MENU Center of the Universe
Holistic Mindset vs. the Magic Hammer
I read a job description recently for a performance improvement leader. It required experience in strategic planning, business analysis, governance, program management and operations. I was impressed that the company understood the holistic skill set required to achieve business results.
Too often, leaders approach performance improvement with a mindset akin to “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Technology leaders will lean on automation or want to invest in the latest innovation. Finance leaders will focus on the budget and expenditures. Sales-oriented leaders put their effort into finding the most promising new market. Process pros, like myself, may get caught up in the latest one-size-fits-all methodology. I have seen consulting companies change their shingle from TQM to Six Sigma to Reengineering to Lean to Six Sigma (again) to Lean Six Sigma.
Since Orion has been in the BPM business since 1993, you might expect us to think that Process is the center of the universe – regardless of methodology – and all other business concepts revolve around it. One of the keys to Orion’s success and the long-term success of our clients is that we understand that Process is just one vital piece in the constellation of business success.
Business processes must, naturally, execute organizational strategy. They must also fuel strategy by leveraging process innovation to create new business capabilities. These capabilities are brought to life by your workforce, your people. How you deploy these people in your organization determines how well they can work together to deliver value for your customers. The performance management and measurement techniques you use shape behavior and culture.
All of these elements must be linked and aligned for your organization to deliver operational and strategic success for an extended period of time.
Where does technology fit? Traditionally technology was considered the enabler of process execution. Since technology is such an important piece of every business interaction these days, it deserves its own star. And when you separate it from Process you get the classic people, process and technology triangle that IT companies are always talking about.
These elements ARE very critical to tactical performance. However, by themselves, they do not enable sustainable operational excellence and enduring strategic success. It is the higher order disciplines (strategy, leadership, organization design, performance management) that enable to you to smash through functional silos and create a culture of high performance.
Getting back to the job description, it is incredibly rare to find a leader who is a master of all these disciplines and perspectives. However, a good leader doesn’t need deep expertise in everything. She or he needs the ability to orchestrate all these elements to create a system of sustainable business success. A leader like that can be the center of his or her own universe.