Progress through continuous improvement....

I am often asked if perfection in business is possible. Can one create a company where every single function and process runs at one hundred percent efficiency and everything happens at exactly the right time and in exactly the right way. I have always, and will always answer in the negative, if for no other reason than I personally believe that perfection can only ever be an unattainable aspiration. That is not to say that it is not worth striving for, having as a stated aim and ambition, or even as part of the business plan. It is also not to say that it is impossible to achieve perfection, or at least a close approximation of it in small parts of the business. However, running a business in the real world is beset with complexities and chaotic, unpredictable events that have to be reacted to and have an impact on smooth operations.

The real key to running a successful business is the way in which the imperfections are handled and how they are managed to limit the impact on overall efficiency. At one of the companies I have a small hand in Dwarf Web Design there is an ethos within the management function that every chaotic event, everything that impacts the business is an opportunity to learn and to grow and to make the company stronger. It operates as a complete team effort from the appointment bookers to the proof readers and everyone inbetween, and is managed in a communal way so that everyone has an effective input and an effective chain of command.

This may sound a little like a miltary operation, and in a sense it is. For a business to succeed it has to be managed as though the survival and success of the busines was a life or death decision and that every decision made is time and effect critical. This is the same mindset taught to military leaders, and it is taught for a reason. In order to survive in turbulent times it is essential that not just the leaders but the whole organisation learns and grows and develops. There used to be a hot phrase in management speak "upskilling" to describe what the way in which staff efficiency could be improved by better training and better resourcing. Whilst I am not a big fan of management speak per se, there are some core concepts that do make sense and this is one of them. The greater a persons range of skills, the better able they are to adapt and change and develop to meet changing demands, and the more likely a company is to achieve perfection....