It's All About Convergence -- Business Process -- Innovation

IncBizNet

Resource Centers

Special Section

GEMS from

Departments

Newsletters

Click below to preview:

Help Me...

It's All About Convergence

The convergence of many approaches to business process improvement is the key to remaining successful in today's competitive business environment.

In this, my inaugural Inc.com column, I want to talk about the word of the day: Convergence. We've already suffered through years of "synergy," followed by "globalization," and the "wired world." Well, today, it's "convergence." We read of "digital convergence," "wireless convergence," and the legendary inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is even talking about the convergence of man and technology with his prediction that, "by 2045, strictly biological humans won't be able to keep up."

My convergence is a little less glamorous, or frightening, but it is even more important for survival in today's ultra-competitive business environment. It is the convergence of the many approaches to business process improvement. We could go all the way back to the turn of the century and Fredrick Taylor's scientific management; or we could start with Shewhart's control charts for making bombs during World War II; or the work of Deming and Juran in 1950's Japan. But for most of us, the real age of continuous improvement in business began in the 70s or 80s with concepts like zero defects, high performance work teams, Workout, TQM, Six Sigma, Lean, and today-- innovation.

Throughout this modern era of business process improvement, companies have jumped from one method, approach or program to another, almost always abandoning the last generation's way of doing things in favor of the new. Not surprisingly, this pattern has created many internal corporate skeptics branding anything their company does as "the flavor of the month."

But something different really and truly paradigm shifting is happening today -- the convergence of all of the best practices of the past. You see, without necessarily understanding it in a manner that enables them to articulate it, many companies have realized that to effectively solve the problems of business for the short and long-term, they need a full tool box. This is to say that in the past they were relying on one or two tools to solve all their problems. And then when those problems were solved, their tool box would become essentially useless, so companies toss them in favor of a new box with a different set of tools.

The tool box of today generally includes the tools of Six Sigma (actually a small tool box itself), the tools of Lean, Design (or Design for Six Sigma), strategic planning and, most excitingly, innovation. The tools of innovation today are fast becoming as important to companies like Samsung, Google and IBM as Six Sigma was to companies like Motorola and GE in the 90s. And that's because as we continue deeper into the era of incredibly efficient competitive markets (meaning everyone can outsource their manufacturing to China, their call center to India or their R&D to Ireland; they all have the same access to information on their customers and competitors; they can all sell products globally over the internet and run 24 x 7 design efforts on three continents). To compete today, being better -- the traditional expectation of process improvement -- isn't enough. Today you have to be different, too. And that requires continuous innovation.

Now, that doesn't mean all the tools of the past aren't important, because once you innovate, you still need to execute. So the very best companies are recognizing why they can't abandon old approaches for new ones -- they need to let them all converge into one well-managed, comprehensive toolbox that enables them to solve all the problems of business. With a fully stocked, expansive set of tools they're ready and able to tackle any problem, anytime.

The intent of my column is to engage all of my readers in an open dialogue about the modern era of performance improvement in business. In future pieces, I'll discuss many of the individual elements of performance improvement such as Lean and Six Sigma, but I will be putting the strongest emphasis on innovation as it applies to everything from products to processes to business strategy. I look forward to your feedback and participation as well.

Try a RISK-FREE Issue of Inc. Today!

Renew | Contact Us | Current Issue