The Solution Delivery Culture

For your Product Lifecycle and Manufacturing enthusiasts, my apologies in advance, but I had to write this. I've seen too many meandering projects and organizations over the years, and I had to take some time away from my usual to this time jump on my soapbox to make a stand for project and organizational cultures to be fixed.

I hope this week's diversion doesn't disappoint

We all want to be on delivery focused programs and part of a team that all wants the same thing and so here's my two cents on Fixing the Delivery Culture.....

Corporate culture isn't something that is spelled out in a document, but it influences everything an organization does. It affects everything from employee retention to the bottom line.??

So, what can you do to establish a strong organizational culture?

Teamwork

#1 @ a project level - There are so many elements that affect your project delivery, from gathering the exact requirements, clarity over purpose and objectives, team quality, methodology, project management etc etc etc

BUT, one of, if not THE biggest factors is teamwork and everyone together aiming for one goal/objective.?

#2 @ an organizational level - When you’re building a business at scale and with a purpose, as we know the stats and the odds are stacked against us.?

We start out on our own, then we grow a small “family” and then the going gets tough! More often than not, the company and, or project fails.?

Along the journey, we ask ourselves, how do we replicate our business leader ethics, our commitment to customer-centricity, our skills, the differentiators, our probable demand for perfection and a business that delivers each and every time???

At this point, if you’re a business/project leader that demands perfection, don’t read any further, as this is not for you.?

Now that may turn a few of you off, but let’s think about what we’re trying to do here….

Winning?

We’re trying to win the race, we’re trying to be the best, perhaps deliver a project and build a successful business, and that doesn’t mean perfection.

If perfection is your thing, then it’s best to run a “one person show”.?

We’re trying to build a team - a combined workforce greater than the sum of its parts, built around a delivery system, a blend of individuals who love their individual components that when combined produces something that makes a difference in this world and makes you proud to be part of.?

Give me a consistent team that wants to improve and we'll always beat the prima donnas!

When I talk about building businesses, including our own (XD Innovation), the conversation always ends up around culture. I believe strategies, tactics change and adapt to market conditions but your company culture is what remains and is the foundation of success at scale.?

A culture that removes the bureaucrats in favor of the visionary, the deal makers, the developers and adventurers, the synergists and the administrators means a potentially great business. BUT, what’s the culture in which they thrive best?

?

NONE of our HOPES, our DREAMS happen without others, be that the customer or the people you work with.

I’ve always worked on the basis of:?“find out what people want and give it to them”

Empathy is the fuel to enter uncharted territory?

One of the hallmarks of a successful business is its ability to harness creativity to constantly push into new territory. Without growth and innovation, businesses stagnate and eventually fade away.

Those with staying power, however, have mastered an intangible, often overlooked factor that allows them to focus on the future with clarity: empathy.?

While that may surprise you, I am certain that the ability to connect with and relate to others—empathy in its simplest form—is the force that moves businesses forward.

?To be a great leader, you have to be a great listener

Though the concept of empathy might contradict the modern concept of a traditional workplace—competitive, ‘dog eat dog’, and with employees climbing over each other to reach the top— the reality is that for business leaders to experience success, they need to not just see or hear the activity around them, but also relate to the people they serve.

Empathy is what allows an organization to motivate each of its employees.?

You can’t??manage any single one of them in the same way.??The organization, the managers (servant leaders) need to be able to figure out what actually drives each one.?

• Are they here for the money??
• Is work-life balance more important??
• Do they care about job titles??
• Are they happy in their vertical??

When businesses fail, it is often because leaders have stopped focusing on understanding their environment intimately and instead stay insulated in their own operations. Successful business leaders are receptive to disruption and innately aware of what is going on in their organizations both internally and externally.

What really is empathy?

The ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.

The three types of empathy that psychologists have defined are: Cognitive, Emotional, and Compassionate.

Cognitive Empathy

is about thought as much as emotion. It is defined by knowing and understanding on an intellectual level. As most of us know, to understand sadness is not the same thing as feeling sad. You could say it’s the way some people are wired, to understand emotions in terms of why they make sense for humans in certain situations.

