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Bill Gates: Business at the speed of Thought Using a digital nervous system |
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Intro: For knowledge work: Insist
on communication flow ~ email so response is fast. Study
sales data to find patterns, trends and share insights easily. Use
data to give personalize service to customers-clients. Use
analysis to shift knowledge workers into high level thinking about products,
service and profitability. Use
digital tools to create cross department virtual teams that share knowledge
and build on each others ideas. Real time, world-wide. Capture corporate data
from others to apply anytime-anyplace. Convert
ALL paper to digital so workers become knowledge workers. FOR
BUSINESS OPERATIONS: Use
digital tools to eliminate single task jobs and change them into value added
ones that use and make a knowledge worker. Create
a digital feedback loop to improve other processes and increase efficiency of
physical processes for services and products. All employees should easily get
the metrics they need. Use
the digital system to route complaints immediately to the people who can act. Use
the digital system to redefine the nature of the biz so growth or reduction
can occur as needed. FOR
COMMERCE: Trade
information for time. ~ decrease cycle time by using digital for all
suppliers and apply just in time ~ JIT. Use
digital to eliminate middleman. Middlemen will use digital to add value. Use
digital to help customers-all-help themselves and reserve personal contact to
respond to complex, high value needs.
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Ch 1: Manage with force of facts: Best
route: Manage your information. What
do your customers think about your products? What do they want fixed? What
new features? What
problems are your distributors and resellers having? What about your
suppliers? Where
is competition winning on you? What
are the customers changing demands? What
new markets are emerging for you? Speed
is what digital can be. If
the railroads had been in transportation, we would be flying on union pacific
airways. Taking a objective, fact based approach.: Build
on the insights from the people in the organization. Regularly visit your
relationships, constantly gather information, cultivate them. Remember (mine)
these are not trips but educational and required info gathering assignments. Do
studies for decisions, deal with issues in an intelligent manner vs a gut
feel. Set
up a standard system so others can compare their operation. Apply
an Intranet – Extranet – forecasting – analysis - accordingly. Your
people need the latest data (I mean information) for optimal results.
Technical bulletins, email, other methods are applied. Integrate
digital methods with suppliers and distributors, as well as customers. Digital
will help: Design,
use feedback, speed of improvement, marketing, management, risk mgmt, just
say all. Digital
will help biz capitalize on the best thinking of all employees. PUTTING
INFORMATION TO WORK: DERTOUZOS
states that information work takes 50 to 60% of nations GNP. (mine)~
why are you documenting the data, is it for the sake of having something to
do? Who will use it? One person? No good , continue reading. When
thinking and collaboration occur with computer assisted data, a digital
nervous system is present. Think,
Act, React, Adapt. DIGITAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM=: Strategic
thinking, basic operations, customer interaction, business reflexes. Getting the numbers easily: New school=everyone
needs data. EIS some years back
(executives only), now it has been revamped. EIS-Executive
Information System. Middle managers need
to know where their profit and losses exist, they must act. Companies should spend
less time on protecting data and more time making it available. Managers do
not need normal activity data but out of normal activity. Plus this is a big
morale booster. What if’s and the like. MEETINGS: Don’t go to meeting
for information (get this ahead of time by email). Go to meeting for
solution gathering. If you have sound facts you can implement sound policies. BUSINESS LESSONS: Information flow is
the primary differentiator for business now. Most work is
information work. Middle managers need
as much data (mine=information) as executives do. Meetings with only
information are signs of bad information flow. DIAGNOSING YOUR
DIGITAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: Does your information
enable you to answer hard questions about customers, services, production, partners,
environment, marketing??? Does your system
simply crunch numbers or directly solve problems??? END |
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Ch
2. CAN YOUR DIGITAL NERVOUS DO THIS? Coordinate
business processes with production, sales, finance, marketing. Companies
need good reflexes to react to crisis and opportunities. Planned
events need deliberation, strategic analysis, execution and evaluation. Communicate
a strategy to everybody in co. Communicate
effectively with customers. FROM
THIS POINT FORWARD DNS
= DIGITAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. DNS
two primary purposed:
A
DNS seeks to create a corporate excellence on behalf of the customer. MAKING
DATA AVAILABLE EVERYDAY: A outside consultant should not have access
to any reports a inside person should have if needed. When you walk in
everyday you should see useful data that can be shared and used by others. INFORMING
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Reaching
your customers by seminars, co-marketing, activities with partners. Using the
internet for data is now required. Data warehouses, US census data. Analyze
it in several different ways, sometimes in collaboration. Extrapolate
potential values. Use indexes to carve up data. Create goodwill with partners
for future needs. Make data available for later use by whoever for whatever.
