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I have been watching a lot of SWFL post-hurricane reconstruction recently and have observed a rather obvious truth. Buildings with a strong foundation fared better and required less work to restore than buildings with a weak or compromised foundation.

 

The same is true for businesses and supply chains.

 

I have worked with many companies across multiple industries that try to execute or initiate change on top of wobbly foundations. People, policy, process, information, partnerships, and governance are the lifeblood of any organization. A solid foundation requires a balance of all (and more) to support the weight of daily operations, managing growth, and mitigating risk. Working in business transformation in industry and as a consultant, the first step in any change initiative or continuous improvement program is to take a comprehensive peek at the foundational components:

 

1. Talent Acquisition and People policy, process, and documentation
2. Functional and cross-functional process descriptions, diagrams, SOWs, SLAs, SWIs, flow-charts, and playbooks
3. Business information, data, engineering and product specifications, reports, dashboards, KPIs, delivery format
4. Supplier and partner information, contracts, SOWs, QBR schedule and templates
5. Internal and external governance policy and process, quality and performance management and remediation plan

 

Not surprisingly, over time, the foundations of many organizations have become wobbly. Digitization has dramatically changed how everything gets done, mostly to reduce cycle-times, improve throughput, accuracy and quality - all positives. However, attention to detail, revision management, and quality have suffered. Organizations cannot produce the core documents that guide the business, and present an initiative list that has either been abandoned, or is not invested with the people and funding to move things forward. Combined, these conditions act as a boat-anchor to driving real progress. Any effort to build on the wobbly foundation will require addressing the weak points and starting from an informed and aligned point of view.

 

Best-in-Class operators of all sizes take an active management approach and assign owners, maintain continuous improvement programs, and exercise governance to assure completeness and quality across the five domains listed above.

Don't be wobbly! Get the house in order, beginning with the foundation and then build up and out from there. It's a lot easier to maintain an operating system than it is to re-tool one when embarking on a transformational program.

 

For more information or to discuss building a solid foundation to build from, visit www.notarconsulting.com