Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

On Friday 5th March, we began a process of brainstorming about what it means (to us) to share our primary value of “Customers First”.

The following Friday (March 12th) we continued this process – to talk about our 2nd Core Value – that being a Relentless Drive^{(see note)} to learn more, to improve and grow as people – and hence to deliver ever-increasing value to our customers.

A.  Where we are at

Our first brainstorming session was a very productive one which yielded a number of good ideas about how we could instil a more customer-centric culture within the company – including these preliminary ideas listed here for employees only.

1)  A less productive session

In contrast, my feeling was that this second session was disappointing, with less of specific value generated in the discussions.

Instead, the brainstorming was at a higher level, with less detail of what “Relentless Improvement” means to us.

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2)  Because we’re not yet fully aligned?

My sense is that this is one aspect of our Core Values that is not yet as “core” as we need it to be.

Recall Shirlaws talk about 5 levels of knowledge/wisdom – something truly becomes a core value when we understand it at the deepest level (i.e. when it becomes embedded in our subconscious, and we do it without thinking – it becomes a natural part of our being).

With respect to self-improvement, therefore, it will truly be a core value when we are in a position where we constantly have a considered focus for what aspects of ourselves (and our business) we are striving to improve currently.  This focus will change over time, and be prioritised by a combination of business needs and where we want to head, as individuals.

For instance, I have explained (offline) that we can (and should) be comfortable holding the following two points of view simultaneously in our conscious:
1)  We should feel some sense in Accomplishment, looking back on the many ways we have improved the company since Autopsy 1, however
2)  We should not be Satisfied with our efforts, as we have a long way to go still ahead of us.

This is one of many paradoxes that we need to be able to accept.

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3)  Hence this post is a little different

Hence, the notes below are more unilateral than was the case in the previous post – more of a case of me providing some more indication of where the bus is headed.

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B.  Starting with “Why?”

The following chart clearly illustrates the scale of our challenge.

This chart has been derived from this post about where our bus is headed (in terms of how much we want to grow our client base to 2020).

Even just looking at 2010-11, this reveals the size of the challenge for us.

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In reality, it is only the start of our ambitions – but we need to walk before we can try to run.

This comment is made in response to conversations I have had with several people over LinkedIn, whereby they have correctly pointed out that the target above is Ambitious (certainly so), but hardly Audacious (as intended to be read by Jim Collins in “Built to Last”).

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It is obvious that the level of thinking that got us to 2010 is not going to get us where we want to be in 2020.

To deliver on our vision, we need to do a number of things concurrently, including:

1)  Get some key people on the bus

We’re in the process of doing this, starting with our General Manager for Discerning, Developing and Delivering What the Customer Wants (Needs).

These new people will be recruited for our bus in order to augment our thinking capability and broaden our experience base.

It will continue as quickly as is prudent, into the future.

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2)  Cultivating an Internal Drive for Active Self-Improvement

As a company, we will provide whatever support we can to our people, as they upskill themselves in a variety of different domains relevant to our business – including:
(a)  Understanding the electricity market
(b)  Ascertaining customer needs
(c)  Innovation – both incremental and discontinuous
(d)  Software architecture and technologies
(e)  Agile software development
(f)  Internet, and other database-driven, marketing methods
(g)  Business management and leadership

However, the drive to improve oneself must primarily be driven internally.   Our focus on this will never stop.

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3)  Up-Skilling Everyone

This starts with me (as this is where the buck stops).  I recognise, and accept, that I have been the ultimate source of much of the disappointment in previous years.

As part of our Autopsy 2 process, we have brought in a number of coaches who have been working with a number of us to ensure we can all deliver a massive increase in value.

This process will continue well into the future.

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C.  Our Realisation

The following is our starting point for ongoing improvement.

1)  We’re far-from-what-we-need-to-be

The chart above is a clear illustration of this.

Adding this post to the blog will raise awareness (both internally and externally) of this fact – though a couple (thankfully not too many) of the clients we have disappointed in the past couple of years already know this, very clearly.

As noted before, we have started the process of assessing the gap between where we are, and where we want to be:
(a)  Our Autopsy 1 day kicked this off in mid 2009;
(b)  We followed with a more intensive Autopsy 2 process.
(c)  Adam has explained how we have started more formal practices of sprint retrospectives within software development projects.

These types of autopsies & retrospectives will continue into the future…

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2)  We don’t know everything…

… and we won’t pretend that we do, either.

Where we currently sit, we still don’t even fully know what we don’t know (a bit Rumsfeld-esque perhaps?).

However, we have at least made a start in identifying areas in which we need to focus our initial attentions.  Two such aspects are:

(a)  The implementation of Agile (to upgrade our software development processes).

(b)  A major improvement in my capability as a Leader (though I have a long way to go, yet).

To deliver on these improvements, we have begun adopting, and will continue to press through with, the following approaches:

(a)  Life-Long-Learning

Part of the disappointment that we have delivered over the past 10 years has stemmed from the fact that we have not learned as quickly as we needed to do.

