How an Operations SME should start strategically thinking...

Most of the Operations SME generally assumes that strategic thinking is for management, some of them feels the importance but doesn’t know how it can be adopted into their day to day life of operations. 

Few operations team members even ask, life in operations world is well defined with daily list of tasks (mostly same or similar everyday) so why an OPS SME needs this special thinking? Below is my view point, we see many things changing around us like,

• Once a yearlong movie now a days take around 30days to shoot and release. 
• Once a yearlong building construction is completing now in few months
• Once a yearlong process is now completing in weeks.

Monotonous operations started its journey toward No-OPS. So soon, most of the production systems doesn’t need massive number of operations SMEs. So, we (OPS team) needs build some new capabilities to stay ahead and start thinking strategically.

So, let’s start with the basic one, QUESTION. Of course, in operational world, modus operandi is to always follow a well defined process, and never deviate. Have we ever questioned a well defined process? 

A half a decade ago, a Telco VP told me that, she wants to see a lights off operations. My view was lights off operations is possible but not cost effective, basic questions at that time was like, how a massive production runs without any human intervention? Even a today, with most sophisticated technology, human laying plans to build a colony in Mars, yet aircraft cannot fly without pilot. 

I was trying to explore a good reason – I found a convincing one. If an ultimate risk value is much less than the objective value, then human less operations can be explored. 

In case of flights, humans are to be transported to a destination, their ultimate risk is crash / death. All the passenger’s ultimate objective is to safely reach the destination without any risk to their life. At the same time drones are remote controlled, here the ultimate risk is not the crash but the precision. And precision is more accurate with technology than humans ??

In my view, even a best practice of a while ago might not be best anymore. There could be new ways to deal with that situation, unless you as a practitioner questions with “why”, how it can be optimize? Review and renew are the most important in operational world and these are the steppingstones towards the strategic thinking.

Based on my experience, if we start questioning existing ways / methods / processes / practices / habits, 70% of the times, we can uncover new improved ways or new efficient methods or new innovative ideas that improve or avoid the requirement operational work arounds or human intervention.

I am a true believer of “what got you here won’t get you there”. So, one shouldn’t be complacent of what you got now with you. To be competitive in the future and to stay ahead - we must keep questioning until you get convinced and this should enable strategic thinking by default.