Most people have ideas for making organizational processes simpler and better at lower cost. Why? Because people become frustrated with the many foolish ways that they either receive or deliver offerings. While they are being stalled by this foolishness, stakeholders will often reflect on how an improved alternative could be created. That's the good news.
The bad news is that these...
Most testing of offerings assumes that the offerings will be used in the so-called intended way. But everyone knows that many offerings will not be used that way. Figure out what those dangerous misuses are, and you've got a great head start on figuring out what education is needed to avoid or minimize those possible accidents.
Many will do some sort of in-lab testing to see what can go...
Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught. --George Savile, Marquis of Halifax
You can do unexpected damage by employing many offerings in the wrong way. We were reminded of that sad fact when one of our young colleagues offered to lead a tour of his old college so one of our offspring could learn more about the school.
On the way into town, the...
Can leadership make a difference in simplifying? You bet!
Here's how: An organization's leaders can establish goals that focus everyone's attention on simplification. Frank Lucier at Black & Decker did this well when he was the firm's CEO several decades ago.
For each of the firm's major power tool products, goals were set each year to reduce the price and cost by about one dollar each....
Many effective simplifications followed casual observations and suggestions by non-expert stakeholders. Because humanitarian purposes are so inspiring, everyone wants to make a contribution to helping more people. The exciting purposes of the organizations also help lower the organizational barriers to accepting new ideas and using them to develop simpler processes.
Compare motivation...
How can you reduce the time and effort it takes to create attractive simplifications? Creating a totally new process will usually work better than reforming an existing process.
This approach goes counter to today's fascination with Six Sigma and other quality disciplines that wring errors out of existing processes. But if you fix an obsolete process to eliminate flaws, all you may have is...
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy flies in her family home propelled by a tornado until she arrives in the magical land of Oz. But Dorothy doesn't want to be in Oz; she wants to get back to Kansas.
When Dorothy's house lands, the Wicked Witch of the East is crushed. The witch disappears, leaving only her ruby slippers. Glenda, the good witch, tells Dorothy to wear the ruby slippers and keep them...
When you consider how you might deliver the benefits of a new business model, you will find that many activities that you or others do or have done are no longer needed. It's good to carefully reexamine all of your processes to be sure you don't do the unnecessary.
Here's an example: Years ago, few public companies had ever hired anyone to interview their institutional investors to find out...
To be successful, you need to continually improve your business model. Step one is to understand what your customers, users, and beneficiaries really want and need. Step two is to focus in on those customers, users, and beneficiaries who can be served with the most effectiveness at the least cost. Step three is to find partners who can increase effectiveness while reducing costs.
I saw...
Business models should be made as simple as possible. That means taking the steps for providing and receiving offerings and removing any unnecessary steps. For the remaining steps, it's valuable to make those steps simpler. In addition, thoughtfully find ways to customize what you offer and you'll make your offering more desirable and less expensive to offer.
Let's look at what remains....
