The T20 Cricket World Cup earlier this year threw open conversation topics that are similar to those echoing in the boardrooms of enterprises. The context may differ, but the relevance is apt in these disruptive times.
Prior to the last two games that the West Indies played, the likes of Virat Kohli and Joe Root had pushed the importance of elegance and technique back to the forefront of the contemporary cricketing skills debate. And, then, the West Indies power-hitting juggernaut first muscled favourites India out of semis, and hit out of the park the claims of the still-classically-oriented English team to lift the cup.
England and India are known to work with set plans in pre-match strategy and tactical game plans during the match. In the very first match of the tournament, New Zealand tactically outplayed India - playing a surprisingly spinners heavy squad. That one game in some ways symbolised the way the game has changed. In cricket and in enterprises.
In the 1992 World Cup, the 15-over field restrictions were introduced in one-dayers. While the world watched in amusement, Kiwi Mark Greatbatch pinch-hit as opener and Martin Crowe became their orthodox run machine. Over the next four years, Australia, India and Sri Lanka templatised the pinch-hitting strategy.
The '90s were also the times when enterprises went big on what was referred to as Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). Enterprises mapped their 'as-is' strategy and operations and turned them into long-term 'to-be' models. Then, they worked through the whole restructuring exercise with a very top-down approach, leading up to notorious downsizing. The mid-'90s were also the time when workflow-driven and technology-backed BPM (Business Process Management) kicked in.
Enterprises created best practices and blueprint business process models that became the foundation for efficient, scalable organisations. Most of the enterprises since then have been built on the approach of long-term strategy and business process models. This approach also led to multi-year transformational programmes around business processes and operations, and coincided with the wave of outsourcing and offshoring and corresponding technology advancements. Strategies followed templates and playbooks, and hence the BPM-based "What you model is what you execute" approach became prevalent. But then, the IPL disrupted the way cricket was played, analysed and viewed. In this year's T20 World Cup the disruption seems complete. Digital has disrupted the business world.
Digital is a reminder to enterprises that following a blue print and a set model can only take them so far. Today, businesses born in the digital world are giving the large enterprises a run for their money. Efficiency-driven approaches have to find a balance with innovation. These realisations have made way into how technology is shaping up to support the changing business demands.
Successful T20 teams do two things. They create discipline and habits that drive their organic approach, and they inculcate innovation, empower match winners and allow flexibility. Your enterprise has to thrive in digital world the same way. You need to model the efficiency in areas where you need them. At the same time, your processes need to have leeway and flexibility - to leverage innovation, to empower knowledge workers, to become more outcome-driven as against process-constrained.
Ashok Kapoor
VP, marketing, Newgen Software
VP, marketing, Newgen Software
