Looking for hundreds of small things with Uncle Sam

During World War II the American government faced an unprecedented challenge: the need to increase industrial output while its workforce was depleted by troops away fighting in Europe.

To overcome the problem, the government published a guide to improving efficiency for its employees and departments. Some sentences caught my eye:

“Look for hundreds of small things you can improve. There isn’t time for major items. Look for improvements on existing jobs with present equipment.”

Sound familiar? Do you need to make changes to your business: to maintain momentum, manage through the downturn, or exploit new opportunities? How can you accomplish these goals when resources such as your workforce, sales revenues and operational cashflow are under pressure?

As the Dow hovers below 7,000 points, once-steadfast blue-chip shares trade below a dollar and every economist’s crystal ball has gone suddenly cloudy, this is not the time to throw away what you have and buy new.

Instead, any change should be incremental and designed to protect and maximize every valuable asset within your business: people, knowledge, technology infrastructure, software and successful processes.

This philosophy - to do things faster with fewer resources at lower risk - is at the heart of what Corizon does. We help businesses deliver faster, more cost effectively through an approach of incremental change: review existing processes; adapt existing applications (even eliminate redundant applications); drive user efficiency, through a succession of short, low risk projects - and by extension protect and increase revenues, profitability and customer satisfaction.

Today’s businesses and government departments would do well to leaf through some old government handbooks. There’s a lot to be learned from history.

Labels: IT strategy, mashup, recession