Musings on Efficiency

Hi ya ...

Remeber that ol' saying, to "turn that fown, upside-down"? Same thing with a down-turn, actively seek ways to up-turn in a downturn. And the best news, it that thinking cost little (a few coffees or a catered lunch) and can save or even make millions. The alternative of ...

'... tempting [workforce] reductions starve and therefore delay promising projects while allowing unworthy “zombie” ones to linger. Worse, wholesale layoffs destroy morale among the remaining staff and can even prod your very best [people] ... to accept the severance package ..move elsewhere. Companies should take a more strategic approach to cutting R&D costs, by using today’s difficult economic environment as an opportunity to upgrade the R&D organization’s focus, practices, and management.'

- Barrett, Musso, & Padhi (2009)[1]

If this is not your 'thing'; that's OK too, it is the right approach that matters. Imagine you're a small organisation with 30 or 50 people ... The biggest initial gains are not the hi-technology, big projects you see in the papers. You didn't need to 'invent' an iPod in 2001 [2]. It's my observation that the best bang for your buck (time) are the customer oriented, 'easy' things.

Your customer focused innovations begin with your people as well and while the right new product or service can be a winner, they usually involve resource commitment too. As a large or small business you can look a your customers' needs and find ways to add customer value to help sales.

Earlier I spoke about sensemaking. You can advance with improvements without a specific R&D function. As a smaller firm, you can do much better than the 'big boys' imho. You probably already have a cross-functional group of knowledgeable people who know and trust each other.

You can be an agile company. You may already have the capabilities of an agile company. A down-turn may be an opportunity in disguise, spring for some coffees and think about it.

William.

References ...

1. Barrett, Christie W.; Musso, Christopher S. & Padhi, Asutosh (2009) Upgrading R&D in a downturn, McKinsey Quarterly, February 2009.
2. iPod product overview, (wikipedia)
3. IBM; (2008) Unlocking the DNA of the Adaptable Workforce, The IBM Global Human Capital Study, 2008 (PDF, 72 pages).

# posted by Will : 18:16