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Are You A Creative "Meathead"?
Remember Archie Bunker's description of what a Meathead was on All in the Family? Dead, from the neck up! When it comes to creaivity, innnovation, coming up with ideas that magically turn into money - are you alive? Ever wonder how some of the...
Professional Net Worth
I was going through my files and found an article written by Jim Cathcart and published in the October 1986 issue of The Toastmaster (put out by the organization which I recommend highly to anyone wanting to increase their skills in speaking,...
SO YOU CAN'T STAND THE PERSON IN THE NEXT OFFICE?
What to do? There is someone at work you really have difficulty liking. It may be mild or it may be on your mind long before you get to the office in the morning. This can have a devastating effect on your day, not to mention on your career....
The Top 10 People to Include for an Award Winning Team
One of the most powerful strategies for multiplying the effects of your team is to include a diversity of personalities, backgrounds, ages, and fresh opinions. The next time you are choosing an award winning team, consider including these ten...
Press Release
Veteran Startup Execs Launch Wasabi Ventures, A New Kind Of Venture Investor
New company lets startups get all-you-can-eat access to a comprehensive group of experienced advisors without burning cash.
PALO ALTO, CA July 10, 2004 -- Wasabi Ventures, today announced...
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Systems for Simplicity: What any Business can learn from McDonald's
Open any book on the subject of building effective business systems and you are sure to find McDonald's used as a prime example. Now their food mightn't be to everyones' liking, but it has one outstanding characteristic: it is entirely predictable. And few could argue that they haven't been successful.
Consider this: in less than fifty years, McDonald's have built over 29,000 stores based on a very robust system. If you didn't like the Big Mac you had in Moscow, you can be sure you would equally dislike the Big Macs you might have in Madrid, Melbourne or Manila.
Of course, McDonalds have it easy. Their business has never been about their food - it has always been about their systems. It is the sameness of their food, rather than its originality, which is what their customers expect. So it is sameness that they deliver.
Which is hardly what most of us are looking to provide, is it? We are selling a product or a service - not a 'system'. Our creativity, our unique approach, our flexibility to customer needs - these are what we are selling. The McDonald's approach seems anathema.
The reality is that systems have a place in every business because, used properly, they can help us achieve something that every business wants: efficiency and happy customers.
Take your average plumber. He is selling his skills - certainly not a
system. The plumber loves to plumb - he hates administration. But we still expect him to return our calls, to keep appointments and to provide us with accurate invoices.
So the plumber has a choice. He can forget to return calls, turn up late and get increasingly bogged down in paperwork (both of which happen all too often). Or he can put in place a basic time management and bookkeeping system.
Either way he'll still be a good plumber, but the system will provide him with more, happier customers and greater peace-of-mind.
What your plumber can't systemise is the art of plumbing. His experience and his apparently innate ability to diagnose a problem: these can only be passed on properly over time. Becoming the plumbing equivalent of Ronald McDonald is unrealistic.
Somewhere between McDonald's and your plumber lie most other businesses. Systems have a place in every business - it is simply a matter of degree. But we need to make a conscious effort to identify those parts of our business that can be 'systemised'.
In the long run, we will be rewarded with a simpler business and happier customers.
© David Brewster, January 2002
About the Author
David Brewster runs 'Business Simplification' and writes, talks and coaches on reducing the complexity of business and achieving greater clarity and effectiveness
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| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
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| CreativeClass.org |
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| TIP: Concepts |
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| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
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| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
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