The ten deadly mistakes of wanna-dots

Increasingly, it seems, there are just two types of companies left in the w orld: dotcoms, born on the Internet, and "wanna-dots," established organiza tions that are seeking to incorporate the Internet into their businesses. Some wanna-dots manage the deep mind-shift required to cross the digital di vide. These are the pacesetters-the first movers and fast followers that ex hibit organizational curiosity and the desire to innovate. But most wanna-d ots are laggards; they don't rise to the challenge with the same resolve. In a global research effort involving more than 800 companies, the author u ncovered so many wanna-dots making the same kinds of mistakes that it almos t seemed they were following a How Not to Change guide. In this article, Ka nter creates just such a guide, offering ten pieces of antiadvice that expo se the tendency of wanna-dots to make only cosmetic changes when deep trans formation is required. Beyond delineating what not to do, Kanter serves up two examples of wanna-d ots that got it right First, Williams-Sonoma, which successfully made up fo r a slow start to create a strong Web presence. Second, Honeywell, a pacese tter led by e-believers from the start, which still found the road to the W eb a challenging one. For companies not born digital, the fundamental problem is change. And the real place to look for change is not on the Internet but inside your compan y-at your own organizational culture and your attitude toward change.