I told you - I'm working on a chair!

Is there a standard recipe for improvement?

A colleague of mine shared a story recently. It made me reflect on improvement programmes across different businesses. It went something like this. 

Two students studied engineering design together at university. Hans joined a Danish furniture manufacturer and Lucas joined an architect's practice.

Some years later they bumped in to each other at an airport. "What are you working on?" Lucas asked Hans. "I'm working on a chair – how about you Lucas?". " I'm working on an apartment block". They chatted for a while before catching their flights.

A year later they met up again, passing through the airport. Hans asked "what are you working on now then Lucas?" –" I'm working on a car park design. What are you up to Hans?". "I told you, I'm working on a chair" (the same chair).

This got me thinking. What would happen if the improvement programme in Lucas' company transferred to Hans' company? Would there be an appreciation of how the company creates value? Lucas' company is about throughput. Hans' business is about creating a fabulous design, which can take months or years. 

Maybe there would be more designs emerging from the design office. There may be more products in the range. Or would the whole ethos of the company be lost? A company that at the heart of it's being, has a long and artistic development process, which combines function and form. There may well be opportunity for improvement in Hans' development process. But taking the wrong approach could be disastrous.

Proven frameworks can be very successful in business transformation. But there are risks in applying recipes, when ingredients differ.

As you embark on your next improvement initiative, step back and think about what's special in the organisation. Tailor your approach to the needs of the business.

www.virrata.co.uk Tailored solutions