Recent research on digital transformation has revealed how companies — particularly large legacy ones — are seeking to adapt to an increasingly digital world. For our most recent study, we asked managers, executives, and analysts, “Which functional area is primarily leading your company’s digital progress?” When we analyze their responses through the lens of an organization’s digital maturity — how close an organization is to the ideally transformed digital organization — we see patterns that have implications for how companies should approach digital transformation.

In a recent conversation, John Donahoe, the former CEO of eBay who currently runs ServiceNow, told me about the most important phase in a company’s digital transformation: the part where you start asking better questions. Instead of seeing new technologies as a means to develop more efficient answers to known problems, managers should view them as opportunities — even requirements — to revisit the problems themselves.

If you’re planning a digital transformation, try the following techniques to embrace the spirit of change and guide your team through the process.

Business leaders of established companies have come to understand that digital technologies are upending traditional business models. Once you have surrendered to that reality, it’s time to define a business strategy that is inspired by the capabilities of digital technologies.