Shape
Shape encapsulates the insights from all of the previous pathways; Explore, Embed and Drive. It encourages consideration of how the ideas raised can be used to shape decisions and actions to have significant, positive impact for the sector. This pathway is for everyone, but especially for anyone responsible for making strategic decisions or leading organisations at a local, regional or national level (e.g. policy-makers, board-level leaders, chief executives, business owners, directors).
If you aren't sure you understand any of the content, jump back to the Drive pathway and use the resources there to develop your knowledge before carrying on.
The Shape Pathway
Step 1 - Developing a Digital Mindset
| Overview |
Adopting a digital mindset can be crucial when trying to lead your organisation towards a successful digital future. |
| Watch |
To explore what it means to have a digital mindset, watch the short video (44m 18s) included below: |
| Questions |
Having watched the video, has this changed what you think it means to have a digital mindset? Reflect on the key messages to challenge your own digital mindset. Consider your current ways of working, thinking and doing. |
| Further Resources |
Consider exploring the Digitally Enabled Workforce's Digital Mindset for Leaders page for more resources and future Digital Mindset sessions. |
Step 2 - Building a Digital Culture
| Overview |
Demonstrating innovative ways of working, thinking and doing can help to build a thriving digital culture in which your employees feel empowered to embrace technology. |
| Questions |
| Reflecting on the digital culture of your own organisation, what do you and other leaders already do to collectively lead your organisation towards a digital future? |
| Task |
Have a look at the questions in this resource which challenge and provoke digital ways of thinking. They have been developed for board-level leaders but can be used by any senior leader: Link: Questions for Boards Use these questions to initiate meaningful conversations with other senior leaders. Try to follow these conversations up with practical actions that will help develop the digital culture of your organisation. |
Step 3 - Building the Foundations for Integrated Care
| Overview |
People's journeys rarely fit neatly within a single service. As they move between health, social work and social care, connected information can help professionals work together, reduce duplication and provide more coordinated, person-centred support. Achieving this requires strong digital and data foundations that enable services to connect and collaborate effectively. |
| Read |
Read COSLA's "Shaping the Future of Integrated Health and Social Care". The article explores the potential to use the Community Health Index (CHI) more widely across local government, creating a consistent reference point for matching information across health, social work and social care. It considers how this could support more integrated working, reduce the need for people to repeat their story and help services access the right information at the right time. Link: COSLA | Shaping the Future of Integrated Health and Social Care |
Step 4 - Shaping Better Social Care Data
| Overview |
Scotland is creating a social care data landscape that supports a clearer understanding of people’s needs, experiences, outcomes and journeys through care. By reducing duplication, improving consistency and addressing information gaps, we can build a more complete picture of how people move through and experience social care services. For those shaping digital and data strategy, this provides a practical example of how organisations can challenge existing ways of working, involve data users and providers, and redesign data systems around the decisions and outcomes they need to support. |
| Read |
Explore the Scottish Government blog “Transforming Social Care Data in Scotland.” Discover how Scotland plans to streamline data collection, reduce duplication, develop a core minimum dataset, and better connect health and social care data. Link: Statistics Transforming Social Care Data in Scotland - Statistics |
Step 5 - Scaling Digital Innovation Across Health and Social Care (New)
| Reflection |
| Innovation alone does not deliver transformation. The real challenge is turning successful local innovation into system-wide impact. Digital transformation leaders play a critical role in building alignment, removing barriers and creating the conditions for proven digital approaches to be adopted, scaled and sustained across organisations and systems. |
| Explore |
Read Accelerating Digital Innovation in Social Care, an article by Professor Margaret Whoriskey from Scotland's Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre. The article introduces Digital Care Collaborative Scotland and explores how collaboration across social care, social work, housing and other sectors can help overcome barriers to innovation, support the wider adoption of digital solutions and deliver lasting improvements across Scotland. |
| Task |
Successful innovation is only valuable if it can be adopted and sustained more widely. Consider:
Your challenge: What is the single most important action a digital transformation leader can take to scale innovation and improve outcomes for people? |
What next?
You have now completed the Shape pathway.
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