I Drove a Cactus Into a House in Marseille, France
You keep buying the fastest tool on the market and wondering why nothing changed. The problem is not the vehicle. The problem is your streets were designed a thousand years ago for donkeys. Here is what to do about it.
The highest performing organizations optimize the entire value stream, not just individual workstations.
Optimize the system, not the components.
Investment in point solutions yields diminishing returns when systemic constraints persist within the value delivery pipeline. The fastest vehicle cannot overcome impassable roads.
Workflow analysis must distinguish between value-adding work and inherent wait times. The majority of cycle time in complex systems is often waiting, not processing.
Organizational gates, approvals, and handoffs must be evaluated for their current efficacy and necessity. Many process steps represent scar tissue from past incidents rather than active risk mitigation.
True business outcomes — revenue, margin, cost reduction, customer retention — must be the primary metrics for technology investment, not internal efficiency proxies. Measurement must align with enterprise-level objectives.
The first question for any technology initiative: what business outcome does this investment enable, and what systemic constraint does it alleviate?
The highest performing organizations optimize the entire value stream, not just individual workstations.
Optimize the system, not the components.
Investment in point solutions yields diminishing returns when systemic constraints persist within the value delivery pipeline. The fastest vehicle cannot overcome impassable roads.
Workflow analysis must distinguish between value-adding work and inherent wait times. The majority of cycle time in complex systems is often waiting, not processing.
Organizational gates, approvals, and handoffs must be evaluated for their current efficacy and necessity. Many process steps represent scar tissue from past incidents rather than active risk mitigation.
True business outcomes — revenue, margin, cost reduction, customer retention — must be the primary metrics for technology investment, not internal efficiency proxies. Measurement must align with enterprise-level objectives.
The first question for any technology initiative: what business outcome does this investment enable, and what systemic constraint does it alleviate?
After 20 years in software development, Norman is both a hands-on leader and defining the new age of AI SDLC for some of the biggest brands in the world — and exploring it with the builders. He writes here about things he is hearing and seeing. All posts are his personal points of view and do not reflect any employer or any customer he has ever had contact with.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the positions of any employer, client, or affiliated organization.
