A few years ago, I worked for a business that that had just completed implementing a sophisticated Order Management System (OMS); it was on time and under budget, with all the technical boxes checked. The OMS had the potential to unify inventory visibility across channels, optimize fulfillment decisions, and reduce fulfillment costs by 20%. By traditional metrics, it was a success.
About six months into utilizing the OMS, the organization was struggling to fully leverage the investment; the team was still relying on their old manual processes rather than trusting the system’s automated process. The warehouse team had created spreadsheet workarounds for allocation decisions. Customer service representatives would check multiple systems before making promises to customers. Despite flawless implementation, the promised efficiency gains remained theoretical, and the projected reduction in split shipments hadn’t materialized.
At the same timeframe, a friend of mine working at another retailer had launched what appeared to be a messier OMS implementation. Their platform choice wasn’t as feature-rich, their timeline stretched two months longer than planned, and they exceeded their initial budget by 15%. Yet something remarkable was happening: the fulfillment team were enthusiastically adopting the new tools, fulfillment accuracy was climbing, and customer satisfaction scores around order delivery were trending upward. Even now, a few years later, this “imperfect” implementation continues to evolve and deliver value beyond the initial projections.
What made the difference? It wasn’t the technology. It wasn’t even the execution. It was something deeper.
When ROI Isn’t Enough
When we evaluate digital transformation solely through the lens of traditional ROI, it’s like judging the quality of a conversation by counting the words spoken. The metrics matter, but they miss the meaning—and meaning is what drives lasting change.
Don’t misunderstand me: financial metrics have their place. I’ve built my career by creating accountability with measurable returns on digital investments. But I’ve also witnessed too many technically successful implementations fail to deliver sustainable value because they overlooked the human elements that ultimately determine whether digital transformation sticks or slips away.
Thinking through the APP cultural framework that I developed a few years ago, I began thinking about how that framework could apply to this scenario; the framwork could be a progressive approach that addresses the elements traditional ROI calculations often miss:
- A: Accountability
- P: Passion
- P: Purpose
When applied alongside traditional evaluation methods, this framework helps organizations create digital transformations that don’t just calculate well on spreadsheets but actually transform how people work in lasting ways, and ultimately how the organization services the customers they serve.
A: Accountability
What if we stopped treating accountability as something to enforce and started seeing it as the natural outcome of people committed to purpose they care about? Traditional accountability systems often rely heavily on external monitoring, consequence management, and performance metrics. These have their place, but they’re incomplete. They can create compliance, but not commitment.
When purpose alignment generates genuine passion, accountability becomes progressive; it evolves from external enforcement to internal ownership. People hold themselves and each other accountable because they care about the outcomes, not because they fear consequences.
A financial services firm I worked with early in my career had struggled with adoption of their new client management system despite robust training programs and clear usage requirements. Checking the compliance boxes wasn’t translating to meaningful engagement.
The organization shifted the approach by connecting the system to the advisors’ deep commitment to their clients’ financial well-being. We created peer learning communities where advisors could share how they were using the system to better serve clients. We adjusted implementation timelines to allow for more experimentation and learning.
Most importantly, we changed how we measured success. Rather than tracking compliance metrics alone, we began highlighting client impact stories that resulted from effective system use. We personified the how the system was impacting our customers.
As advisors began seeing the system as a tool that helped them deliver on their purpose, rather than an administrative burden, accountability shifted. They began holding themselves to higher standards than any manager would have imposed, because now they saw the system as integral to serving their clients well.
To foster progressive accountability in your digital initiatives:
- Balance compliance metrics with purpose impact measures
- Create opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and accountability
- Allow appropriate space for experimentation and personalization
- Publicly recognize purpose-aligned system usage, not just technical proficiency
- Be transparent about how the digital initiative is supporting organizational purpose
When people are aligned with purpose and genuinely passionate about outcomes, accountability becomes less about enforcement and more about enablement.
P: Passion
I think of passion not as an emotional bonus, but as the fuel that powers your digital transformation vehicle. Without it, even the most sophisticated engine won’t take you far.
When I mention passion to executives, I sometimes see skeptical expressions. Business leaders often think of passion as something unpredictable and unmanageable; it is a nice-to-have rather than an essential component of success. This misunderstanding costs organizations dearly.
