Greetings,

Previous articles in this thread have discussed the lack of clarity with regard to the term strategy and proposed that strategy is "the essence of why an organization exists and how it thrives".  This definition is based on the work of Professor Malcolm McDonald

This definition has been extended through to the importance of differentiation.  A number of examples were used to demonstrate how the use of strategic essence thinking can unblock stalled business system projects.  This same approach can turn systems projects from mundane operational overheads into truly strategic resources.

The previous article highlights the importance of viewing any significant business systems investment as fundamentally strategic and driving it from a strategic executive business perspective.  This is tied into criteria to use in appointing system consultants and implementers.

This article stresses the importance of focussing on the strategic essence as the point of departure for every business systems project and, thereafter, focussing on the essence throughout the project.  From this it becomes apparent that a generic approach to system selection and implementation cannot work.

By now I hope that it is apparent to you that the strategic essence is the point of departure for every project.

If you cannot clearly define how a business systems procurement, or much more mundane project will strengthen the essence of the business, do not do it!

"But operations",  I hear you cry.

Surely operations are an essential component of the essence of the business?

Remember Malcolm McDonald's massively important definition "if you do the right things well your organization WILL thrive".  The essence IS the right things, operations is about doing the essence of the business very well indeed.

The moment you allow yourself to be seduced into believing that you can do operational things without reference to the strategic essence of the business, then either your definition and understanding of the true essence is fatally flawed, or you are way off the mark with what you are doing!

The reason that virtually every business systems project, be it ERP, warehouse, etc project on the planet fails to support the business to thrive; and the reason that 98% of CEO's are disappointed with / frustrated with / off-the-record-angry with their business system and its implementers and operators, is because the project was undertaken with NO reference to the essence and the system gets in the way of the essence.  The expectations of just about every executive are numbed out with regard to their systems because of all the ... they have been sold and told.

Process obsession is the single biggest perversion and obstructor of strategy on the planet today.  Process obsession is a management consultant's money printing dream.  Process obsession majors on the minors and totally ignores the strategic essence of the business.   Process obsession encourages and enables mid-level operational consultants to facilitate mid-level operational people for days and days and days to get totally in the way of the strategic essence of the business.  When process obsession projects fail it is always the clients fault (fundamental management consulting commercial principle)!

When you focus on the essence and enhance the essence, then workflow will be optimized as an executive directed output of the project, a spin-off, a side output because the essence and equipping and empowering people to enhance the essence is the issue.

Want to reduce the cost of running your ERP?  Focus on the essence!

ERP NOT properly integrated?  Focus on the essence!

Too much dead wood?  Focus on the essence!  Double your turnover and headcount is no longer an issue!

One of the first projects that I ever did focussing on strategic decision support delivered exceptional executive information and operational performance management, totally unplanned, also delivered a 75% reduction in audit costs and a 25% reduction in administrative staff costs.

Make your people more effective in terms of the strategic essence of the business and the rest will follow!

Every step of the way, focus on the essence.

In every decision, ask yourself if you will be enhancing the essence.

Once you are focussed on the essence, sterile debates about what aspects of the business should be "BPR'd" fall away.  In fact, the whole concept of "Business Process Re-engineering" will fall away.

Why do 70% of BPR projects fail outright?

Because they should NOT have been undertaken in the first place!

Why do another 20% of BPR projects materially fail to meet management expectations?

Because they should also not have been undertaken in the first place.

Incidentally, how do you "re-engineer" something that was NOT engineered in the first place?  I am an engineer and I have to say that I regard the whole concept of "Business Process Re-engineering" to be an entirely inappropriate use of the word "engineering"!

The essence is NOT about process, it is about doing the things that are central to the way the business works better and better and better and, IF there is workflow involved optimize the workflow.  Note that the way to optimize workflow is NOT to spend thousands of Pounds / Dollars / Euros / ... on "as is" process mapping -- what a lovely way for consultants to make money and a total waste of client money!  "We are going to build a new bridge and demolish the old bridge so we will document the way the old bridge works in minute detail"

NO!

Focus on the essence!

Optimize in support of the essence!

"Lean operations"? -- focus on the essence!

Focus the entire organization on getting exceptionally good at doing the essence of the business and it will thrive.

