We've all been in organizations where the first reaction to a downturn is cost-cutting and a myopic focus on keeping the lights on.  Sometimes, that is your only option, but for many organizations, a current-term batten down the hatches approach stifles innovation and talent, and inevitably drives the best and brightest out the door -- with their creative ideas! 

In a recent post on her Harvard Business Discussion Leader blog, Tammy Erickson calls for a different approach, one that recognizes the unpredictability of the current business climate and emphasizes investing in collaboration, improvisation, and yes -- people:

"A lot of senior managers are now readying their team for Recession 2008. Most are thinking in ways that are completely understandable -- and in my view -- very likely to be dangerously wrong. Most standard wisdom advises caution and control -- review your costs, tighten your approval criteria, pull key decisions and sign offs up to higher levels, make sure everyone in the organization is as fully busy as possible, narrow the business scope.

That approach might work, if the nature of the recessionary environment were known or easy to predict. But it’s not. Rather than trying to tighten control and hunker down, I’d suggest that you think about ways to make your team better able to improvise given whatever comes along. Four things will help your organization become more spontaneous, innovative and reflexive:

(1) Increase your firm’s “collaborative capacity” through relationships, trust, and knowledge exchange. Don’t cut out meetings, intensify the competition among internal teams, or reduce investments in learning. (For more, see our November 2007 HBR article “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams”).

(2) Articulate a compelling “innovation intent” -- something that, in the language of complexity theory, will serve as a “strange attractor” to rally your team around goals that are intriguing, complex and important. Don’t narrow the focus to the mundane or over-specify the way teams should approach their challenges. Keep them engaged.

(3) Ensure that your team has regular on-going exposure to disruptive insights through diversity and external forays. Don’t cut travel or fall back on the old “tried and true” team. Bring in new people and new ideas and take them seriously. Get outside your business sphere.

(4) Provide everyone in your organization with some specific tools to help with innovative thought processes -- teach people how to brainstorm, use scenario analysis, or create ideas through attribute reduction. Don’t cut training -- invest in your people. Teach your employees how to be a business innovator so they can improvise in motion."

Makes sense to me.  Seems like you'd want to give your organization a fighting chance, and innovation takes innovators...

Posted by brendamichelson in business • creativity • innovation • leadership | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, I'm in sunny, but not warm, Orlando at OMG's Maximizing BPM Investments with SOA Workshop.  Dave Linthicum just gave a keynote speech.  Here are some quotes from his talk that convey good SOA, BPM and (yes) architectural common sense. 

"The core business motivation is business agility"

"Organizations suffer from the business inflexibility trap.  As a result of years of dragging stuff (new technology) in and bolting it on, IT is impeding business change"

"IT practices (quick hits and bolting on) is like hardening of the arteries.... trouble builds over time and eventually requires  major surgery"

"SOA is not about connecting things, it is about enabling business processes and continual change"

"SOA is also known as good architecture"

"BPM and SOA were never unlinked.  Can't have SOA without process.  Process is more efficient with SOA"

"rather than 'rip and replace' old systems - make them work better together"

"SOA is not about technology, integration or middleware"

"Many perspectives on SOA: Business Processes, Services, Technology and Data"

"SOA is not something you buy, it is something you do"

[Disclosure: The OMG, as manager of the SOA Consortium, is a client of my company, Elemental Links]

Posted by brendamichelson in BPM • SOA • events/travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning’s dismal US Jobs Report and the ensuing analysis  laden with the “R-word” reminded me of a conversation the SOA Consortium community-of-practice had on our December 4, 2007 call that I had been meaning to post over on SOA Consortium Insights.  During that call, I asked our members the following:

“What does the ensuing (or on-going) economic downturn mean for SOA in 2008? Will the economic downturn and associated budget cutbacks drive organizations to, or away from, SOA in 2008?”

We had a good discussion, the results of which are here.  I'm curious, what does this community think?  Will SOA be employed as a strategy to cope with, and prosper in, tumultuous times?.  Or, will SOA be seen as a budget line to cut?  Let me know, via a comment or trackback, here or there.

[Disclosure: The SOA Consortium is a client of my company, Elemental Links]

Posted by brendamichelson in SOA • business | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)