When a discussion begins with a line that sounds something like “What I have to say isn’t necessarily what the audience wants to hear”, you know you’re in for a huge learning experience. When I sat down for a chat with BPM Guru Mark McGregor in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, I had no idea the turn the brief discussion would take. “BPM has very little to do with technology” starts off Mark. “It’s got more to do with re-engineering processes to achieve a set of objectives. Whether or not technology suits that purpose or not, is a means to achieving the goal.” Now that’s a shocker!
Of course the basic misconception Mark was trying to correct was something that most people experience. The solution for every problem doesn’t sit inside a software solution waiting to be deployed. “The value of a solution is the solution that solves the problem for them; at the stage in the career, at the stage of their organization, in their industry in their country. There isn’t one set solution that can fit the bill across the board – solutions don’t work like that.”
What is the appropriate way to get an organization started and get a new team fired up. Should you be processing each step of the actual process of setting a new department for example? “You will be tempted to because there are a lot of new processes in place, but you need the flexibility and agility to be able to manage the chaos – and it’s the chaos that will drive people.”
“Business Process Management, as defined by Wikipedia, is a method of efficiently aligning an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology. As organizations strive for attainment of their objectives, BPM attempts to continuously improve processes – the process to define, measure and improve your processes – a ‘process optimization’ process.”
But when you’re improving processes in today’s world, doesn’t that point towards technology or automation by default? “Not necessarily” begins Mark. “The value of an organization can’t be assessed by the value of the technology that you have running it. There is more to a business than just the IT. You need to have the ability to see your organization for what it is. IT can only enhance or optimize if the business begins to grow beyond specific parameters or guidelines.” Once that happens, you should be able to identify what the problem is and what solution best resolves the problem.
“So we’ve taken the company from zero to 10 million dollars. That same management team that has grown up from motivators and leaders start to struggle as you make it to the $20 million mark. Things start to creak.” Companies need to know how to identify where they are, where they want to go and whether they have the appropriate skills to take them there. “Certain people don’t want to work in the larger system because they are uncomfortable with the rigor; others are more comfortable working in a larger environment where there is greater pressure. The management has to recognize these indicators and challenges” explains Mark.
The same goes for systems. “Can you imagine running an Enterprise-wide full scale ERP system in a medium-sized company? It’s just not going to work. And it’s not an issue of the vendor of making the package to fit your company and budget. Psychologically, it is enforcing rigor into a system that will kill the creativity and the innovation. It doesn’t work like that.”
There are too many buzzwords in place today that can force the CIO into a situation where he has to make a decision towards a certain trend even if that trend doesn’t match the situation the company is experiencing. It is unthinkable for the average MIS department of a mid-sized company not to think about deploying an ERP solution. After all, aren’t all competitive companies aspiring for growth that can be achieved through automation? Mark has a more logical take on the matter.
“You have to ask yourself why you need a specific system in place. What’s creaking and what needs to be fixed? You have to find out more ways to be smart.” Change in a technology happens at the speed of light. This is revolution. But each time change occurs, it costs time and money to make a fix or tweak the system. The approach to development changes just as rapidly. Yesterday it was writing code a whole different way – today it makes more sense to go the modular development way because it’s easier to manage the information because there is a lot more of it. “Then all of a sudden people are telling you that Web services it the way to go. But why couldn’t have someone just have told you that when you started your planning? That’s where you need some basic foresight.”
So where does that leave the CIO of a large organization? You need the technology to be robust enough to sustain the growth and not be redundant in the next 3-5 years, and every story about reusability and ease of connectivity hasn’t really delivered. “Whether it is Enterprise Service Bus or Object Request Broker Architecture, none of it seems to have fulfilled. All of them were sold on their future proofing. That was their big benefit. Contrast that with the business environment – global competition, operating in a highly connected world, 5 years ago. There was no way people could have made that prediction.”
The point here being that if technology advances so rapidly, and businesses have no way of knowing how the operational environment will transform in the next 5 years, then can the CIO really be expected to plan for changes that the organization has no idea are going to take place? “Businesses need to worry about where they are today. Once they do that, then they are certain about their bearings and they will inevitably experience the rapid, scalable growth. And once they are growing, then they can scale and expand the solutions they need to keep up with their growth. Frankly, if they are growing so quickly, then the companies have the money coming in that will allow them to go ahead and spend on larger solutions that better fit their needs.”
Mark makes an interesting point which many CIOs struggle with. How far into the future can the CIO plan for? Is that really a credible plan that will actually be something that can be executed and still fit the growth plan? Can you really plan for something so far down the road despite not knowing what the majority of the variables are anymore? “Plan for today. Not doing that is a critical mistake companies make.”
An internationally acclaimed speaker, Mark has wowed audiences all over the world with his unique approach to blending business, process and people skills. Mark’s broad skill base and vocal talents help to bring fun to the more serious aspects of business. He has variously been described as a “Master of Mindset” by IQPC and as a “BPM Guru” by industry analysts GartnerGroup. More recently Mark has continued to further develop his NLP skills and as a Licensed Master Practitioner he is currently undergoing additional training with the Society of NLP to become a licensed coach. You can find out more information about Mark through his website at: www.markmcgregor.com
