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How to Avoid the Efficiency Trap

January 23, 2010 By 2 Comments

Mouse Trap
After experiencing some success implementing lean “Six Sigma” practices on their own, a manufacturer of audio cassette tapes called in some outside help to take their process improvements to the next level.  The consulting engineer was no stranger to this process and diligently went to work.  He observed the operation, consulted with key staff, and before long, mapped out his customer’s processes and completed his work with detailed documentation of the sources of waste and corrective action plans.  As he reviewed his findings, the engineer couldn’t help noticing his customer’s excitement at the potential efficiencies he would gain and the money he would save!  Finally, after reassuring his client the efficiency gains and money savings were real and attainable, he hesitantly asked…

“You do know cassette tapes are going away…right?”
 
True story.
 
The above example comes from the manufacturing world, but there are lessons we in the technology world can learn here.  Businesses today are run by complex, data intensive systems.  Efficient operation of these systems is mission critical, and the professionals who design, develop, implement and maintain these systems provide tremendous value to their organizations.  The benefits of efficiency are easy to understand and measure and can be personally very rewarding as well.  Because of these factors it can be easy for IT workers and leaders to become focused on achieving ever-higher levels of efficiency.

When Inefficiency is Needed

A myopic focus on increasing operational efficiencies to improve the bottom line can cause an organization to miss opportunities for growth to the top line.  In that case, the business will end up trying to sell cassette tapes in a digital media world.  Avoiding this trap requires an awareness of when technology must be used to innovate and not just improve efficiency.  These types of technologies may require experimentation and research – an inherently risky and potentially “inefficient” process.

Shift Focus to Avoid the Trap

How do we avoid this trap?  If focusing solely on operational efficiency is not sufficient, where should we place our focus?  I find focusing on business value is an appropriate perspective that does not minimize the importance of efficiency, but also does not blind you to opportunities to innovate.  How do you focus on business value?  Focus on whatever you do in your organization that directly benefits your customers.  By customers, I am referring to outside customers – the people who pay you for the value you provide.  A practical exercise you can employ to keep yourself on track is to periodically ask yourself questions like the following:

  • How does my organization provide value to its customers?
  • How does the technology I provide or maintain directly benefit our customers?
  • How can the technology I support or provide incresase the value provided to our customers?
  • What technology would benefit our customers the most if only it existed?

The above questions are examples to get you started.  You may come up with your own set of questions that are more useful to you.  I encourage you to do so.  
 
Can you think of other questions you can ask yourself to shift from an efficiency focus to a business value focus?  Please feel free to comment and discuss.
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About Julius Campbell

Hi, I'm Julius Campbell and The Data Whisperer is my blog. I'm a software engineer who is passionate about helping people make smarter decisions by extracting the wisdom hidden in data. Career-wise, I focus on developing the data tier of enterprise applications. If you ever meet me and stand next to me long enough, you will probably hear me sing or hum a tune. I not only enjoy listening to a variety of music, but I also enjoy singing and songwriting. [Read more ...]

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