This type of empathy can be a huge asset in circumstances where you need to “get inside another person’s head” or interact with tact and understanding.?

Emotional empathy?

just like is sounds, involves directly feeling the emotions that another person is feeling. It’s about being an Empath and this week we’ll start to talk about some of the great organizations and some of the most successful we have encountered.?

Connecting with another human in this way is intimate and can form a strong bond.

One downside of emotional empathy occurs when people lack the ability to manage their own distressing emotion. It can be seen in the psychological exhaustion that leads to burnout. Feeling too much can make even small interactions overwhelming.

Compassionate empathy

Compassionate Empathy honors the natural connection by considering both the felt senses and intellectual situation of another person without losing your center.?

Compassionate Empathy is taking the middle ground and using your emotional intelligence to effectively respond to the situation with loving detachment.?We don't get sucked in and take on the person's burden or feeling. We balance mindfulness with compassionate caring and could be considered compassion when expressed genuinely.?

Servant Leadership

This one is hard for many traditional leaders to appreciate and to others a gimmicky approach.??

Leaders work for their team?

That means you have to understand what your employees want at a deep level. You have to be constantly adapting to their needs and what they want from the organization.

At the start of the year, they may want more money, but then things happen and their priorities may change to their family time. Another may want a promotion and more responsibilities, while another wants more training and mentoring and another perhaps travel.?

Unless you know, how can you help your team grow, be happy and therefore give their best for your customer, unless their role has individual/personal purpose??

Customer-centric

To be the best that we can be for our customers, our customers will remember how they felt when dealing with us.?

We have to commit to doing the very best we can to solve customer problems and for that we need to care about their challenges and bringing them solutions that make a measurable impact.?

We need to understand the big picture and to ensure everything we do for them, connects to that.?

I've never understood a project, be that CAD/PLM/MES/MOM without business purpose. I have to understand how it affects the bottom-line, how it benefits their customer.?

Positivity

Positivity, kindness, and empathy?I believe are the backbone of our culture. Instilling those characteristics and traits as part of your culture has significant long term impact for your business.

We're simply not interested in who's to blame, but instead on how we can support each other to fix the problem. Sure, we'll take time to analyze the problem and its cause, but we'll spend far more time together fixing it. The moment we see someone trying to apportion blame, we cut it down as wasting time.?

It's all our jobs to help each other. No one is perfect and we all want to know when the "chips are down" we're there to support each other.?

The bottom-line is we expect people to make mistakes, because if they don't then they're not moving fast enough!?

In a nutshell, culture is the “heartbeat” of a company. It’s something that lights up the entire system. If a company has great culture, it can be the backbone of their success.

Andrew Sparrow

Smarter Innovation & Product Lifecycle Management & Manufacturing: People, Teams & Business Solutions enabled through Change & Technology

Sometimes you need a real expert to help decide what's next and sometimes you need an entire team and sometimes you need an entire program delivering.

Delivering the entire PLM & Smart Manufacturing application layer, along with integration to ERP and moving your people to adopt new ways of working, is the holistic approach we take. It's the quality of our people and their experience that makes the difference.

If we can help you through your Smarter Manufacturing journey, you just have to ask

I'm a huge believer in constant change.

Standing still is going backwards

Oh, I can "boil the ocean" with the best of them, but let's not live there. Analysis leads to paralysis. Dreaming of & waiting for perfection is the enemy of execution.

Do something, get some quick wins and start building momentum.

I like to bring attention to Innovation, Smart Manufacturing, Global People Integration & Human Sustainability - I Blog, Vlog, Podcast, host a few Live Shows and love being involved in your revolutionary programs.

I love & thrive in working with some of the world's largest companies & most innovative organizations.

I'm a big people-person & have spent my life meeting as many people & cultures as I can. At my last count, I am lucky enough to have visited & done business in over 55 countries

Talk soon, Andrew