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I've heard it said that a business is predominantly a collection of systems. Of course it's the people who make a business, but if you look at business simply from an assets point of view, you could make the case that your business systems are one of your biggest assets. All businesses have systems; I wrote last week about the sales and marketing system which is just one of many systems a business runs. What system do you use to deliver great service to customers? Your system for answering email, for sending email, for filing GST ...and so on, and so on. Like intricate cogs in an antique watch, systems connect to other systems, all working together to achieve an outcome: in the case of our watch the desired outcome is that the hands of the watch show the accurate time, in the case of a business the outcome is for the business to thrive.
I’ve always had a fascination with systems. Below are three quick bullets that summarise some of my key learnings over the years
I am a big believer in the power of visualization. There really is no downside to taking a moment to pull out from the hustle and bustle of your business week, and sketching down the systems you use and how they interact with each other. A business or systems coach can be invaluable here, as they have the objectivity to ask powerful questions. If you can see it, you can improve it!
The Japanese work “Kiasan” literally means “change for the better” and expresses the concept that small, incremental improvements made consistently day after day, week after week and year after year can make a massive difference. Think of continuous improvement like compound interest. It may start small but if applied consistently the yield can be huge.
This may seem a strange point to make, having so carefully built up quality systems, why deliberately break them? However disruption in a business context is not about tearing things down, it is about applying different thought processes and paradigms to your business and its systems. Challenge yourself and your team. Continuous improvement is about incremental change, a steady incline on the improvement graph. Innovation on the other hand is about rapid advancement. A great business has a steady flow of improvements, and also the occasional leap forward.
At Voyzu our goal is to help kiwi small and medium businesses punch above their weight using smart, connected systems & software. There’s a reason that “systems” comes first in that statement. Software underpins systems, the two go hand in hand. Simply implementing software without taking care to understand the systems around that software may get your bill paid as an IT Consultant, but it's not what we are about at Voyzu. We look at the whole picture. Software makes a great servant but a terrible master!
Want to chat systems? Drop us a line
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