Companies Can Bend the Laws of the Science Can Businesses Bend the Laws of the Universe? A Company’s Guide to Doing Less and Getting More
Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
We’ve all heard this phrase. We may not know it’s the First Law of Thermodynamics, but deep down, we know it’s true. Just like gravity.
This law makes a lot of sense, but it’s not much fun. If you have four marshmallows in front of you, a fifth one won’t suddenly appear. That would be magic, and magic isn’t real.
The First Law of Thermodynamics is why your house won’t clean itself. You’ll have to work a mop if you want squeaky clean floors. And it’s also why you won’t lose five pounds without shaping up your exercise and eating habits. (I told you it wasn’t a fun law.)
But what if there was a way to create something out of nothing? Sounds impossible, right?
Think of it as working smarter, not harder.
As the Crow Flies
Let’s pretend your favorite coffee shop is walking distance from your house. If you follow the streets to the letter, it will take you 1.5 miles to get there. But what if you knew of a better path? Perhaps a straight line that cuts right through your favorite park? If you choose this route, it will take you less than a mile to get there.
Both options yield the same result. Either way you still reach the coffee shop. But option two gets you there faster, and with less effort.
The same idea applies to companies.
Businesses can achieve better and faster results with less effort and aggravation. How? First, they must define their goal — their own version of the coffee shop. Then they need to create a plan to get there in the fastest way possible.
They need speed and direction. They need velocity.
Do More with Less
A plane — or even a company — will expend massive amounts of time and energy moving in a zig-zag pattern as opposed to a straight line. We can all picture a plane zig-zagging, but it’s harder to see in business.
Consider a company that’s trying to launch a massive, cross-functional project. Every department is consulted every step of the way. Twenty-person meetings devolve into arguments about how to move forward. Teams are uncertain about who should take the lead, and when. Eventually, the project stalls and disintegrates.
But what if the project started in the right way — using the EDBA process? With Visionaries deciding the “where and why,” and Designers dictating the “what and when?” Then Builders figure out the “how” and Activators determine the “who.” When every team knows their role, the dominos fall into place. No more zig-zags. The project travels in a straight line.
In some ways, this company would be breaking the laws of physics — getting more out of less. But by using their resources wisely, companies can produce bigger profits and greater productivity.
Like a plane traveling on course, or cutting through a park to reach your favorite coffee shop, cross-functional projects can be accomplished faster when fewer people work fewer hours. Sometimes four marshmallows can become five. And companies doing less and getting more almost feels like magic.
Velocity is all about capitalizing on speed and direction. It’s getting the right people involved at the right time. To learn more about how the EDBA process can help you accomplish more by doing less, contact us to see what The Velocity Advantage can do for you.
