Back in the mid to late 80’s, the word “excellence” was on the lips of every manager and leader in the country. We were searching for it, wanting it and figuring out how to get more of it. With Tom Peters and Robert Waterman’s book, In Search of Excellence, selling three million copies in first four years, every one in management and leadership positions was eager to understand the art and the science of creating more excellence.
In the early 90’s, excellence started to fade as the word “effectiveness” started to rise in the lexicon of management and leadership. Driven by the arrival of the late Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, leaders became focused on being effective and shortly there after more efficient.
What interests me today is that more and more people are now starting to talk about operational excellence. There is a significant amount of interest in creating a company culture which delivers the right thing to the right people at the right time. If this can be done in an efficient manner too, then they are a very happy group of leaders.
The challenge is that when asked what is the definition of operational excellence, many leaders struggle. Having lived through the initial wave of excellence, I explain to those interested that operational excellence is, at its core, a workplace philosophy where problem solving, teamwork and leadership result in on-going improvements within the company. In particular, it is built around meeting the ever changing needs of the customer. The keys to success within operational excellence, from my vantage point, is that the company has defined its own unique way of problem solving, working as a team, and planning for the future.
This week, start talking about operational excellence and what it means to you. The conversation has the potential to be very interesting and educational for all involved.
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