On the Line: The quest for creativity, and escaping the ‘do more with less’ prison

The CFO looked my client in the eye and said, "You've got to cut expenses. Find me some savings. We need to trim your budget by 7% next year." The IT director replied, "You don't understand what we face. We're running all the time, we're putting out fires, we can't abandon our users. And the new systems we just installed, the ones that were supposed to save us money, take more support than the old stuff."Well, I guess you get the drift. It went on like that for a couple of hours. Deadlock.And that deadlock is found in many, many organizations across the country.As we were walking down the hallway afterwards, the IT director said it all reminded him of Jerry Maguire. That's the movie famous for the line shouted at the sports agent by the money-focused athlete, "SHOW ME THE MONEY."Not so well remembered is another line: "Help me help you." If you haven't seen it, the upshot is that the agent circulates a plea within the firm for better service, fewer clients, and less focus on the bottom line. And this gets him fired and then - well, get the DVD and see it for yourself.But can't we get the "better service" part without getting fired?The "more for less" clichéWe're under enormous pressure, all the time, to provide "more for less." Partly because of this pressure, we get imprisoned by the fast pace of the work: rushing through basic routines, coping with emergencies - no time to plan for change. And rarely taking the time to see the big picture.The end result is service degradation: "less for less."What about the option "more for more" - a modest investment, well targeted, that could produce big improvements? It would mean going beyond the routine.Here is where the "help me help you" part comes in. Creative changes in IT-telecom service need input from the communities we relate to, including: senior execs, colleagues in other departments, staff, internal end-users, external customers.Getting their wisdom involves some well-prepared and innovative meetings, workshops, conference calls.In search of creativityBut these kinds of discussions provide information, not solutions. So in the end, it all comes back to us, to our capacity for being creative. And that means escaping the daily grind enough to sit back, contemplate, and come up with something entirely new.There may be no logical answer, at least, not in the old framework.As lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono wrote, "You can't dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper."We need help wherever we can get it, and it may come from the suppliers. They come armed with an arsenal of new ways of doing things. How many are willing to turn off the sales pitch and spend the time it takes to really learn about the situation? It's worth it to challenge them.Another option: look at what organizations in other industries are doing. Far too often, people look at their competitors for ideas. And they just end up copying the changes they made instead of inventing entirely new solutions.NegotiatingOf course, when CFOs tell you to cut costs by X%, they hope you will say, "OK" and just do it. But in fact, you never do that. Instead, you negotiate, looking for a way to give a part of what they want while going after at least part of your own goals. And this kind of negotiation, if done well, can also open doors.So you need to know the rules of effective negotiation, like quantifying the importance of the outcome versus the importance of the relationship.A negotiating partnership leads to a search for new solutions - in short, to creativity.Technology interfaceA key element in implementing true change is knowing how everyone involved relates to new technology. Where do the key decision-makers think the organization sits on the technology adoption curve? How open are they to investing in new applications? How does their direct personal experience affect their judgment? Do these decision-makers all have the same perspective? How wide is the spread? If some stand closer to your views than others, you need to know this.In other words, technological creativity involves leadership skills. As Tom Paine (a father of the American Revolution) said long ago, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." And that brings us back to Jerry Maguire.If you are a true leader, you will inspire others; you will define the culture. And you will have a good chance of keeping your job, of getting out of the ‘more for less' prison, and of finding creative ways to make improvements without breaking the CFO's heart."On the Line" is written by Henry Dortmans, president of Angus Dortmans Associates. Henry welcomes comments and suggestions (names are withheld and specifics disguised to protect the innocent...and the guilty). Send an email to henry@angusdortmans.ca or call him at (416) 849-2896. For information on consulting services, seminars, and speeches, visit http://www.angusdortmans.ca/.

On the Line: The quest for creativity, and escaping the ‘do more with less’ prison

News | May 7, 2007

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