Organizational Food Groups
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Poor Richard’s recommendation from the pseudonymous almanac seems like relatively sound advice. Apples were a great tool for helping keep teeth somewhat clean plus the nutrients and fiber were a great supplement for the sketchy diet of the 18th century common man. Today, on the other hand, is another story. I couldn’t keep the doctor away if I ate a bushel of apples a day. High cholesterol, acid reflux, allergies, and creaky joints require all kinds of supplements that apples alone can’t deliver.
Fruit aside for the moment, when I first got into the field of IT consulting I was very pleased that the People / Process / Technology axiom was so well understood and accepted. My training as an organizational psychologist focused much on the multiple factors required to get changes to work. Companies have a bunch of moving parts and expecting that you can just switch out new technology and assume that everything will be fine is a well established myth. In the early days of IT consulting it was fine to use the People / Process / Technology concept as a mechanism for getting clients to pay attention to more than just the technology portion of the equation.
But, when this consulting apple-a-day type aphorism was first introduced, IT consulting was at a stage more equivalent to Ben Franklin’s understanding of medicine. We have progressed substantially in the last couple of decades, and I think we need to advance past the People / Process / Technology thing – just like we can’t rely on simply apples to stay healthy – insufficiently simplistic.
Yes, it is great that we go beyond just a focus on the gadget when it comes to introducing improved technology into the organization. The people factor is one to reckon with. Folks need the skills to utilize the technology correctly, plus there is the whole attitude thing. Users can be resistant to change and we have to do all kinds of things to get their acceptance and adoption. So, great, the people thing is cool. Then there is the whole issue of business processes. Most of the time the technology will have a mind numbing impact on the way things are done. We usually have to rethink the work tasks a bit and get them sorted out to be in synch with the technology. Great again, that makes a bunch of sense.
What about strategy – are we working the right objectives and is everyone at the top of the org chart on board? What about measurement – do we have the ability to actually monitor if we are making improvements with all the investments? What about the company’s ability to manage all these variables – do we have the right project management capability and the expertise to provide the training needed for these new skills that the people require?
I think the whole P/P/T thing served a great purpose back in its day. Now we need a more complete model to make sure we have all the variables attended to. My suggestion is to look at the five areas below to make sure you have everything needed to make your CRM program successful:
- Alignment – clear direction with harmonious objectives and management support
- Capability – the needed business processes and skill that support the direction
- Intelligence – mechanisms for measuring the correct metrics that monitor achievement
- Technology – the tools that appropriately enable the processes necessary for success
- Transformation – the ability to manage these changes from both a technology and organizational perspective
Certainly five variables is a bit more complicated to oversee than just three, but the broader focus increases your likelihood of success. You are doing more than just consuming the apple, you got the whole range of food groups covered.
Bon appétit!
