Business Engineering Revolution

Our world desperately needs a global and radical increase in economic growth. But it needs a healthy economic growth driven by a radical increase in corporate productivity – of businesses, government entities, non-profit organizations, etc.

This radical increase in corporate productivity will be made possible by a no less radical paradigm shift in corporate management – towards business engineering. New businesses will be engineered and built from scratch – much like a production factory (or a fighter aircraft). Which will ensure that these businesses will always have a lean structure, operate at maximum performance, generate the maximum amount of financial and aggregate value and make all its stakeholders truly happy.

Future startups will be created, engineered and build as partnerships between entrepreneur(s) – founder(s), business engineers (hired by the business or provided by management consulting companies, business incubators or accelerators) and – if necessary – venture investors. Which will radically increase startup survival rate and thus contribute significantly to the global economic growth.

Existing businesses will be reengineered and transformed into powerful money-making machines. Which will ensure that these businesses will always have a lean structure, operate at maximum performance, generate the maximum amount of financial and aggregate value and make all its stakeholders truly happy.

This paradigm shift will once again result in a tectonic shift of corporate power. Initially (in the industrial age), the corporate power was in the hands of engineers and inventors. Then, it gradually moved into the hands of financial managers. In the post-industrial age the corporate power is mostly in the hands of marketing people. But in the very near future it will be transferred again – this time into the hands of a new business elite – the business engineers.

Knowledge is power – and due to a truly comprehensive nature of their work, business engineers will know practically everything about their companies. They will engineer and build companies using radically new object-oriented tools and technologies which have already arrived.

And will subsequently run these companies – using a comprehensive corporate cockpit (a uniform interface into a comprehensive corporate knowledge base which will be engineered and built in parallel with the company proper). The Chief Business Engineer will be by far the most important position in any corporate structure. 

Aircraft Paradigm for Business Engineering

The fundamental assertion of business engineering is that a business entity (or any other organization, for that matter) can and must be engineered as a production factory. However, a business entity is more akin to an aircraft. More precisely, a fighter aircraft (as the marketplace is essentially a war zone).

Indeed, there are astounding similarities between an aircraft and a business entity. An aircraft is made of physical objects – engine, wings, landing gear, radar, etc. Business is made of corporate objects – products, brands, assets, etc. In order for an aircraft to operate at its maximum performance, each component must do the same and all components must fit together perfectly. For a business to operate at its maximum performance, each corporate object must do the same and all objects must fit together perfectly (in other words, exhibit a perfect synergy).

Aircraft components are involved in a number of physical processes. Likewise, corporate objects are involved in a number of corporate processes. For an aircraft to operate at its maximum performance, all of its physical processes must do the same. For an organization to operate at its maximum performance, all of its corporate processes must do the same.

Aircraft undertakes flights (or sorties - for a military one). A business undertakes corporate projects. An aircraft can not operate without satisfying the requirements of its stakeholders – airport officials, government regulators, fuel suppliers, etc. Likewise, business has to satisfy the needs and requirements of its stakeholders – suppliers, partners, government entities, etc.

Military aircraft has adversaries – enemy aircraft, AA guns, surface-to-air missiles, etc. Business has competitors that can be equally deadly.

Aircraft is flown by pilots, navigators and other crew members and serviced on the ground by technicians. Business is managed by executives, middle managers and supervisors and ‘serviced’ by professionals (specialists).

To maximize aircraft performance at all times, pilots and technicians must measure performance of each key aircraft component and process, of an aircraft as a whole and take corrective action – if necessary. To maximize corporate performance at all times, corporate managers and specialists must measure the performance of each key corporate object and process, their synergy (‘quality-of-fit’) of an organization as a whole and take corrective action – if necessary.

To measure the performance of aircraft components and processes, pilots use the corresponding performance indicators (PI). Likewise, to measure the performance of corporate objects, processes and their synergy, corporate managers and specialists use the corresponding key performance indicators (KPI).

In the aircraft, values of PI are visualized on a computer screen in a ‘glass cockpit’. In a business entity, KPI values are visualized on a computer screen (‘corporate cockpit’) in front of the manager or specialist responsible for the object or process in question. 

Now, you can fly a cutting-edge, top-of-the line, fifth-generation fighter – or a WW2 relic. You can fly fast and climb high – or barely stay airborne. Your aircraft can be in perfect condition – or a total mess.

