Thank you, Ian. A fascinating read. I remember reading that businesses were like most organisms and ecosystems, in that you need enough innovation and evolution to thrive, but not so little that you are vulnerable to change around you, or you die off. Equally, too much change too fast means the system becomes unstable in unintended ways. More chaos!
Pivoting tons of resource to a change was certainly easier in Covid, especially where the day job largely disappeared. I think Grocery retailers impressed me most as they stayed open but still found a way to grow online capacity massively in days and weeks whilst serving customers in more challenging store environments, and managing more sick leave plus the 2m rule throughout the supply chain.
Company culture and change capability is key here. Smaller companies and start-up types generally pivot more quickly and more effectively. You might argue that keeping that start-up culture is one of the central reasons for Amazon’s incredible success, despite its size.
This also reminded me of a few examples from my career:
1. Sir Peter Davis (CEO of J Sainsbury) taking the 7-year network plan from the Supply Chain & Logistics team and challenging the timeline and deliverables. ‘7 in 3’ was born! Unfortunately, two of the 700,000 square foot automated warehouses didn’t work properly, and it had to be unwound manually. That hit availability, hitting sales and losing JS market share and customers.
2. When I started at Odeon Cinemas in a European role, I met the CEO (Paul Donovan) and said, ‘As an outsider, what are the watchouts for me making changes in 7 countries?’. He said, ‘Tread carefully, or you’ll create chaos out there.’ That told me that executional muscle and capability needed evaluating in each market before I pressed go on initiatives to sell more F&B.
3. Collaborating with a client on post-merger integration. They wanted it to take 3 years, and I persuaded them to do the bulk of it in 6 months, with a longer time to complete the IT integration. 3 years would have been death by a thousand cuts and stopped us getting to the synergies fast enough to materially improve EBITDA.
Thank you, Ian. A fascinating read. I remember reading that businesses were like most organisms and ecosystems, in that you need enough innovation and evolution to thrive, but not so little that you are vulnerable to change around you, or you die off. Equally, too much change too fast means the system becomes unstable in unintended ways. More chaos!
Pivoting tons of resource to a change was certainly easier in Covid, especially where the day job largely disappeared. I think Grocery retailers impressed me most as they stayed open but still found a way to grow online capacity massively in days and weeks whilst serving customers in more challenging store environments, and managing more sick leave plus the 2m rule throughout the supply chain.
Company culture and change capability is key here. Smaller companies and start-up types generally pivot more quickly and more effectively. You might argue that keeping that start-up culture is one of the central reasons for Amazon’s incredible success, despite its size.
This also reminded me of a few examples from my career:
1. Sir Peter Davis (CEO of J Sainsbury) taking the 7-year network plan from the Supply Chain & Logistics team and challenging the timeline and deliverables. ‘7 in 3’ was born! Unfortunately, two of the 700,000 square foot automated warehouses didn’t work properly, and it had to be unwound manually. That hit availability, hitting sales and losing JS market share and customers.
2. When I started at Odeon Cinemas in a European role, I met the CEO (Paul Donovan) and said, ‘As an outsider, what are the watchouts for me making changes in 7 countries?’. He said, ‘Tread carefully, or you’ll create chaos out there.’ That told me that executional muscle and capability needed evaluating in each market before I pressed go on initiatives to sell more F&B.
3. Collaborating with a client on post-merger integration. They wanted it to take 3 years, and I persuaded them to do the bulk of it in 6 months, with a longer time to complete the IT integration. 3 years would have been death by a thousand cuts and stopped us getting to the synergies fast enough to materially improve EBITDA.
Thanks Brian - great examples, at least one of which I remember well!