Although the cold weather is upon us, I am thinking about a warm day last summer when I had the opportunity to hear John Chambers speak at the Chief Executive's Club of Boston. Chambers is the chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems. A dynamic speaker, Chambers posed the question "What is more important--innovation or operations?" My answer? Neither. Innovation, operations, and culture are equally important to the continued success of any business.
Innovation
Successful companies are not complacent companies. Companies wishing to sustain viability and even grow in a tumultuous economy must be innovative. They must stand apart from the competition. Research & Development must be ongoing and vigorous. Products and services must constantly evolve, allowing the company to stay on the proverbial "cutting edge."
As Chambers pointed out with his example of Wang Laboratories and mini-computers, missing just one "transition" can mean the difference between business success and failure.
Innovation--the willingness and ability to change--is a fundamental component of successful strategy.
Operations
And, then there is operations. Without flexibility in this area, it's difficult to have innovation. In a thriving company, new ideas are discussed, accepted, and acted upon--quickly. These ideas should scale to meet the company's overall needs. Operations should support innovation by turning ideas into consistent and repeatable processes.
A key point: Operations and its evolving processes must not have an adverse effect on customers or employees.
Culture
Leading companies take risks. They innovate. They rely on processes that are flexible. Their operations are smooth and fast. Yet, only with a committed culture can companies maximize their innovation and operations/process efforts. Board of directors, senior management, front-line staff--all of these groups must embrace change and flexibility. Calculated risk is typically decided at high levels, but it's usually realized by the general workforce. All players must buy in to the tenants of change.
As Chambers indicates, companies can develop supporting cultures by empowering individuals. Regular workers, experts in their respective fields, often make better decisions than leaders. When a company demonstrates confidence in its employees, these employees will in turn have confidence in the company when it effects change. Empowerment, along with teamwork and meaningful collaboration, is a requisite for an engaged business culture.
Do You Have The Mix?
One might argue, as does Chambers, that operational excellence trumps innovation in terms of importance. However, without a supporting culture, one leg of the stool is missing. Only when innovation, operations, and culture are working in concert can a company stay ahead of its competition.
As we move into 2011, is your company innovative? Are its operations and processes flexible? Does its culture accept and support change? This winning combination isn't always easy to achieve, but the market leaders in the new year will have found it.
