Introduction to best practices
Nobody wants to be in a commodity business, yet people always try to copy industry best practices. How do you expect to be different following that strategy?
At best, implementing your industry’s best practices will get you in the same league as your competitors but will never get you to be seen as the industry or segment leader. The other end of the scale is to focus exclusively on being innovative. Focusing on innovation may let you strike it rich, but the odds are that you will be out of business before you hit the mother lode. So, it seems the only viable solution is to address both paths in parallel.
Why Are Best Practices So Important?
When prospects and customers compare your business to alternatives (usually competitors), they want to know which choice offers them the greatest likelihood of success, i.e., achieving their goals and objectives. Being perceived as less than the best in class will put you at a competitive disadvantage. To avoid being put in that bucket, perform at least as well as the field. Hence, ensure your performance is at the “best practice” level. To achieve this “modest” objective, follow these steps using customer feedback:
- Identify the attributes of your business execution which matter to customers.
- Determine how your performance rates.
- Identify which company or companies are considered best in class overall and in the few performance areas that matter.
- Find out what experience attributes create the best-in-class perception
Identify and quantify the gap between best-in-class and your business’ performance - Close the gap!
Once your company has made a good start on this path, and when you believe progress will continue with minimum coaching, it’s time to concentrate on innovation.
Innovation is a Serious and High-Risk Business
It is severe and high-risk because it will take you, the management team, and all employees into a new place. Revolution is a synonym for innovation and stagnation; inactivity, inertia, sluggishness, and unproductiveness are some of its antonyms. So, innovation requires change, and most people are very comfortable with the status quo.
The good news is that the United States is one of the most innovative countries in the world and the most creative of the large countries. Here is some more good news:
- Several graduate schools now teach “Design Thinking,” including Harvard and Stanford.
- Several consulting firms like IDEO and Continuum specialize in helping businesses innovate.
- Every day, more and more people in the workforce learn the basics of the approach by working through a well-facilitated process.
- There may well be people in your business ready to break and mold if only they have some encouragement and support.
Here is the best advice I have seen about how to begin the innovation process:
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” — Walt Disney
How To Begin Doing
- Go out and talk with real people who have led innovative projects.
- Talk to customers and identify their problems, which they believe are unsolvable and game-changing.
- Talk to the people in your company that you know are creative and not risk-averse.
- Budget some money that you can afford to lose.
- Please set up a place for them to work and yet be invisible to the rest of the company.
- Suspend most rules.
- Encourage quick failures and long-lasting learning.
- Be patient and supportive.
- Continue incremental improvements to pay for this activity.
Finally, do not get discouraged, and do not let anyone in the company get discouraged. And keep your eyes on the business and remember that you are on the right path and not complacently heading to mediocrity a la Dilbert’s Pointy Hair Boss.
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting is an experienced team of professionals with the primary goal of helping capital equipment companies create more value for their clients and stakeholders. Middlesex Consulting continues to provide superior solutions to meet the needs of its clients by focusing on our strengths in Services, Manufacturing, Customer Experience, and Engineering. If you want to learn more about how we can help your organization create more value for your customers, please contact us or check out some of our free articles and white papers here.