\u201cObjectives are generally formed based on the strategic choices of the business, and goals need to be aligned with the objectives. Otherwise, the innovation initiative can succeed in achieving the goal, but will not have the right impact on the business overall.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nMany of the problems encountered post-implementation are a result of trying to provide a technical solution to a business process that no longer meets the overall objective. Rather than looking to solve the pain point, there is an opportunity to understand what the business wants to achieve at this stage. Odds are, it is different than what we thought at the time of design during transformation.<\/p>\n
Harnessing the business objective mindset<\/h2>\n
An effective solution involves a change in mindset or a shift toward a different mindset. Understanding the need to focus on business objectives versus executing those objectives are two different things. You can\u2019t flip a switch and have everyone in your organization focus on only business objectives. The good news is every little bit helps. This is one case where a series of small victories results in a strong overall impact.<\/p>\n
Three steps for solving the business-driven mindset puzzle<\/h3>\n
Shifting the mindset of an entire organization is easier said than done. It takes commitment. Here are some things you can do to move in the right direction. Keep in mind that every little bit helps. You can start small and build from there. You do not need to be perfect with any of these.<\/p>\n
1. Define achievable objectives.<\/h4>\n
One common challenge with the business objectives we traditionally communicate is they are often too lofty or abstract for a team focused on a specific business function or step. An executive responsible for an entire line of business may have the general goal of improving underwriting efficiency, penetrating new markets, or improving loss ratios. The executive responsible might express these objectives to the CIO, who will likely pass it along to their reports with no additional specificity. While it is excellent information, it\u2019s hard to correlate that to an incremental improvement opportunity in a Policy Admin system. The objective gets lost in the shuffle.<\/p>\n
Creating structured interaction opportunities across multiple levels of the business will help you understand the underlying objectives that lead to the overall business objective of the organizational leaders.<\/strong> The more you structure business objectives into manageable pieces, the easier it becomes to achieve organizational mindset shifting. If this becomes too much of an obstacle, consider an emphasis on Business Architecture or Process Excellence to help create digestible components of overall business objectives.<\/p>\n2. Challenge and trust your team.<\/h4>\n
The single biggest deterrent to continuous improvement is the notion you should minimize system support and maintenance from both a cost and a skillset perspective. If you do that, you miss out on an enormous opportunity. A fundamental tenet to continuous improvement is to allow everyone to achieve growth in increments.<\/strong><\/p>\nMost likely, you have a team, that when challenged, effectively focuses on and achieves an incremental objective. The key here is to infuse your team with talent, provide them with fulfilling and meaningful goals to meet, and then trust them to do it.<\/p>\n
3. Don\u2019t just fix problems. Put them into perspective and solve them.<\/h4>\n
When you focus on business objectives, it does not mean individual issues are not significant. Most problems are very real and very important. You still need to address and attend to them. What matters is how we address them. Problems, issues, and even patterns of problems need perspective. How is this problem impeding the business objective, and more importantly, is there an opportunity for improvement? Aspire to understand where problems fit against your purposes and seek to improve beyond them.<\/strong><\/p>\nThis part of the continuous improvement mindset helps protect us from bumping up against an improvement ceiling. If we only fix what is broken, we will only be as good as when we started. Conversely, if we put problems into perspective, we can solve them by providing a solution that advances our objectives.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Are you applying a problem-focused approach when maintaining and supporting your core systems? Harnessing a business objective mindset ensures your team understands what the business strives to achieve, rather than attempting to solve riddles and pain points.<\/strong> By defining achievable objectives, challenging and trusting your team, and maintaining a continuous improvement mindset, you will have a higher chance of escaping the problem-focused room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Developing a business objective mindset keeps your team abreast of what you want to accomplish, rather than trying to solve the issue after the fact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":28221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3759],"coauthors":[15621],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-07-16 07:18:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28220"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=28220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}