7/09/2010 |
(en una verdadera perspectiva global)
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No one wants to go to the moon anymore... and America has already been discovered!
At
the beginning of the Third Millennium something incredible is happening!
Against
a terrific explosion of new worlds in most organizations there is a dramatic
feeling of the end of History!
Why
does it happen?
The
answer lies in a new way of looking at “systems”, which is totally different
from the system science born and practiced in the USA.
This
new theory reveals that any complex system has an evolution which is the
“sum” of two processes.
The
first one is the birth process: the
components of the future system (which are, in their turn, complex systems)
start talking to each other.
This
conversation is inspired by the environment but takes place among the components
of the future system only.
At
the beginning of the process the conversation is open: new talkers are accepted.
As
the conversation becomes, in its turn, complex, new talkers find more and more
trouble in being accepted.
At
the end of the birth process (which is, let’s repeat, a conversation process)
the system has been established. This means that components (the talkers) of the
system recognize the system as the only reality available to them. The system
acquires definite borders.
In
scientific terms the birth process is an auto-poietic
process.
Once
borders have been established the second process starts. This is the
death process.
Its
dynamics is very simple. Conversation among same old talkers about same old
themes (the system itself which cannot change due to the fact that borders have
been established once and for all), on one hand becomes boring.
On
the other hand conversation changes into conflict. In other words: instead of
being a process of creation, conversation becomes a process of negotiation
through which components of the system try to conquer the entire system.
Clearly
the system, little by little, looses its meaning and, as a result, it looses its
capacity of exchanging resources with the environment. So the system dies.
In
scientific terms the death process is an auto-referential
process.
By
observing what is happening today with lenses of complex systems, it becomes
clear why, in front of an explosion of opportunities, established systems (successful
organizations and men) are firmly convinced that History has almost finished.
Or
it will be finished in a very short time.
Let’s
try to give an example: a successful enterprise.
Chief executives and entrepreneurs seem to believe in Fate...
Your
problem is that your enterprise is reducing its capacity of producing value.
What
are the causes of this depressing problem?
There
are two alternatives.
The
first one is that the reduced capacity of producing value is caused by...Fate!
Well,
no one talks explicitly in terms of Fate.
Experts
discuss about two main macro-phenomena, deregulation and globalization, which
make competition fiercer and fiercer.
The
increasing level of the competitive battle forces the enterprise to invest more
and more resources to increase its competitiveness.
Unfortunately,
other competitors do the same. And, due to the fact that resources available to
main competitors are almost similar, no competitor can hope to acquire a
sustainable competitive advantage.
The
final result is that deregulation and globalization force enterprises into a
vicious circle, at the end of which there is the total loss of capacity of
producing value.
But,
what does Fate matter?
Well,
Fate is very similar to deregulation and globalization.
A
chief executive or an entrepreneur cannot in any way eliminate deregulation and
globalization.
They
can manage deregulation and globalization as ancient Greeks used to manage Fate:
just praying.
The
second alternative is more interesting.
Actually
deregulation and globalization can be seen as macro-phenomena which increase
opportunities for changing the old “system of offer” of an enterprise.
If
an enterprise accepts the challenge to change its past, deregulation and
globalization do not generate any rise in competition, but they represent a huge
opportunity to eliminate competition.
Let’s
put things in another way. The rise of competition follows deregulation and
globalization only if the system of offer of an enterprise does not change over
time.
It
is evident why the second alternative is better that the first one.
In
the second alternative the problem is not in the environment: the problem is
hidden into the culture of the enterprise.
That
means that the problem of the decreasing capacity to produce value is a solvable
one.
As
any one can see, the two alternatives correspond to the two perspectives of
auto-poiesis and autoreferentiality.
Unfortunately
enterprises are deeply involved in the culture and practice of
auto-referentiality.
Let’s
describe the process through which enterprises leave the entrepreneurial spirit
(which corresponds to auto-poiesis of the system) and fall into the competition
corresponding to the auto-referentiality of the system.
