Power of System and Process

“Systems are the invisible threads that hold the fabric of our lives together.”?

Toyota developed the TPS manufacturing process, which comes to be well known and studied worldwide. This Process Power is identified as one of the 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer. In my company EmergeVest , this notion of creating a replicable approach is underscored by the EmergeVest Operating System (#EVOS) - a unique, comprehensive strategy development and execution process powering our growth-buyout strategy.?The world operates efficiently 99% of the time. Thus, getting what you want - in life and work - lies in focusing on ‘working the systems’ that create the results. Let's get to it!

Process Power - 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer

As one of 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer, Process Power describes embedded company organization and activity sets which enable lower costs and/or superior product, and which can be matched only by an extended commitment. This is hard to replicate given complexity and opacity of knowledge.

One of the best examples is Toyota and lean production. Toyota Motor Corporation's vehicle production system is a way of making things that is sometimes referred to as a "lean manufacturing system," or a "Just-in-Time (JIT) system". This production control system was established based on many years of continuous improvements, with the objective of making the vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, in order to deliver the vehicles as swiftly as possible. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch"), as when a problem occurs, the equipment stops immediately, preventing defective products from being produced; and the "Just-in-Time" concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow. TPS and its approach to cost reduction are the wellsprings of competitive strength and unique advantages for Toyota. Thoroughly honing these strengths is essential for Toyota's future survival.

Process Power is an uncommon form of power because it’s so complex and takes so long that a competitor can’t do it without a terribly difficult time. If you have an incredibly complicated business process, over time, bit by bit, step by step, and it gets embedded in how you do things in the company, the outcome is material but the process is so complex. If a competitor tries to replicate, there are so many little things they have to do, or opacity, that nobody even really knows exactly what’s going on. The time cost is also so long for a competitor to end up like Toyota, which has already gained a lot of market share and been highly profitable.

EVOS - the EmergeVest Operating System

In my company, this notion of creating a replicable approach is underscored by the EmergeVest Operating System (#EVOS) - a unique, comprehensive strategy development and execution process to power our growth-buyout strategy. Utilizing our knowledge, experience and strategic global position, we have created a tried and tested framework, tools and process to facilitate and support growth and transformation. We also have a continuous feedback loop to ensure that the EVOS Tool Kit is continually being strengthened. It is the core of our value creation and key to our success, providing a unique investment approach to generate sustainable value creation. The creation of EV Cargo is a showcase of EVOS in action.

EVOS has great breadth of applicability, incorporating:

• Our investment philosophy and our approach of deploying multi-dimensional capital including financial capital, social capital, intellectual capital and responsible capital
• Core values of #growth , #innovation and #sustainability
• To buy and build great business covering operating model, customer, people, and technology
• Through the five phases encompassing origination, evaluation, execution, management, realization

EVOS is made available, module by module, to portfolio companies based on where they sit on the development curve. The EVOS model for portfolio manage management is centered around #people , #plan and #capital . We have guiding principles underpin our portfolio management. In EVOS, achieving the #flywheel Effect is key to sustaining superior growth and performance, across #people, #processes , #technology , #infrastructure , #brand and #network . When we do M&A and integration, EVOS is a way of achieving convergence and strengthening capabilities.

The EVOS Strategy System flows through all deal phases across research, planning, and deliver. This includes Organizational Design, which covers Right Structure, Right Size, Right Talent and Right Package. We Plan to Win by identifying clear Value Creation Levers, which typically comprise a balance of actions to grow volume and drive efficiency in the core operating model / customer proposition, and actions to innovate and diversify into new markets or services. The Value Creation Levers are then broken down into half a dozen key deliverables in the Multi-Year Delivery Plan. We keep track of delivery using the Balanced Scorecard that comprises key measures from the perspectives of Financial, Customer, Internal Business, as well as Innovation and Learning. We also review of management information and business intelligence captured in operational metrics and board pack.

Work the System

As discovered and illustrated in Work the System by Sam Carpenter, “systems are the invisible threads that hold the fabric of our lives together.” 99% of everything works fine because physical laws are unchangeable. Life is an orderly collection of individual linear systems each of which can be improved and perfected one at a time. A business’ mechanical functioning is a result of the systems that comprise it. Getting what you want—in life and work—lies in focusing on ‘working the systems’ that create the results.

If you still have further interest, here is a summary of the The Work the System Methodology:

1. It starts with your change in perspective, the aha! insight arriving in a moment of time.
2. You establish your goals and strategy through the creation of the Strategic Objective and General Operating Principles.
3. You examine the mechanics of the subsystems that make up your business, job, health, and relationships.
4. You make the system improvements, moving each subsystem to peak efficiency.
5. A more positive attitude toward life comes naturally because you have developed faith in the reliability of the systems that are at work everywhere.

The Three Steps of the Work the System Method involves:

1. Documenting your systems.
2. Separating, dissection, and repairing your systems.
3. Maintaining your systems on an ongoing basis.

The Work The System protocol has three main documents:

1. The Strategic Objective. This document is similar to the declaration of independence. It is your mandate for a better future. It will provide overall direction to your work and personal life.
2. The General Operating Principles document. This document is similar to the constitution. It offers a guideline for future decision making.
3. The Working Procedures. These are the laws guiding your game. These are the blue collars fundamentals of your work. This documentation is the specific collection of protocols that outline exactly how the systems will operate.