What I Do
Revolutions in Performance
There’s always a need to continually improve performance in any business, but the bigger shifts often come from periods of technological innovation.
Looking back over the last 30 years or so, there have been around four major technology shifts:
[Late 1990s]: E-Commerce: Powering retail by providing businesses with global market reach and 24/7 sales opportunities.
[2000’s]: ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): Integrating and automating core business processes to enhance efficiency and decision-making, often combined with significant outsourcing to lower cost.
[2010’s]: Digital Transformation: A suite of technologies that combined to fundamentally change how businesses operate and engage with customers, including cloud computing, social, mobile and analytics.
[2023+]: Artificial Intelligence: Whilst we’ve had various forms of AI for a while now, it’s generative AI in particular that is beginning the next wave of performance, sitting on top of the connected platforms that were built in the 2010s. Plus, you don’t have to be a technology expert to use it which in part is driving it’s rapid adoption.
The Challenge
Extracting performance and benefiting from these waves however is not a guarantee.
It requires a business that is designed to do so.
And making those sort of changes is also not straightforward.
Over my 20 years of helping businesses through these waves, there are three overarching challenges:
It’s all connected - Focusing on just one or two areas can create problems in others. Extracting the full potential requires a more holistic approach and a deep understanding of these connections.
Functional leadership - There’s rarely one function that owns the design of the business end to end. A disconnected leadership team will often result in a disconnected, piecemeal approach.
Shiny object syndrome - There’s always something new, and when met with frustrations in delivery, it’s tempting to try something else, find a quicker way, a shortcut. But changing course too often results in wasting time spinning your wheels.
The Antidote
There are many keys to a successful transformation, such as a compelling vision, clear communications, incremental delivery and so on.
However I believe underpinning all of that, you need these three strong foundations from the very start:
A deep and shared understanding of what ‘performance’ means for your business - that’s your strategy, objectives, key priorities and a set of measures that define ‘success.’
Experience in business design - how to design a business that is positioned to maximise the gains from any new technology revolution. Everything from the right platforms, data, and governance, to vendors, ways of working and even P&L structure.
Connected leadership - that understand where and how the business needs to change, and can drive the organisation forward.
I’ve spent the bulk of my career on these three points.
It’s by no means straight forward, but in many ways we seem to have made things overly complex.
I’m on a mission to simplify all of this, and cut through the noise and the jargon.
Hopefully you’ll find some value in my emerging blog and, upcoming newsletter, or follow me on LinkedIn for more insights.
