Efficiency as a Mantra

A comment caught my eye, posted by Pablo Edronkin, in response to our discussion about Goals. I often run into attitudes of impatience in the design part of management. Pablo captures it well in his comment on Efficiency.

“This lack of quantification is the basis of many of the problems that we see today in the world’s economy. Nobody flies a plane without calculating the fuel needed to get to the intended destination, it would be suicidal to jump in and just fly; and the same applies to any activity in which important things might be at stake. Efficiency as a mantra for profit is just a belief, instead of a measurable goal, and money and beliefs do not tend to mix well.”

The problem with analogies, like flying airplanes without fuel, is the correct answer makes so much sense. This sense in the world can be elusive in the daily chaos of management. So, how do you see the world, so it makes sense, for your decisions?

2 thoughts on “Efficiency as a Mantra

  1. Jim D'Wolf

    How true! To further muddy the waters, I have found that people who study the numbers and people who manage the people will not always share a common language or common goals.Both perspectives are equally important in managing an operation, but getting them on the same page is a challenge. It helps to define effecient as the use of resources in being effective and to define effective as the degree to which you meet or exceed the customer’s needs or requirements (George Eckes)
    If you don’t know where you are going or how you will get there, then how will you know when you arrive?

    Reply
  2. Jack Wilson

    As long as you are focused on the day to day operations this issue will remain. The mindset is set. But if you let the top management to provide the leadership, the issue will be minimized. By focusing on the organization’s purpose and vision, we can see the need to balance these two issues.

    The other problem of focusing on efficiency too much, is that we do not become flexible and adaptable. The marketplace is rapidly changing. Efficient organizations are not very adaptable because they focus on stability and predictability. Rapid change is very unstable and undpredictable.

    The organization of the future will tolerate less efficiency so they can be more flexible and adaptable.

    Reply

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