You can have complete air superiority – or barely venture outside your airfield for the fear of enemy fighters. You can be armed with sophisticated air-to-air missiles and a high-performance Gatling gun – or with a vintage cannon. You can be a stealthy predator – or a sitting duck.

The choice is yours. And yours only.  

How to Build a Happy Company - Entrepreneur's Guide

Download: How to Build a Happy Company - Entrepreneur's Guide

Maximizing the Spiritual Value of Your Business

For your company to be truly happy, it must generate the maximum amount of not only financial, functional and emotional value, but of the spiritual value as well. In other words, it must satisfy spiritual needs of its stakeholders – owners, customers, suppliers, partners, employees, etc. – to the maximum possible extent. And definitely better than its competitors.

The most fundamental spiritual need of a human being is the need for Divine Grace. Human beings are imperfect; every human soul is filled with a combination of ‘sinful energies’ (greed, pride, wrath, etc.) and the Divine Grace. The more Divine Grace we have, the happier we are; the more sinful energies we have, the unhappier we are.

Therefore, all your products and services, decisions and actions must create the maximum possible amount of Divine Grace and avoid completely the eight deadly sins – pride, greed, sloth, gluttony, lust, wrath, envy and fear. And motivate your stakeholders to increase the amount of Divine Grace and decrease the amount of sinful energies in their souls.

One absolutely can not make it happen without God’s help and guidance. And the best place to get these, is, obviously, your church. Go there during ‘quiet time’ between services; turn off your cell phone; enter a prayerful and meditative state of mind, establishing a ‘communications channel’ with God; humbly ask in prayer for His guidance; receive this guidance (which may take some time); and then follow this guidance to maximize the amount of Divine Grace created by your decisions and actions, products and services and to avoid the eight deadly sins.

Making the Best Management Decisions

The best management decision is the one that creates the maximum amount of aggregate value – financial, functional and emotional. No human being is all-knowing, perfect, omnipotent or infallible; therefore, no human being (no matter how knowledgeable, skillful or experienced) can consistently make the best management decisions.

Only God is all-knowing, perfect, omnipotent or infallible; therefore, only God knows the best business management decision (strategic or operational) in each situation. Consequently, the only way to consistently come up with the best management decision is to ask God in prayer whenever you must make such decision. He will answer. He always does. He is on her side – He also wants you to make a decision that will create the maximum amount of aggregate value.

The best place to ask God for guidance in making a strategic business decision is, obviously, your church. Go there during ‘quiet time’ between services; turn off your cell phone; enter a prayerful and meditative state of mind, establishing a ‘communications channel’ with God; humbly ask in prayer for His guidance to the best decision in your circumstances; receive this guidance (which may take some time); make management decision based on this guidance and implement this decision in your company. 

To make the best everyday management decisions, you will need to do essentially the same thing in your workplace. As these decisions are not nearly as important as your strategic decisions, you will spend much less time on this procedure and you will God’s guidance much faster.

How to Properly Describe Your Business Idea (Infographics)

How to Properly Describe Your Business Idea

A proper description of your business idea is the foundation for your whole business and a starting point for building a happy company. Obviously, you must make sure that you are building your business on a solid rock, not on quicksand. Therefore, you must invest sufficient time and effort to develop a proper description of your business idea.

In this post, I will cover the initial description of your business idea that you will write for yourself. The one that you will do for lenders, investors, etc. will come later (when and if you need them) and will have to be longer, broader, deeper and more formal.

The former description is essentially a simplified vision (down the road you will develop a comprehensive one) of your future business. It should be no more than one page long (single space) and contain answers to the following key questions in reasonable detail (roughly in one short paragraph – 1-3 sentences - each):

1. What will be the scope of your business – local, state, nationwide, international?
2. What will be the ultimate size of your business – small, medium, large, very large?
3. Will it be online, offline or both?
4. What kind of product(s) and/or service(s) will you offer?
5. Who will be your target market?
6. What kind of need and/or want/desire will your business satisfy?
7. What are your key advantages over your competition and how stable these advantages are?
8. What are your key competencies and why are they sufficient to start and successfully grow this business?

When you complete the draft of your business idea description, it is a good idea to show it to an experienced and competent advisor who can provide a highly valuable (often vital) feedback. Dozens of resources for entrepreneurs (government and non-profit and even some commercial consulting companies) provide these services for free – both offline and online.