Sometimes later needs can and should be applied although surprises will come
up and what you did not think before will become present now (mine). Pivot
data to view from different perspectives. MAKE
AN INVESTMENT AND DON’T RELY ON
LUCK.: Build
a financial reporting system that would capture a wide variety of sales
information and put it at your figure tips. Have
easy spreadsheet access. Again use
internet data and make it easily incorporated. CHANGING
ROLE OF DISTRICT MANAGERS: Evaluate
data, talk to others, try new things. They
become business thinkers. DNS
will help prevent large apparent success from covering up small actual
failures. DOING
BUSINESS AT THE SPEED OF THOUGHT: A
good flow of information and good analytical observation and tools will give
insight into new revenue opportunity among volumes of seemingly impenetrable
amount of data. A DNS maximizes the capabilities of the human brain and
minimizes human grunt data processing (my words). TO
BUILD YOUR DNS: List
ideal data and information needed to run and understand competitors alike.
Think about the facts you need. Think about actionable facts needed by the
biz to be optimized. Then demand the system returns these values. Or your
competition will. When
you can function in teams like an individual can react, you are on your way
to a new way of operation. Business at the speed of thought. BUSINESS
LESSONS: Shake
loose the idea that information is hard to get. Better
information will expand roles of people and use their brains instead of
giving them busy work. (my words). The
right information to the right people at the right time will change
everything.~my words. It
will raise your operation to a higher strategic level~the discussions. YOUR
ISSUES: Is
your information pulled for one time use or can it be used daily by different
people and departments. Does
your information provide you with those critical list of answers on your list
made earlier? Can
your system pinpoint problem areas in sales that offer good and bad facts?
END |
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Ch
3. Create a paperless office |
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Digital
processes LIBERATES knowledge workers to do more productive work. 95% of data
is on paper. Microsoft went from 114 forms in procurement to 1. Look at all
forms used and figure a way to go digital and reengineer at this time.
RE-Analysis the system. Match incoming resumes or other application to
existing needs. OCR. Use
email so interviews are built on each other and not simply “redone”. Use
forms for new hires that automatically adds new voice mailboxes, name plates,
mailboxes etc… Use
INTRANET to order supplies, to train, to tape meetings. Use
these forms and have them routed to the people who need to know. Expenses
are entered electronically. Travel,
training can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All employees can
access stock options online 24 hours a day. Self
ability to do ones own work will increase participation by 50% with
employees. You
desire brain work not physical work like filing. Spend time with customer not
the filing cabinet. Excel
Pivot tables. View historic information for comparison and analysis. Find
your spend rate, how to allocate resources, or reallocate them maybe in
emergencies. See
Project expenses across multiple cost centers or fiscal years. Evaluations
and interviews can be emailed with the results for the next interview so
redundancy is stopped or minimized. This is capable of world wide application. Manager
time in reviews needs to be minimized for other activity. 50 % reduction. Microsoft
reduced forms from 1000 to 60. Digitize
less used forms last. Apply
INTRANET APPLICATION!!! Accounting
firms charge 145$ per transaction and electronically it can be 5 bucks. Registration
online can be reduced from 17 minutes to 5. There
will be setup, equipment and upkeep costs. Remember that next year all is in
place. If
handwritten data is entered later please type it in at the beginning and stop
most errors now. SUPPLIERS
get paid faster also. Employee
buying patterns can be watched also. New applications all the time. YOU
ARE PUTTING RESPONABILITY DIRECTLY INTO THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE MOST
MOTIVATED TO ACT. Human
Resources can spend more time in training and personnel issues than paper
work. Books
and magazines still can’t be beat for portability and readability. Start
w/electronic forms and ensure consistency, easy measurement, and proper
authorization. FAQ
sections on web sites help a lot. Employee
Feedback helps a lot. WEB
based forms can be changed in hours. SCAN
documents if necessary. USE
STREAMING MEDIA for viewing, training, meetings………that way you can watch
later. Improve
Processes before just adding more methods. ADD
Intranet Applications. Do
not Automate a dumb method, re engineer it first. Keep
your people focused on Business. Knowledge
workers not bothered with routine tasks do better work. Employees
should spend more time with customers than playing with papers. Digital
makes happen what is impossible with paper. GET
SYNERGY not Complexity. TALLY
all paper forms and replace with digital. Computers
handle routine, and people handle exceptions. SELF
SERVICE can handle 90% of employee admin needs…………… |
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CHAPTER
4 Ride
the inflection rocket. The
more the tools the faster the rate of change. Make
digital information flow pervasive in your organization. 3
BUSINESS SHIFTS.
Practice
by using technology. AVOID
COMPLACENCY. We
always overestimate in 2 years but underestimate for 10 years. |
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