One of the most powerful aspects of implementing systems in your business is the ability to bring about continuous improvement. There’s a saying that “what can measured, can be improved” which highlights one of the key benefits of systems.
When you implement a process – for instance, by preparing a cashmap, which documents the process from start to finish – you are NOT setting anything in stone. On the contrary, you are merely documenting the best currently known way of producing a given result.
While it might be nice to assume that you’ve discovered the “be all, and end all” of systems for that particular process, such thinking would be misguided. That system should actually be regarded as a “control” against which you will test a succession of alternative ways of accomplishing the same or better result. Once you have found a better way to do something – or a way that yields a better result – that should replace the existing system.
For instance, you may think you have discovered the best procedure for making white bread. But what if a new bread making machine is available that you can purchase cost-effectively and use to make more bread in half the time? Assuming that you run a bakery, that machine – which is part of your system for making bread – may well improve the productivity and profitability of your enterprise.
But what if, to take another example, no one wants white bread anymore? What if all your customers want wholegrain bread instead? In that case, you may need a different system – maybe a new recipe in conjunction with the same or new bread making machine and oven – for producing what could also be called a better result.
To ensure that you vigorously improve each system in – and therefore each aspect of – your business, you will, in effect, need a system for continuous improvement. Such a system will encompass all the systems in your business. By implementing – and improving – that system, you will facilitate the ongoing improvement and growth of your business. How can it not… when you are continually striving to improve things? Whether it’s how you make your products, deliver your services, conduct your marketing, employ staff, or ANY aspect of your business – all such systems can, and should, be improved.
In summary, systems facilitate – not block – continuous improvement. By understanding and documenting your business through, for example, using a cashmap, you can test, measure and improve upon the systems in your business. Once a system is documented, you can identify and apply a set of metrics to monitor progress at particular time intervals, as well as apply various analytical techniques to evaluate system performance from a number of different angles. By applying this discipline to your business, you will see your business grow and improve day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
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