The value life cycle …
The
value life cycle process proceeds through five stages.
The
first stage is entrepreneurial creation
This
is the creation stage in which entrepreneur, by means of a technology,
dialoguing with society (with men, not only with customers) creates a new
economic exchange.
That
is: a new system of offer to serve new needs emerging from a new desirable image
of what society will become following the entrepreneurial dream.
In
this stage the competitive pressure is almost nil.
The
second stage is quality competition
Once
a new economic exchange has been successfully established, the arena is open to
imitators which try to acquire part of the value generated by this new economic
exchange.
The
“primary entrepreneur” has two alternatives. The first one is to get back to
innovation. But this is the most difficult strategy to pursue.
The
most natural way of behaving is to accept the challenge arising from imitators.
The
weapon used by the primary entrepreneur is quality...
Let’s
say it in other words. Coming back to innovation it seems to be the most
difficult way. But, actually, it is the most promising one.
Accepting
the challenge of imitators appears to be the most natural and, in some ways, the
most gratifying strategy.
But
we have to say aloud that this is the way which leads to appearance of
competition.
In
another way again, in a provocative, but real way: it is the acceptance of
quality competition which makes quality competition real.
As
every kind of competition, quality competition generates a lot of losers, but no
winners.
The
losers are expelled from the market and the survivors discover that they have
the same level of quality as competitors have.
So,
in order to compete they have to look for some other competitive weapons.
The
third stage is efficiency competition
The
third part of the story is structurally the same as the second one.
That
is: a dramatic effort to reach a higher level of efficiency than level of
efficiency of competitors.
Not
only the process is the same but also the results: losers, but no winners. Just
survivors who have the same level of quality and efficiency (often a very high
level of both) and who have to look for another competitive weapon.
The
fourth stage is representation competition
We
are quite near to the end of the story.
After
quality and efficiency the only competitive weapon available is ...to tell a
story. That is to enrich the offer of the enterprise through an identity
prothesis. Through a communication effort which tries to differentiate the
offer with a suggestive but short living image which has nothing to do with the
offer.
Communication
is a strange competitive weapon. Its power of differentiation is not in the
hands of the enterprise, but it is delegated to so-called “creatives” who,
too often, go around in the sky of paranoia. Very far away from the concrete
offer. Something like a very expensive children's game. An increasingly
expensive game. Up to destroying the residual capacity of producing value of the
enterprise.
The
fifth stage is surviving competition
The
lost winners… Yes, competitors, who have been trying all the value life cycle
long to acquire a sustainable competitive advantage, discover that instead of
becoming winner they are losers.
The
lost winners who are at the mercy of
external events...
What
a strange end for the story.
Entrepreneur
who started creating the world ends at the completely mercy of the world he has
created.
The
two alternatives we presented at the beginning of our presentation of the value
life cycle actually are logical opposite, but temporary consequential.
The
first one represents the relationship between entrepreneur and the world at the
end of the value life cycle.
The value life cycle... and beyond
Beyond
the value life cycle there is hope. We have a new dream: how to become younger.
Being
more concrete beyond the life cycle there are:
·
an entirely new methodology to forecast the capacity of producing value of an
enterprise. The novelty lies in the fact that through the value life cycle it is
possible to forecast future cash flow taking into account the stage of
competition an enterprise is involved in.
·
the first methodology ever
developed to support an entrepreneur or a managerial team to redesign the
identity of an enterprise not to compete; but to eliminate competition. In other
words: the first methodology to rebuild (instead of defending) the capacity of
producing value of an enterprise.
·
a set of methodologies to build development in organizations different
from an industrial enterprise. Let’s say: service organizations, no profit
organizations, government agencies etc.
The
common name of all our methodologies is development..
A
development realized through an effort to redesign the identity of an
organization.
That
is, through an effort to become younger.
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