Disruptive business models are emerging and evolving at an ever-increasing speed. In the digital economy, business models and technological advancements are intertwined such that all business strategy must be viewed through a digital lens.

SAP's recent Digital Transformation Executive Study (Clark, 2017) indicates that 84 percent of companies globally agree that digital transformation is important or critically important to their survival in the next five years. Ignoring digital transformation presents existential threats to even the largest organizations. Nokia, once a global telecommunications leader, was effectively shuttered by Microsoft after it failed to respond to changing market forces.

Association members now have many digital choices for connecting to each other, consuming content, and conducting their advocacy activities. Search engines and social media are encroaching on terrain traditionally served by membership organizations. Member loyalty is increasingly transactional, and the bar for customer satisfaction is constantly raised as members bring their experience as digital consumers into the association realm.

The lesson learned for association leaders is that we must pay attention to digital transformation or be disrupted out of existence. How do association leaders harness digital transformation as a positive force? How do we maintain service levels while harnessing new technologies to deliver new products and services to our digital-savvy customers or members?

Managing digital transformation requires a bilateral focus on operations and innovation while executing effective change management strategies—effectively moving from the current 'as is' state to a desired future or 'to be' state.

Within this framework, several best practices have proven useful for association leaders engaged in digital transformation:

Develop a digital culture. Organize your association's workforce differently. Tear down silos, and empower cross-functional teams. Hone your change management skills by borrowing agile project management techniques from software development disciplines where iterative sprints of two to four weeks typically define deliverables deadlines and allows for consistent improvements.

Managing digital transformation requires a bilateral focus on operations and innovation while executing effective change management strategies.

Play the long game. Focus both on technology and core business capabilities. Link digital strategy to governance in ways that allow for adjustments to rapidly changing digital environments. This includes board-level guidance as to where digital transformation fits into the overall strategy of the association as well as operational governance and engagement with staff, committees, and chapters. Ask the strategic question: Are we positioned to respond rapidly to some as-yet unknown technical disruption?

Is our governance model focused on change management and leveraging new digital opportunities in addition to achieving operational excellence?

Experiment, then scale. Engaging in small, iterative experiments reduces the risk of failure in enterprise-wide change initiatives. Small innovation projects are more easily funded—and can then be scaled to operational levels.

Pay attention to the customer journey. Building a frictionless, positive customer experience is paramount in digital transformation. Customer expectations are now set by Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, and other disruptive business models that spend heavily on delighting their digital customers. One example of a positive digital experience for associations is one in which a member can easily find their desired information online from any device.

Find the best digital talent. Experience matters. Digitally mature organizations leverage experienced leaders who have articulated and executed successful digital transformation strategies. They understand the need for and place a premium on attracting digital talent, including full-time employees, contractors, and consultants with proven digital transformation experience.

Be careful when applying benchmarks. Benchmarking can be a useful tool in developing strategies for digital transformation. One good example is the ASAE Foundation's Technology Success and Readiness Study. The results of this study illuminates two intersecting and potentially troubling trends: the growing dissatisfaction of younger members with association technology (44 percent are satisfied) and the fact that very few associations qualify as technology innovators (9 percent). When interpreting this data, some might feel safe if their organization were to fit into the 68 percent of organizations considered effective with respect to technology. Or conversely, feel justified in deferring digital transformation work because only 9 percent of associations are innovative. It is important to utilize benchmarks in full view of the aspirational goals of your organization. Safety in numbers may not be applicable to associations aspiring to be more digitally mature.

Achieving digital maturity is an ongoing process. New technologies, new business models, and shifting market demands will continue to push associations to evolve and grow. Association leaders, engaged in digital transformation, must take the long view while adapting to continually changing end points inherent in the digital economy.

Incremental and gradual change is no longer an option. The goal is transformation, not disruption. We must act accordingly.