Tag Archives: improvement

Innovation – Fueled by failure, driven by success.

Posted on
Reply

I am currently reading a book called “Innovation – the Attacker’s Advantage” by Richard Foster, although written and purchased a while ago (1980′s), it is still very interesting reading now that we can  travel back to the future, and still pertinent.

Another very good article on Innovation is from Stanford Graduate School of Business on why failure is considered a good thing:  Why Failure Drives Innovation.

My personal observations are that people of Mind set-1 (see Why Failure Drives Innovation)  rely on systems and procedures to improve what they have in an attempt to continue the success they once had.  Yes the tools such as 5S and six sigma and TQM and Lean and …..etc,   all add value to the process of improving quality and  reducing costs.

But it is the innovators, those that Baba Shiv calls Mind set-2, who are the ones that bring real success.   Improving what you have to the Nth degree is all fine and good and does save plenty of pennies. But this is neither sustainable nor effective in the long run – refer to Richard Foster’s  S-Curve pertaining to Performance vs Effort (funds).

Take land transport:  although humans have used the horse and donkey for a long time it was not until the invention of the wheel around 4,000-3,500 years ago when things really got moving, especially with the advent of the cart and chariot around 3,500 years ago.  But things remained slow for a couple of millennium, yes they improved the carts and wagons but they were still limited by the technology of the time. Then came steam during the 18th century and mass transportation began, people and goods being moved all over the country – but restricted to the rail corridor.  The next leap forward was the invention of the internal combustion engine by an innovator called Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir – although the automobile was not patented until 1890′s.  And now, we have car  companies improving the effectiveness, efficiency and aesthetics of the automobile but they are still pretty much the same.  The next leap forward is the introduction of the electric car and levitating train.

As you can see, the periods between innovation are getting shorter. But innovation is at all levels, in all industries and in all countries, it is the Innovators who are making the jump, building the bridges to the future, the rest follow, some with eagerness while some dragged and screaming and the rest blindly.

Me, well I can’t wait for the strap-on, Personal Anti-gravity Commuter vehicle. Now that’s a back-pac!

Good Procedures – a business requirement.

Posted on
1

Procedures can be formal or informal, simple or complex but whichever you use they are there to minimise the guesswork and irregularity in the business.  The format of which should be standard throughout the company as far as possible (there are many templates on the web to build from), they should also be effective and efficient! I have worked with companies that are overburdened with procedures and those that literally rely on the information and experience of individuals.

Overburdensome procedures take away the ability to move quickly, to adapt to change before competitors.  This scenario is usually found in larger organisations (& Government) and colloquially called “bureaucracy”.

Whereas a lack of documented procedures can often facilitate a faster response, the problem that lies herein is that the improvements and changes are again not documented.  Thus there is confusion over the “correct” procedure to follow.  Plus, as is often the case without procedures, results and KPIs are not accurate and may even be guesses, if they are presented at all.

Either way, change is required with benefits found in both scenarios. Redesigning procedures can be seen as being easier due to the fact that they have already been written and only need “tweaking”, while in other situations documenting procedures from scratch can also be seen as being easier as there is a clean slate to work with.

The issue here is often not the need to redesign or design procedures; it is the perception of change. There are companies that state they are looking for change, to make the improvements they know they need to take their company to the next level. I just wonder how many people have found a company’s statements on change are not always congruent with their actions.

Some companies I have worked with see change as part of their business, continual improvement itself being a process that happens everyday. These are the companies that have realised change can bring a level of uncertainty or a period of moving backwards before improvement (but careful planning and testing will reduce any negative effect).  Yet there are others that talk about change but can only manage partial implementation, sometimes abandoning improvements that have been made. I have found there is also a correlation to particular industries as well.

I would welcome comments on companies that have good procedures and how they design/change them.

Next instalment – Failure to change