Now that we have a target clear in our minds, we will ensure that everyone who is on our bus has a real commitment to driving themselves to be the best they possibly can be.

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(b)  Multiple Venues, Forums, and Teachers

We will continue to use any of the varied means at our disposal to learn, such as the following:
1)  Books (we have an expanding library, but have read less than half of what is there – and reviewed online even fewer of these);
2)  Courses;
3)  Online or offline events,
4)  Coaches,
5)  Oracles,
6)  Tokens at the bottom of the cereal packets …

Seriously, though, we won’t just stick at any single favourite method of learning – we must continue exploring all the methods available to gain whatever advantages we can.

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3)  Our Focus on Improvement

Learning will only be the first step in the transformation of our company.   To deliver any value to clients, we have to actually do something with all the knowledge we’re acquiring!

(a)  Continuous, Incremental Innovation

This is not about bet-the-company, stepwise improvements.

It’s about making sure we come to work focused on going home at the end of each day with pride in knowing that we have improved at doing something just a little bit better (each and every day).

Our Friday meetings need to become regular showcases of ways in which we have improved (as individuals, and as a company) each week.

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(b)  Occasional, Discontinuous Innovation

Yes, we will need some of these, too.

However they will more occur as the natural side-effect of a focus on the above, rather than as a single-minded search for “the next big thing”.

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(c)  Must be Internally-Driven

It’s nice to get a pat on the back occasionally (from our clients, from our shareholders, boss, co-workers, external peers, or significant others).

However the reality is that this does not happen often.

Yes – I know that (as a coach) I need to be doing this more often. It is one thing I am consciously trying to improve on.

Fundamentally, our drive to improve must be internally driven (i.e. part of our intrinsic motivation) not driven by external factors (extrinsic motivation) – see this post about a Daniel Pink presentation that focuses on the relative values of the two.

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4)  Focus Improvements on what matters most

I have previously posted about this presentation by Geoffrey Moore (of the Chasm fame).

With reference to our aspirational core value of “Relentless Improvement”, Geoffrey makes a number of telling points.  I have included two of the most important here:

(a)  Alignment

Geoffrey talks about the “vector maths problem” that would arise if we just promoted a culture of innovation without providing a context around which to focus our efforts.

In simpler terms, we end up with chaos!

To reduce the amount that this happens for us (2008 was pretty chaotic!) much of my focus over the past couple of months (both online and offline) has been clarifying such questions as:
i.  Why we exist (i.e. our Mission)
ii.  Where we are headed (i.e. our Vision)
iii.  What we are going to do to get there (i.e. our Strategy)
iv.  The manner in which we are going to do these things (i.e. Culture, including Core Values).

As I have noted before, if I build the right team on the bus, and provide the answers to the key questions (e.g. what’s “core” for us) then alignment should be much less an issue for us.

Hence this will have us all pulling in the same direction, whilst still allowing people to be largely self-managed.

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(b)  Focus Our Energy on Differentiation

We need to be very clear (with each job in JIRA, with each broader initiative we’re undertaking) whether we are neutralising (low effort), driving for efficiency (low effort), or trying to differentiate (high effort):

It’s important to note that the decision of “what is core?” is not made at the level of an individual product, or by an individual Product Manager.

Making this type of decision is one that will dictate the future direction of the company, and hence is a decision made by the Leadership Team – though sessions like Beer O’clock will allow everyone in the company to be involved.

Our “CRM on steroids” is a case in point, for instance:

Is this something we need just to facilitate sales, or is it going to be a core competitive advantage that will enable us to achieve our vision of a major increase in client numbers with only a small increase in staff numbers.

More about that one later!

It’s a bit like our transition to Agile.  To put it another way:

i.  Our “Individuals and interactions” will need to be a competitive difference – our Processes and Tools need to just be “good enough”.

ii.  Our “Working software” will be a competitive difference – our Documentation just needs to be “good enough”

iii.  Our “Customer collaboration” needs to be a competitive difference (hence it’s Core Value #1) – our contract negotiation just needs to be “good enough”

iv.  Our ability to “Respond to change” needs to be a competitive difference – our Planning, and Adherence to a Plan, needs to be just “good enough”

Makes sense?

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5)  Exhausted Yet?

You’re not meant to be!

I have used the term “Relentless Improvement” deliberately as the term “continuous improvement” has become much used and abused (since at least the 1980’s).

Andy Grove wrote about this in “Only the Paranoid Survive” and Jim Collins called this “good enough never is” in “Built to Last”.

Don’t be exhausted!  We’re looking for those people to whom this challenge is invigorating.

Of course if does not mean that we, as individuals, won’t have our bad days occasionally – what it will mean is that we, as a company, will grow and structure ourselves such that we continue to deliver improvements for the customer, day in and day out (even if someone has a bad hair day).

Tags: core value, management of software company

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 8:58 pm and is filed under Value2 - Relentless Improvement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.