Navigating the Maze

The world of work is beset with puzzles. Each puzzle, has a solution. Not all solutions, however, are equal. This being the case, how do we know that our organisation has the best solution to its puzzles?

To give this some colour, let’s embark on a thought experiment. Imagine a large, meandering labyrinth. There are a number of different paths through the maze, many of which lead us to a dead end. There are also, five different routes through the maze, all leading to the same destination. Not all of the routes, however, are equal. Some are longer, or less optimal, than others. Those taking the fastest route to the destination accrue the biggest benefits.

Now, let’s assume we have found a route to our destination. Great…but have we stopped there, even though we know we might be using a suboptimal route, or are we searching for and talking about other, faster routes to our destination? In an ideal world, this should be a rhetorical question.

If we draw parallels between the maze analogy and the day to day operations of any business, the answer is the same, but is it a question that is being asked?  In the miasma of day to day operations and business priorities, this is often not the case.

Let’s ask ourselves another rhetorical question. Is persisting with a suboptimal and expensive route to market a sustainable way to run a business? Again, the answer is obvious but only if the organisation you work in is asking this question of itself.

So, how do we ensure businesses are asking this question of themselves? We embed it, regardless of technology, within the culture and Operating Models of our organisations. It is by asking these questions that employees become more aware of (and take a greater interest in) their role within the organisation and organisations become more aware of themselves.

This is one of the first steps to making collaborative and meaningful change, be it small but highly effective changes, to the bigger transformational pieces of work to provide optimal results for a business.

The maze analogy applies to any organisation, anywhere in the world. There are puzzles to be solved in every business, be they related to data, technology, process, architecture or operating models. More often than not, they are connected. There is a simple, fundamental approach that can be taken to solving these puzzles. In principle, it’s the same as navigating, mastering or even removing the maze completely.

Take our two minute Operational Assessment to get a high level view on how your organisation scores on it’s ongoing journey through the ‘maze’ or contact us at info@verander.co.uk for more information.