Consumers insatiable need for speed will further drive business execution in 2014

The women’s marathon world record has dropped almost 20 minutes since 1977, now standing at 2:15:25.  Usain Bolt’ s 100m world record speed of 9.58 seconds, marks the twelfth time during that same period, since 1977, that the record has been improved.  Speed is the driver for athletes in both the marathon and the sprint.  In 2014, it will become further pronounced as a driver in business.  Firms are challenged to deliver for their customers when their customers want.  Therefore, firms have to continue to evolve and increase their ability to achieve speed from both a business operations and technology perspective.

Business

Strategy is an important ingredient in operating a firm, providing the short and long term objectives, in the right context.  But the strategy needs to be acted upon to bring success.  The best strategies don’t serve customers, create culture, generate profits, or fulfill employees from the PowerPoint slides they are printed on.  Furthermore, a firm’s strategy likely means very little to its customers.  Customers want you to serve their needs – making their lives better, easier, and more enjoyable…quickly. 

Why this focus on strategy?  Because spending inordinate time on strategy can be a drag on achieving speed.  Suppose you are responsible for answering what’s our social media strategy?  Get back to me in 6 months and guess what’s happened in the meantime?  Two new offerings have emerged from Facebook or Twitter and there may be a brand new platform that has gained traction in the market that you need to account for. 

The point is shortening the planning cycles and becoming more flexible with strategic planning endeavors makes sense.  Consider allowing for strategy to evolve, if you’re not already doing so.  Embracing principles and concepts that align with the right execution approach for your firm can help.  Concepts like failing fast and continually learning (from the Lean Start-up - http://theleanstartup.com/principles) can create an environment optimized to achieve the desired speed.

http://centricconsulting.com/business-consulting/

Technology

Some of the major business-based tech trends of the past several years – Big Data, Agile development, and Mobile technologies all can draw direct lines to the need for speed.

Big Data provides the promise of scientific analysis on reams of data to provide insights across the business spectrum – consumer habits, business operations, future market trends.  A central tenet is to be able to serve customers more intelligently, optimize operations, and take advantage of opportunities quickly or real-time.

Agile development continues to be embraced and mature throughout the business world and even in large enterprise settings.  What remains clear is that successful adoption and execution doesn’t mean that a firm will get an entire pre-envision product faster.  Iterative development and testing, appropriate variation from the initial vision, and an approach to incorporate change allows a firm to get the right product faster.  

Mobile has, by its very nature, created a hyper-connected environment.  The speed with which we can connect to content, people, or our work has been exponentially increased over the past decade+.   And because mobile is ubiquitous in both personal and professional lives, businesses in all industries are held to the same standards (Innovation from a player like Google is compared to financial services innovation at a large bank or brokerage when business cases are being drawn up). In 2014 we are right in the middle of the age where this medium is being optimized by every firm to take advantage of that inherent speed.

http://centricconsulting.com/technology-solutions/

So as you step into 2014, you may want to reflect and ask a couple key questions:

• Has your firm tapped into its true speed potential in business operations and technology?
• Can you heighten the internal focus and push to find your firm’s right sustainable speed for the marathon efforts and your true top speed for your sprints? 

Think about it, but don’t think too long, you need to start running because you don’t want to be left behind.