Show Notes
In this episode we discuss the reasons behind the failure of digital projects. James shares his insights from his extensive experience in the NHS and emphasizes the root causes of success and failure.
James Freed is the Deputy Director of NHS Digital Academy. The team he leads exists to help as many health and care teams as possible deliver more value tomorrow than they did today. Before that he was CIO for Health Education England.
Show Links
Ben Pearce LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpthoughts/
Tech World Human Skills Home - https://www.techworldhumanskills.com
James Freed Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-freed-digital/
Future Dot Now - https://futuredotnow.uk/
Takeaways
70% of digital transformations fail to achieve expected benefits.
One hour of training can significantly improve staff satisfaction.
Focus on outcomes rather than outputs for project success.
Staff satisfaction is directly linked to patient safety and wellbeing.
Digital champions can provide immediate support to staff.
Cows (computers on wheels) illustrate the challenges in NHS tech.
Bad digital experiences contribute to staff burnout and turnover.
Training is essential to prevent burnout and improve job performance.
60% of digital project failures are due to cultural and skills deficits.
Digital literacy varies significantly across different industries.
Keywords
digital projects, NHS, project failures, healthcare technology, digital transformation, staff experience, training, project success, human skills, technology implementation
More from Tech World Human Skills
This episode looks at how to get hired as a sales engineer while the hiring process itself is changing. David Ledger has run more than fifty interviews in his first three months at HiBob. He walks through the three questions that haven't changed in decades and still trip people up: why do you want to work here, why do you like being a sales engineer, and tell me about a deal you are proud of. The conversation gets specific about what a weak answer sounds like (a twenty-year life story, a complaint about a former manager, a timeline of events with no ownership) and what a strong one sounds like. That includes the test David applies to every deal story: if another SE had been there instead of you, would it still have closed?
Stoicism is not about feeling nothing. It is about deciding what deserves your energy and what does not.
The skills that make someone a strong technical expert are rarely the skills that make them a strong leader of the business around that expertise.
Fixing weaknesses feels productive, but doubling down on what you are already good at is usually what actually moves the needle.
Change management often fails for one simple reason: nobody diagnosed why people are actually resisting before throwing more training and communication at the problem.