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Kent's theorem
– A theorem providing a basis for digital strategies for business

During a project at work, we were given a task on how a given industry could go digital via a disruptive or transformative path, and we quickly agreed upon a theorem provided by one of our team members, Kent Andersen. We liked it so much, that we coined it Kent's theorem.

"Kent's theorem" is a theorem about how businesses have to transform to be prepared for the digital world:

Companies have to fix their problems in pace of innovation. Continues improvement demands basic agreement between IT and business. Embracement of new technology, R&D, user centered product development and minimizing of technical debt. The goal for digitalization gives a starting point for small initiatives. Those initiatives give value to existing projects or, in best case, replaces existing products (solutions). An example of this could be mobile banks (app).

What this refers to, is that companies that for years have been doing what they always have been doing, tries to innovate by repeating them selves and copy the competitors, eventually leading up to the point where they are copying themselves. The companies have to find small initiatives that could pull them closer to the future vision of complete digitalisation, instead of creating initiatives that is buried in the "Continous Improvement-bog", that eventually will drag the production and innovation to a full stop.

We can simplify this meaning into the phrase: "Innovation jump".

To ellaborate on the example given in "Kent's theorem", the mobile bank app, instead of letting that product drop down to the "Continous Improvement-bog", the more digitalised approach would be to fine tune that initiative, making it a magnet for other projects to pull towards. This should eventually lead to the finalisation of the projects in the "bog", resulting in a clean new ecosystem for the new digitalised company.


About the author

Hi! My name is Alexander, and I am a creative frontender, specializing in UX, accessibility, universal design, frontend-architecture, node and design systems. I am passionate with open source projects and love to dabble with new emerging technologies related to frontend. With over 24 years of frontend experience, I have earned the right to be called a veteran. I am a lover of life, technologist at heart. If I am not coding, I am cooking and I love whisky and cigars. Oh, and coffee, I LOVE coffee!

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