Through Heart-Mind: Finding the Secret of Digital Wisdom

This book is a digital wisdom book that integrates the vision of internationalization and localization gathering the experience of senior managers of dozens of leading enterprises. It aims to cultivate “digital intelligence” from the individual to the organizational level， get rid of the state of “digital blindness，” help individuals and organizations see the essence clearly， grasp the direction and method of transformation in the wave of digital transformation， and truly realize the empowerment of themselves and improve their business through digitalization.

Li Changhua

Li Changhua is a special information expert on central enterprises. He has been engaged in information technology management and research for a long time. He has served as a personal advisor to digital leaders in more than 40 enterprises in a variety of industries.

Through Heart-Mind:

Finding the Secret of Digital Wisdom

Li Changhua

Tsinghua University Press

September 2023

79.00 (CNY)

We know that platformization and data-driven approaches are the core features of digitization. While it may seem that digitization is easy to achieve， it is not. The purpose of platform-based business is to enable enterprises to be orchestratable， meaning they can change according to the market and the larger environment. This involves mastering the art of change， which is not easy to accomplish. In Journey to the West， Sun Wukong learned two main skills from his master， Patriarch Bodhi: the 72 polymorphic transformations and the cloud somersault. Mastering these two skills laid the foundation for him to become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and the Victorious Fighting Buddha. However， Sun Wukong’s training process was arduous. Patriarch Bodhi had many disciples， but it seems that only Sun Wukong mastered the 72 polymorphic transformations. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution， biological evolution takes a long process， with each generation achieving only a little change， especially in hardware. Therefore， we must not think that building a technology platform or a middleware platform equates to achieving digitization. These things are just the easiest foundational steps， and if an enterprise is willing to invest， it can build them within two to three years. But becoming a platform-based enterprise is not that simple.

The same principle applies to data-driven approaches. Do not assume that having a data middleware and various data applications equates to achieving data-driven operations. The most crucial aspect is that the enterprise’s genes need to undergo corresponding changes， including changes in thought， organization， talent， culture， and more. Some changes require sweat， tears， and even blood. We know that during Britain’s transition from an agricultural society to an industrial society， farmers were deprived of their land and forced to become industrial workers， going through a process of sweat， tears， and blood. Later， Taylor experienced similar challenges in implementing scientific management. If we have not yet gone through such processes， it is unrealistic to achieve digitization effortlessly.

What will enterprises look like as they continue down this path and undergo various transformations? We can use various descriptions， including business flexibility， adaptability， and sustainable development. Technologically， there is a term called the “digital twin organization，” which means enterprises will evolve into twins of physical and virtual organizations. These two organizations complement each other， promote each other， and progress together while forming a unified and coordinated whole. The physical organization can be reflected in real-time by the digital organization， and the digital organization can optimize and orchestrate the physical organization at any time. Imagine such an organization-- it should be quite “formidable，” and traditional non-digital organizations might find it hard to compete with such an organization in the market.

However， the emergence of such organizations is not necessarily a sign of progress. From a commercial perspective， it is certainly progress because such organizations are more efficient and commercially profitable. However， such organizations bring uncertainty to people’s sense of happiness because they may bring about human “alienation，” just like industrialization. Capital may gain greater returns， but workers may not necessarily achieve happiness. In other words， technological progress and production mode advancement do not necessarily mean social progress. Social progress is the result of organized， purposeful choices made by humanity. Just as many developed Western countries still have large populations living in poverty， poverty cannot be eradicated without effective social management. I firmly believe that on Chinese soil， due to the advantages of our system， it is possible to achieve benevolent digitization， and its negative impacts can be minimized.

Digitization is undoubtedly laying the foundation for the next， more advanced stage. What will the next stage be? We can speculate a bit. There is much discussion on this topic， with some suggesting it will be the era of digital intelligence or intelligentization. In the past two years， the term “metaverse” has suddenly emerged. I do not oppose these terms， but I think it is better to predict from the essence of technology rather than getting tangled up in terminology. In the foreseeable future， the technologies that will have the greatest impact on humanity definitely include artificial intelligence， blockchain， quantum computing， augmented reality， bioengineering， new energy， and new materials. The first four are closely related to informatization， and I believe artificial intelligence will be the most impactful technology. Artificial intelligence will achieve connections with other intelligent agents， with the operation of entire organizations， enterprises， business ecosystems， and cities all under its control， achieving high-level coordination between people， things， and people and things. Of course， fully realizing this stage will take a considerable amount of time， but we already see many localized implementations， including unmanned factories， unmanned ports， and smart cities controlled by urban brains. In the future， these systems will all be interconnected to form an integrated whole， achieving true “self-operation.” Everything that digitization accomplishes will become the foundation for the future.