Genuine passion emerges naturally when people connect their work to meaningful purpose. It’s not about manufacturing excitement through incentives or pep talks; it’s about creating the conditions where intrinsic motivation can flourish.
I witnessed this firsthand when building an ecommerce team at Pier 1 Imports. We initially focused on implementing new technology: ecommerce platform, OMS, analytics, and in-store pick-up. Initially, the focus was entirely on activating the new technical components. We made progress but we were slow to get strong momentum in the business.
But, we shifted our approach. We began focusing on how we could impact our customer’s experience. How could we leverage this new technology to fuel our brand’s purpose of helping make our customer’s house a home? This has a dramatic shift on how the team began to think about the work they were doing. The shift in mindset had the team now thinking about the passion they possessed for home decorating rather then doing a task or job.
The change was remarkable. The same team that had been going through the motions of building an ecommerce business now began exploring the system more deeply, suggesting improvements, and even creating test to more quickly learn and adapt, all for the customers they served. The passion was genuine because it connected to something that mattered to them.
To generate passion in your digital initiatives, try these approaches:
- Discover what genuinely matters to your team members and look for authentic connections to your digital initiatives
- Create space for people to shape aspects of the implementation in ways that serve what they care about
- Celebrate stories that highlight the purpose impact, not just the technical achievements
- Be patient—genuine passion builds gradually through consistent purpose reinforcement
You can’t manufacture passion, but you can create the conditions where it naturally.
P: Purpose
Digital transformation without purpose alignment is like having a fully restored 1964 Mustang sit in a garge but go nowhere. The technology used in your transformation might be impressive, but without clear direction, you’ll sit idle. This is why I always begin with what I call the Purpose Question: “What is this digital initiative really about for us? Beyond efficiency and cost savings, how does it connect to why we exist as an organization?”
Purpose alignment doesn’t happen through mission statements on walls; it happens through consistent connection between daily decisions and deeper organizational meaning. Ask yourself: How does this specific feature, design choice, or implementation plan serve our core reason for existing? How does it help us better serve our customers? When teams can answer this question with clarity and conviction, you’ve established the foundation for sustainable transformation.
Applying the APP Framework
This framework isn’t meant to replace traditional ROI analysis but to complement it. Here’s how you can begin applying this approach in your organization:
Before Implementation
Purpose Alignment Workshop: Gather key stakeholders to explicitly connect the digital initiative to organizational purpose. Document specific ways the technology will help fulfill this purpose.
Passion Mapping: Identify what genuinely matters to different stakeholder groups and how the initiative connects to these values. Look for authentic connection points, not forced alignments.
Accountability Design: Create balanced measurement systems that track both technical metrics and purpose impact. Design learning structures that will foster peer accountability.
During Implementation
Purpose Storytelling: Consistently communicate examples of how the implementation is serving organizational purpose, especially during challenging phases.
Passion Protection: Be vigilant about maintaining the purpose connections when technical challenges arise. It’s easy to revert to pure technical focus during difficulties.
Progressive Accountability Development: Gradually shift from directive oversight to collaborative learning as teams demonstrate purpose commitment.
After Launch
Purpose Impact Assessment: Evaluate not just technical success but how well the implementation has served organizational purpose.
Passion Sustainability: Create ongoing structures to maintain connection between the digital systems and what people care about.
Accountability Evolution: Continue shifting toward self-directed and peer accountability systems as appropriate.
Beyond the Spreadsheet
Traditional ROI calculations will always matter. Financial sustainability is essential for any business initiative. But the most valuable digital transformations create impact that extends beyond what spreadsheets can capture.
I’ve seen technically imperfect implementations thrive because they were deeply aligned with purpose, generated genuine passion, and fostered progressive accountability. I’ve also seen technically flawless implementations fail because they neglected these human elements.
The beauty of the APP Framework isn’t just that it improves adoption rates and user engagement; it’s that it connects directly to why we’re doing this work in the first place: creates meaningful improvements in how organizations fulfill their purpose.
The next time you’re evaluating a digital initiative, before you run the ROI numbers, try running it through the APP Framework first. You might discover that the most valuable transformations are the ones that connect technology with your deeper organizational purpose.
What digital transformation might look different in your organization if you applied the APP Framework alongside traditional ROI analysis?