Focus the existing systems on enhancing the essence.  Reconfigure where necessary.  Add a data warehouse together with strategic taxonomies that focus on the essence and redefine your strategic management information.

Add every conceivable attribute to your databases that relates to the essence of the business.  Add essential strategic attributes onto every master file: your products, your people, your customers, your suppliers, your ...

Seek to get to the place where your business systems and accompanying data warehouse can answer every question you can reasonably expect them to answer.  including answers to the questions you have NOT yet thought to ask!

If you focus on the essence you will find that things flow easier, faster, more efficiently and more effectively.

If you focus on the essence you will find that the latest techno hype from major software and hardware vendors is no longer strategic.  In fact you will wonder why you ever paid any attention to their hype at all.

You will quite likely find that your five year / ten year / ... year old system IS capable of growing with your business and you will find ways to add clever pieces of software that enhance the essence around the core databases.  You will realize that the major ERP and business system products are massively undifferentiated and that it really does not matter which product you have or buy.  A customer record is exactly the same no matter what software and database you are using!  It does matter who advises you and how intuitively they understand the essence of our business and what niche specialty software you purchase.

One senior consultant part time who deeply grasps the essence of your business will add a thousand times more value than an army of the other kind.

By now I hope that you realise that choosing a business systems product on the basis of what your competitors are doing is a big mistake.

Choosing a system just because it is the "best of breed" (whatever that means) for your industry is an even bigger mistake unless, of course, you are the defining player in your industry in which case you are clearly NOT doing the essence well because, if you were, by now you should have taken over all the rest of them!

The same applies to your choice of consultants and the type of business improvement projects you undertake.

Understand your essence and then go out and carefully head-hunt the firm that aligns with your essence, the firm with the essential cultural fit, the firm whose service promise aligns with your service promise, the firm that specializes in optimizing the products or services that constitute the essence of your business.

I hope that I have challenged you to think differently about your organization and its systems.

I have spent the last 30 plus years learning about strategic essence and how to incorporate it into business system configuration and operation with leading edge concepts and proven methods to engineering levels of rigour.   I have also developed a highly effective, light touch, short duration "Pulse Measurement" based on Military Quick Attack techniques to determine the health of your systems and prescribe the treatment to fix them.

I would welcome the opportunity to assist your organization to put any and all of the principles discussed in this article into practice to assist your organization to THRIVE, commencing with a Pulse Measurement at a minimal cost compared to the value that you will derive from it (I offer a no gain no pay guarantee).

Yours faithfully,

Dr James Robertson PrEng

James A Robertson and Associates Limited
Assisting clients to thrive through effective and efficient application of Business Information Systems

Seeking to serve the Almighty Creator in all things

Mobile: +44 (0) 776-862-2875
Landline: +44 (0) 207-059-0007

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A discussion of how strategic essence should inform all business improvement projects and particularly business information system projects.  This thread is intended to discuss the analysis of strategy, the planning of strategy and feeding strategy through into business system specifications and the management of projects.  Articles to date include:

Summary
1: Strategy Defined
2: Differentiation
3: The Essence IS Different
Determining Strategic Essence

A discussion as to why business information system (and other business improvement projects) fail to deliver on expectations or fail outright, together with discussion of the critical factors that must be taken into account in order to achieve successful outcomes.  This thread is intended to progressively discuss more hands-on specifics of achieving high value outcomes and builds on the Strategic Essence series.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: The Real Issues -- Mythology and Lack of Executive Custody

Discussion of practical specific measures that can be taken in order to greatly improve the information yield of business information systems at both the operational and executive strategic level.  A number of simple steps that can be taken immediately and more complex measures that can be taken over time.  This thread is intended to discuss increasing business system and data warehouse value yield using techniques that lead to significantly improved business intelligence capability, including support for the ability to "obtain answers to questions we had not previously thought to ask".  This builds on the content in the Strategic Essence and Real Issues threads.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Principles of Data Engineering

In order to fully apply the methods and principles discussed in the threads above with regard to new systems it is vital that a robust and effective approach to procurement is applied.  This requires a tough procurement approach directed at achieving a tough business outcomes orientated project that ensures a high value outcome.  This thread is intended to discuss the components of such a procurement approach, including the individual documents and process that make up the approach.  Thereafter the components will be discussed in more detail.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Bill of Services, Laboratory, Go-live Certificate, etc