Navigate the Swirl. Richard Hawkes

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Navigate the Swirl - Richard Hawkes


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has support functions that make it all possible, such as accounting, IT, HR, and so on.

      These activities each rely on human beings, of course, but they also include resources, processes, technologies, and so on, so I use the term capabilities to describe them, and I group capabilities into four types of business capabilities: Develop, Sell, Deliver, Support. A capability is a strategic factor critical to creating value in a business or for a customer. It can be almost any kind of key factor or point of leverage including an activity, a skill, an expertise, a resource, a process, a product, a way of working, or a type of culture. This distinguishes capabilities from roles, which are the groupings of responsibilities we assign to particular people in order to enact those capabilities.

      Based on my initial insights, I started to create a simple model. On one side was Develop and Sell. On the other was Support and Deliver. The people on one side developed the products or services and sold them. The people on the other side delivered the products and provided customer support. It was basic, but it broke out the essential elements of the business in such a way that anyone could understand the workflow. I worked with this model for a time, and it was very helpful for a number of small businesses. It provided clarity about roles and gave leaders a workflow map that made it easier to diagnose bottlenecks, identify gaps, and untangle overlapping responsibilities. I also noticed something else: When I would speak about this model with leaders and team members, it got them focused on the business as a whole, visualizing it as a complex social system. It seemed to give them permission to work on the business together, not just in the business—to rise above the operational trees and see the forest, so to speak. So, I was pleased with the basic tool. Soon, however, I hit a wall—in the form of a large enterprise.

      I didn't give up. I considered the issues, examined their existing organizational structure, and compared it to the model I had developed. Eventually, late that night, I had a breakthrough. I needed to separate Develop and Sell as well as Support and Deliver. In fact, Develop, Sell, and Deliver each formed a discrete part of a workflow process. Further, there were feedback loops between Develop and Sell, Sell and Deliver, and Deliver and Develop. So was it a circle? No, because circles don't clearly distinguish one part from the other. It was more like a triangle, with three clearly differentiated but connected sides. I sketched out my makeshift triangle on a piece of paper and went to sleep.

Schematic illustration of the Four Business Capabilities Around the Business Triangle

      Develop-Sell-Deliver—three sides of any business activity. Together, those capabilities make up the basic elements of any workflow. Support, I realized, was something else entirely. Functions like accounting, IT, or HR, are not directly responsible for the customer experience. Rather, they are responsible for economies of scale within the business. In that sense, they “support” the business, and are best represented as a circle around the triangle.

      Business refers to a system of capabilities and roles designed and managed to develop, sell, deliver, and support products and services to target customers toward competitive advantage. The Business Triangle is a way to visualize this definition.

      Business capabilities are strategic factors critical to creating value in a business or for a customer. Capabilities answer the question, “What do we need to have in place to execute our strategy?”

      Role refers to the function, responsibilities, and accountabilities assumed by a person or a team in a particular situation, scenario, or system.

Schematic illustration of example of the Business Triangle

      In the Business Triangle for a startup company, the leader's name may show up multiple times against capabilities and roles, because they essentially do everything—develop, sell, deliver, and support! But as the business grows, this changes. In a small to medium-sized business, there may be several people working on each side of the triangle. In a large business, there are likely to be multiple triangles, representing the many business segments or models within the enterprise.

      Kairos and Chronos Balance—Time to Work In and On

      In high-performing business teams, members plan and make time to work both in and on the team and business. They are good at focusing on tasks to be done but are also good at taking time to step back and reflect on progress. They manage a good balance between Chronos and Kairos time.

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