Complex Adaptive Leadership
author: Nick Obolensky


"In a complex age leaders are, more and more, spending a large amount of time doing things which are not needed, often they get in the way. If they did a whole lot less a whole lot more would get done. Complexity Science shows us underneath complexity there is simplicity and a few simple rules. The author merges two concepts, "situational leadership" and the "skill/will model". The aim is to enable the follower to take the lead for certain strategies and the ultimate leader knows well how to follow and support.

If you believe that today's business worlds is complex and you are seeking methods to deal with this I would recommend you read this book. "


http://www.complexadaptiveleadership.com/context/changingtimes.html


Nick Obolensky profile

Business Intelligence and Advanced Analytics are not new sciences. So what is preventing the adoption of "command centers"?

In Karen Butner's recent article for the CSCMP Karen presents a compelling concept, a "commanding view". There are few companies who have adopted this strategy.  Karen presents two examples of companies who have adopted the strategy but gives little indication if these programs met their original objectives.

There could be several reasons for the low adoption rate for this strategy.  Are the costs of implementation or running the system an issue? Maybe there are difficulties selling the benefits to secure company executive support. It could be that implementation speed is an issue, especially when you consider ever decreasing product life cycles.

I the coming weeks, I will investigate this subject deeper to better understand the issues.

http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/topics/Strategy/201103command/

Back in the saddle

The blog has been unattended for a few months. Where have we been? 

In July we sold our home in California and moved to a new home and set up two offices in Franklin, Tennessee. We were busy. Selling a home, packing up and driving across country to find a new home is no minor project.

We are now settled in and life slowly returns to normal.  In the coming few days this blog will come back to life.

Corporate Performance Management (CPM): Strategic considerations before selecting software applications.

In this article http://goo.gl/MDW50 from the Smart Data Collective the author, Bernard Marr, advises a five step process for introducing CPM.  The last step, selecting an IT process and using it appropriately is a key success factor. CPM software applications facilitate data integration, process alignment, analysis and reporting to a level that would never be possible without automation.  A comprehensive list of CPM software vendors is also provided by the Advanced Performance Institute.

In this article Bernard defines the following steps:

1. Map strategy
2. Collect meaningful data
3. Ensure strategic alignment
4. Create a positive learning culture
5. Automate appropriately

   

“Continual Improvement” Using Sustainability Metrics. 12 Steps to Planning, Accountability & Resources

In this article http://bit.ly/jRLG3Z  that focuses upon the strategic goal of sustainability the author highlights 12 key considerations for designing continuous improvement metrics.  Whilst the article was focused upon sustainability the 12 considerations would apply for all strategic operational directions.

1. Measure things that add value to organizational decisions. Measuring for the sake of measuring is a waste of time.
2. Make goal-setting a 360-degree exercise- Look inward through the organization rank and file for innovative ideas.  Seek advice and input from external stakeholders too (your suppliers and customers matter too!).
3. Commit to what you can control or influence.  Don’t make broad declarations that you cannot achieve because you’ve no influence. Don’t over commit ( although a few heretically goals here and there aren’t too dangerous)
4. Get some quick wins under your belt.  This will enhance the momentum behind the effort.  Remember to scale performance incrementally in line with the financial and labor resources that you’ve budgeted
5. Own the goal and be accountable.  It’s not likely that organizations will succeed in meeting their goals without someone keeping track.  Make sustainability performance part of personal or group performance evaluations.
6. Measure, Report, Repeat.  Don’t stop at the first sign of success or trouble.  Look for ways to press on, raise the bar and continually improve.  Report progress regularly (sometimes monthly, sometimes quarterly.  It all depends on what is being measured. 
7. Go Short, Go Long.  Set some targets as short term goals, but think long term too (three to five years out), and in alignment with corporate strategies.  Most large companies like my client (Johnson & Johnson), Unilever, Sony and many others usually set five to eight year planning horizons.
8. Measure things that compare well but slightly differentiate yourselves from your competitors. Novel and unique metrics are just as important to differentiating you as your products.
9. Seek out globally-recognized metrics (like the Global Reporting Initiative) to assure that multi-national companies who also measure sustainability metrics can apply the data to their own goals.
10. If you are a large company with multiple department, divisions or sites, the metrics of the subordinate organizations must be able to be “rolled up” in a way that addresses the entire organization but still meets site or department specific needs. 
11. Report the Bad with the Good:  No one’s perfect and a little self deprecation, even in business can pay handsomely from a reputational point of view.  In this WikiLeaks era, information moves swiftly.  Stay ahead of “the story”, own up to the shortfalls, you’ll be forgiven and given more credit for your successes.
12. Build off of prior continual improvement initiatives to track perform over longer periods of time.  It’s not like you flicked on a switch one day and became the sustainable organization that you aspire to be.  It takes time.

The Performance Prism

Together with the Balanced Scorecard methodology it is recommended that the Performance Prism  http://bit.ly/lyZGlc approach is considered when thinking about what to measure.

A prism refracts light. It illustrates the hidden complexity of something as apparently simple as white light. So it is with the Performance Prism. It illustrates the complexity of performance measurement and management.

Performance is not uni-dimensional. To understand it in its entirety, it is essential to view from the multiple and interlinked perspectives offered by the Performance Prism.

Supply chain performance metrics framework

The following list is not intended as a prescription for metrics, it is simply a framework that can be used when considering what to include in the scorecard.  Great care needs to be given to the selection of metrics in terms of their linkage to the overall business strategy.   

Plan

•  Strategic

1. Level of customer perceived value of product.
2. Variances against budget.
3. Order lead time.
4. Information processing cost. 
5. Net profit Vs productivity ratio. 
6. Total cycle time.
7. Total cash flow time. 
8. Product development cycle time.

• Tactical

1. Customer query time. 
2. Product development cycle time
3. Accuracy of forecasting techniques. 
4. Planning process cycle time. 
5. Order entry methods. 
6. Human resource productivity.

•  Operational

1. Order entry methods. 
2. Human resource productivity.

Source

• Tactical 

1. Supplier delivery performance.
2. Supplier leadtime against industry norm. 
3. Supplier pricing against market.
4. Efficiency of purchase order cycle time. 
5. Efficiency of cash flow method. 
6. Supplier booking in procedures.

• Operational

1. Efficiency of purchase order cycle time. 
2. Supplier pricing against market.

Make/Assemble

• Strategic

1. Range of products and services.

• Tactical

1. Percentage of defects. 
2. Cost per operation hour. 
3. Capacity utilization.
4. Utilization of economic order quantity.

• Operational

1. Percentage of Defects. 
2. Cost per operation hour. 
3. Human resource productivity index.

Deliver

• Strategic 

1. Flexibility of service system to meet
   customer needs. 
2. Effectiveness of enterprise distribution planning schedule.

• Tactical

1. Flexibility of service system to meet customer needs.
2. Effectiveness of enterprise distribution planning schedule.
3. Effectiveness of delivery invoice methods.
4. Percentage of finished goods in transit. 
5. Delivery reliability performance.

• Operational

1. Quality of delivered goods. 
2. On time delivery of goods.
3. Effectiveness of delivery invoice methods. 
4. Number of faultless delivery notes invoiced.
5. Percentage of urgent deliveries.
6. Information richness in carrying out delivery. 
7. Delivery reliability performance