The past decades have focused on automating to bring predictable outcomes. To compete effectively today, that is not enough.
Automation of ‘Smartening’
The intent+ability to learn from every action/data point, the lowering costs of storage/computing, open source code libraries, variability of costs due to cloud, global skill pool are resulting in businesses attempting to get smarter with every action/data point and related learning. Platforms enable the collective behavior of customers,suppliers,stakeholders be captured, analysed and abstracted.
Variability of costs allow for quick and cheap pivoting, creating and experimenting new business models on the fly with low failure costs. In this backdrop, mere automation and its associated predictability are not enough to compete.
‘Smartening’ also needs to be automated along with the process. It cannot be an after-thought.
Experimentation vs Agile
Experimenting is no longer confined to the R&D labs or small corners of the organisation. When businesses such as Booking.com run about 25,000 experiments a year to continuously fine tune/improve, A/B testing has become more powerful than just agile processes. A competitor with agile processes may not be able to compete with Booking.com’s personalisation/1000s of enhancements that add up to a significant competitive advantage.
Sacrilege
Process owners guard the legacy with great vigor. Even suggesting a change was considered ‘Sacrilege’. Not any more. When a pandemic makes decades of old practices/cost structures/habits irrelevant, protecting the legacy at all costs may be too costly.
Self-critique is more important than hubris, when yesterday’s rock stars quickly become today’s overheads.
In summary, getting smarter with every action/data point, experimentation as a way of life and ability to re-think everything are bigger competitive differentiators than just automating the past.
