The Perfect Storm

Our customers make us better! Have you heard that phrase? When I have, the translation that emerges is that our customers sometimes have to drag us into improvement. In fact, it often means that we become aware of the needs to improve from feedback and complaints. Someone might argue that we sometimes innovate from negative feedback.
Those people in business development are always promising products and features that we don’t have, creating chaos for production! Have you heard that one too? Does it mean that we are dragged into innovation because someone promised it to a prospective customer? I’ve heard it often. Funny thing is that a vast amount of the improvements and enhancements to products and services came that way. What does that say about our enterprises?
Let’s then stipulate that imposed requirements get our attention and provoke problem solving and subsequent improvements and innovation for some, or denial and despair for others. If that’s true, there is opportunity in every storm. We are today in a perfect storm. Today we have a storm that affects our markets, resources, financial flexibility and compliance requirements. This storm makes it virtually impossible to carry on with what was business as usual and expect to thrive. This storm may be a signal of climactic change, the kind that has led to extinction of species over millennia.
Let’s consider the part of the storm that scares many, but may energize a few, increased compliance requirements. That heavy yoke has many wondering how we will cope and has provoked a whole series of tests and controls so that we get really good at not doing something. I’ll bet that we have a big increase in our “you can’t do that” professionals around the enterprise. I bet we’ve also brought in hired guns to “advise”. Does it sound like we’re going to spend more so that we can do less? Hmmm … I wonder?
I do believe the adage that “necessity is the mother of invention” and we are ripe today for invention. The innovation engines that the creative side of our enterprises run to conjure new revenue streams are necessary, but not the focus of this discussion. The engine that we should consider is the one that asks the question, “How can we leverage the increasing compliance requirements to differentiate ourselves and gain competitive advantage?” How can we prevent the costs that others will spend in detecting and correcting? How do we build better effectiveness and efficiencies in execution that deliver flawless compliance and create real leverage? Real leverage is where we harvest increasingly greater results and returns from our improved execution. Real leverage shows up in the top line and the bottom line. Real leverage shows up in enterprise valuation and public evaluation. Real leverage shows up in less waste and more goodwill, loyalty and jealousy from the outside.
There is a very different way to achieve compliance, the profitable kind, the competitive kind, the responsible kind. Whether we are public or private, military or civilian, big or small, me or you … we have same questions.
I see more clouds ahead. Shall we stay indoors and close all the windows?