Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:16:23 -0700WeeblyMon, 26 Jun 2017 21:52:05 GMThttp://zoeticgroup.com/blog/when-data-driven-process-becomes-a-crutchYoung businesses see process as a means to do more with less. More mature businesses see process as a way to control many moving parts to avoid chaos. Both valid reasons to develop processes to drive growth and maintain control over costs. But at what time does the process create the exact conditions they were meant to correct?

With the ability to collect data about more things and in more ways than could have ever been dreamed of not too long ago, more pressure is put on managers to use data exclusively to measure success. Once, common sense was all that existed to evaluate a scenario and determine causality between multiple factors and from this, understand what strategic decision needed to be made to be successful. The measurement for this success was business growth, which could come in many forms. Now, the ubiquitous data barrage has changed how decisions are made and how success is measured.

Einstein’s “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” has become cliché. Yet, this is often ignored. With so much data available, managers and decision makers are afraid to rely on other forms of interpretation and find that living in the data is safe. They can always point to the data to justify their actions even if the outcome is a disaster. “It’s the data’s fault”. The overwhelming stream of data and the need for more rigid processes become one in the same.

The speed of business causes many decision makers to find themselves in over their head. Managing people and dealing with all the touch points those people impact creates a need for tighter control. This manifest itself into a process for everything…including how to create process. If a manager can fall back on the process and not have to deal with the many one-off scenarios that impact the business, then they can stay in their safe zone.

At the core of many processes is the ability to grab data points readily available. From this, the process must reverse engineer this data and then develop metrics to show success of the process. Success is limited to only what can be measured by the data and all other inputs are discounted and ignored. At this point, the data rich process becomes a crutch to strategic decision making. The rigidity of the process also becomes a burden on the business. It leaves no alternative way of dealing with unique situations other than to shoehorn them into the process. Common sense would tell you that this cannot work long-term. That is if you were still using common sense.
]]>Tue, 04 Apr 2017 20:37:22 GMThttp://zoeticgroup.com/blog/getting-from-a-to-z-but-what-about-all-the-other-lettersEvery task, project or business plan seems to be all about getting from A to Z. It’s easy to define the letter A. This is simply where it all begins; the current state, status quo, what’s broken and needs to be fixed. Z is almost as easy as this is the goal or the exact opposite of A. Most plans go into great detail about A and Z. Lots of data and charts with eloquent problem statements and grandiose aspirations. It isn’t difficult to get an audience such as a manager, client or investor to buy into why A needs to be made better and why Z is the answer.

Of Couse, establishing A and Z is great for building slide decks and solidifying buy-in, but doesn’t begin to touch the surface of how to solve for the most important part of the equation A to Z, which is the word “to” and all the letters of the alphabet that have to be addressed to reach the goal. This is the typical handoff from the strategy of A to Z and the planning and implementation required to actually get the job done. Setting the strategy can seem like an obvious path and masks the degree of work needed to take the journey on the path. The details are what makes a strategy successful. Lack of intent or building the plane while it’s flying implementations can have disastrous outcomes and too often cast doubt about the strategy in the first place.

This is regrettable because the strategy could be sound and even an incredible innovation, but the lack of planning and getting into the details impacts future efforts to try and achieve this innovation. Small organizations have this issue due to lack of resources, while larger institutions have this same issue due to their bureaucracy. Both find it difficult to think through the alphabet and staying on task while managing the intricacies of their own means and methods.

Think about all the tasks you have been involved with as either the one that owns the implementation or as the approver. At what point during the process are the other 24 letters of the alphabet discussed if ever? And appendix slides at the end of the deck don’t count. The factors that drive most initiatives in this direction are many and often unknown at the outset. Remembering that the details and the intent is what drives success and not simply the urgency of a compelling event is part of the critical thinking required for success in anything you attempt to accomplish.

]]>Sat, 18 Feb 2017 19:25:59 GMThttp://zoeticgroup.com/blog/whats-the-right-price-point-for-my-productThis is the most common question organizations have when establishing their market strategy for their products, software, IP, widget, etc. By the very nature of the question the answer far too often is almost always subjective. Usually it comes down to how much can we get without leaving money on the table or losing customers? With this approach, it is amazing how many organizations will throw a number into the wind and watch what happens. More customers than anticipated, then the price must be too low, so let’s raise the price. Not enough customers, the price must be too high, so let’s lower the price. And the cycle goes on and on.

This is a subjective approach based on a best guess subjective response to the question. While this sounds farfetched and unscientific, it is typically the only way an organization knows how to tackle the question. In some cases, an organization may start with the competition’s price point and assume they must have done their homework. Bad assumption. This just adds to the number of missteps and the obviously dangerous outcome. There are many attributes that organizations have data and should be applied to this calculation, but they don’t know the steps to take and how the data fits into the equation.

As a very basic level, they should be thinking about the value of specific attributes and features of their product and how their customers will categorize these features based on usefulness and importance. Further to this point, organizations need to analyze their target customer base and segment this base that considers the requirements of each segment and how they intend to touch each segmentation factors into the price points. Are the touch points managed online, a direct sales force, through partners or all of these together. In addition, internal processes and challenges must also be assessed and if possible, improved. The most perfect solution falls apart quickly if not properly supported on the backend.
 
This is only the 100,000’ level of factors and issues that play into answering the question. There is no one solution fits all. Instead there is a journey to be taken to break down the key data points and aspirations of the organization to make a determination. Each organization must be introspective and truly assess their purpose, value and challenges; of their goals and aspirations; of the competitive landscape and the dent they want to make in this landscape to even begin driving to the right solution.
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