the comfortable groove they inhabited at the start of 2020.  That's a potential catastrophe waiting to happen...

In the fourth book of the Hitchhikers... trilogy (sic), 'So Long And Thanks For All The Fish', Arthur Dent eventually makes it home to planet Earth which he had believed destroyed.  During all of his wild intergalactic travels he constantly struggles with adapting to the challenges foisted upon him by the seemingly unkind forces of the universe, demonstrating the very human condition of failing to cope adequately with change.  Douglas Adams' wizardry with words once again encapsulates everything we are talking about now:

“The problem is, or rather one of the problems, for there are many, a sizeable proportion of which are continually clogging up the civil, commercial, and criminal courts in all areas of the Galaxy, and especially, where possible, the more corrupt ones, this. The previous sentence makes sense. That is not the problem. This is:

Change.

Read it through again and you'll get it.”

Tactically adapt, by all means, to ensure short-term survival.  But also plan to strategically transform to play any kind of part in a new customer-centric world driven by data and analytics.  Adapt and transform may appear to be semantically similar but in the cold, hard light of necessary business change they are very, very different - please don't confuse one with the other.