Repeatability

I have always been a great proponent of repeatable processes. In my previous jobs have worked at companies which have well thought out processes and no so well though out processes. I always thought that having clearly defined and documented processes are always important and that takes care of repeatability. I just finished reading a book called Repeatability written by Chris Zook and James Allen and turns out that repeatablity is something that needs to be in the DNA of the organization as opposed to just blindly documenting day to day activities in the business. Also, repeatability is about having an organization on the front line which knows how to clone the management thinking and map that to their individual tasks.

Some of the notes I took from the book are documented here. The book does a really good job at establishing the thought process and thus my notes cannot possibly help in replacing the reading.

Core principles of repeatability

1. Principle 1: A strong, well differentiated core
2. Principle 2: Clear non-negotiable
3. Principle 3: System for close loop learning

As I said in the preamble of this blog entry, its easy to misconstrue what repeatability:

• It is not the performance of a repetitive task like a robot. We are talking about the essence of a business requiring constant judgment, but needing some consistency in order to drive learning[Repeat things]
• It is not mechanical replication everywhere of a business concept[Repeat things globally across geographies]
• It is not an endless to-do list handed down to every frontline employee. This form of repeatability suppresses feedback and is demotivating and soulless.[dumb workforce]
• It is not the repeatability of nonstrategic functions. Every company has critical functions in finance, tax, real estate - essential enablers.

The reason any business looks for great repeatable models is to deliver enduring advantage, some of the high level principles to deliver sustainable advantage are:

• By compressing the distance between management and the front line
• By deciding better and faster
• By mastering the art of continuous improvement

Strong differentiated core

Three components of a well differentiated core:

1. The source of differentiation and the activity system that supports it
2. A well-defined method to repeat success in new situations
3. A set of target markets and segments in which to reapply your model

Some questions that senior executives can ask themselves about the business:

• What are your primary sources of differentiation?
• Are the differentiators gaining in strength or waning in strength?
• How do you know about the performance of differentiators?
• Does the full management team agree on the differentiators? Would frontline employees have the same list? If not why?
• What is the success rate from extending your repeatable model to new markets and situations? What explains the success and failures?
• What will be the key differentiators of the future? Are you building world-class capabilities in areas where you perceive gaps?
• How do all the relevant differentiations reinforce one another?
• How do they work together to define a business model that can be replicated?
• What are the assets and capabilities at the heart of this differentiation?
• What is the full potential of the differentiation and the repeatable model that expoits it? Where can it be best extended? How do you decide?

The non-negotiatbles

Good principles to find non-negotiatbles in the core:

• Connect to frontline actions
• Affect trade-offs with real economic consequences
• Reinforce the strongest competitive advantage
• Can be reapplied in new markets
• Link to rewards and deeper sources of motivation
• Are mutually reinforcing
• Liberate positive energy

Some questions that senior executives can ask themselves about the business:

• Can the strategy be stated in a small number of principles?
• Does the senior team agree with them? Are they shared broadly?
• Are they translated into operating nonnegotiables and routines that drive frontline execution and aid in making difficult decisions?
• What is the distance from the management team to the front line?
• Are you happy with the speed and consistency of the organization?
• What are three most important non-financial measures of the health of your business model? Do you all agree?

Its evident that it its not just important to outline the non-negotiables but also to convey them to the frontline workforce as this enables creative thinking and boundaries that guide the creative thinking. Good read explaining why this isnt anything new would be reading the commander's intent excerpt in the book. Commanders Intent

Closed Loop Learning

Repeatability also demands constantly learning from the best performing differentiators and adapting according to the changing environment.
Sources for learning

• Learning from core customer
• Learning from key operations
• Learning from frontline employees

Some questions that senior executives can ask themselves about the business:

• Does this change strengthen and reinforce our core model?
• What is our future differentiation and how does each opportunity add?
• Can this create a repeatable model for roll-out across the world?
• Does each opportunity add to critical capabilities for the future?
• Do we have the capacity to implement and will it distract from our core business?
• How do the opportunities and threats relate to each other? How do we rank them?
• Is speed of reaction a competitive advantage for you? How do you know?
• How are you set up to react to major threats to part of your business model?
• Are you investing enough in the next-generation business model, in testing and experimenting in search of it?
• Do you track over time the rate of productivity improvement in the core processes across the company? Should you?
• What are your most important types of decisions regarding change and adaptation? Is the process informed, clear and simple? what are inhibitors?