How are you like a Utility Company?
I know Research Engineers who invented several interesting contraptions for energy use and distribution. But they couldn’t get any Utility Companies excited about these fabulous ideas.
What gives?
“You see, when someone shows us a change that might be helpful, that’s just not sufficient to expose ourselves to the risk of change.
A computer server that is 99 percent reliable, means that our customers will suffer without refrigeration, heat, electricity, or air conditioning for 3.65 days each year. And who knows which days?
A distributor that is 99.99 percent reliable means that someone’s repirator will go out 8.79 hours sometime each year. We just don’t take risks like this.”
You would have better results selling new technology to Utility Companies in areas outside their Critical Path. New technologies to read meters, bill customers, locate downed lines would all be welcome. Just don’t get disappointed when your fabulous invention in their critical path doesn’t get the reaction you’d hoped.
The Critical Path includes those responsibilities and tasks of the mission critical project/program necessary to complete the mission. In the case of a proposal team, the critical path is delivery of the proposal by deadline. Every step, process, task and person required for on-time delivery is part of the Critical Path.
O.K. So what does this have to do with me and my company?
What are your critical paths? Which areas of your work should be protected from people moving too fast, or too willing to change? Where should you be more flexible and welcoming of innovative approach and experimentation?
In a proposal team, databases, strategy capture processes, virtual management techniques, are all areas that can stand experimentation. Once you have a solid process in place, migrate it to the critical path.
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