Learns on Dr Farhoomand's Business Transformation course

Lecture Learns (lectures 1 + 2)

Dr Ali Farhoomand's Business Transformation course. (HKU iMBA at Fudan)

 

I'm typing this with cold hands - haha no heating yet - no matter how cold, the heating doesn't turn on until after a certain date... haha!  Anyhow, a very stimulating course.  Sadly I can't work or revise other courses while I sit here, but it's nice to be engaged and thinking.

 

1.         A strong left brain is a good thing.  But it makes it harder to tap into your right brain.  Innovation, creativity, and 'thinking out of the box' comes from using the right brain.  The right brain doesn't understand the logical contraints (the box) that the left brain does.  Leadership, according to Henry Minsberg, requires art as well as craft.  It seems I should have a think about my right brain and how I use it.

2.         Different working styles have their pros and their cons.  Hong Kong workers put in the most hours a year (2500), but have one of the lowest per hour productivity.  French workers put in the least hours a year (1500), but have the highest per hour productivity.  Americans put in a lot of hours, and also have high productivity.  Other indexes show a strong correlation between productivity and quality of life.  Except in America, where workers have high productivity but very poor quality of life.  Curious, huh.  So, let's say I broadly have a European working style, should I now adapt to my local environment and conform to an Asian working style?  If so, and if I maintain a relatively high level of productivity, does that make me into an unhappy American?

3.         When working with people, look to their motivations.  Based on 'agency theory', staff are not there for the good of the company, they are there for themselves.  If I want to influence people, e.g. to have them work for me (or at least in the direction I want), I should be conscious of what they want in life.

4.         We brainstorm lots at work.  But how often do we really sit down to use our brains?  We're all busy at work, having meetings, writing emails etc.  Where's the time and space for deep thought eh?  Sometimes in focused discussion perhaps.  Or subconsciously, when walking on the way home, in the swimming pool, at the driving range.  Maybe I should focus my deep thought a little more - pick a puzzle of sorts and then think through it.  Stretch myself.  Hmmmmmm.  Neural workout.

 

Lecture 2 learns 

 

1.        There are levels to thought.  We sometimes talk about being able to see the big picture, or to be able to find the ‘so what’.  Analysis vs Synthesis.  Deduction vs Induction.  Being able to carry out a solution to a problem, as opposed to being able to truly understand what the problem is. 

2.        What’s the problem with strategies.  Is it choosing the right strategy?  Is the problem executing the strategy?

3.        De-linearisation of processes. Object orientation instead of linear value chains?  This is akin to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) at an IT level. 

4.        Fundamental difference in teaching style.  One is interactive lecturing, where students make comments to support the teacher’s train of thought.  Another is where the teacher guides challenges and facilitates the students in a certain direction.  Both have their merits, depending on the material being taught I guess.

5.        How to move from linear cause-effect thinking to non-linear complex interaction thinking.  (Chaos theory).  Life is no longer so predictive, there’s a great deal more uncertainty.  A chaotic system is one where the output is greatly sensitive to the accuracy of initial conditions.  E.g. Bush’s last election, being swung by only 550 votes.

6.        Competitive advantage – not from good processes (they can easily and quickly be replicated), but from process configuration.  This is the combination of processes or sub-processes in a (often seamless) way that creates additional value.  The competitive advantage comes from being able to reconfigure these processes at speed.  Now I understand what Capgemini’s Adaptive Enterprise / Adaptive IT / Service Oriented Architecture proposals are all about.

7.        Corporate flexibility can be achieved through fractal simplicity – a basic concept that when tested at detailed levels still holds.  The use of common self-similarity of values and beliefs (corporate ethos), provides an aligned mechanism within which flexibility can be achieved.  HP – Invent.  Dell – Sell direct.  Capgemini – Collaboration.

8.        Inertia is a barrier to moving fast.  People who have long been having success will find it hard to believe that the world has changed or that a new approach is required.  This time lag can have terrible consequences e.g. Xerox.

9.        One potential issue with Asian culture – we tend to err towards conformity.  Tension or conflict is generally frowned upon.  But that stifles creativity, or the ability to spot the problems coming up ahead.

10.     measurement.  Measuring things – reliable (consistent) and valid (measuring the right thing)?

11.     Mega-companies will struggle to keep up.  Better to run a big company?  Or a big dynamic network of mini-companies?  Ah could this be the subject of Roger Camrass’s book ‘The atomic corporation’ perhaps.