A corporation is like a sponge in the sea of commercial energy which surges around it. Taking in goods and services, it makes a unique conversion, and then sends out something of value to others. Like the biosphere, the output of one part becomes the input of the next.
The memory of this activity is represented by the countless records of every transaction, internal and external, created by the conversion process. To become fully in tune with what’s going on, the organization needs to somehow be mindful of all the data flowing through it, and find a way of metabolizing it. By doing so, the company mediates its functions and remains in harmony both internally with its own constituent parts, and externally with the wider commercial world.
The balancing process, like the sea, is fraught with danger, however. The chaotic energy of the world, like fluctuating markets forces, pull and push against the innate self-organizing ability of the enterprise, and if we can’t react quickly enough, our business becomes inflexible. This eventually results in points of starvation and blockage in the company’s throughput and ultimately to a decline in the commercial health of the enterprise.
The information we need to stay subtle is all there in the transaction dynamics, but interpreting such a rich stream in time to take the right action it is not an easy task, and without the correct analytical tools, most companies struggle. Viewed in isolation the numbers are useless fragments like individual pixels in a giant TV screen. But composed into a grand mosaic, they form a meaningful picture of the corporate metabolism, and once the movie is synchronized, decisions can be taken in the best interest of the company with very low risk of failure.
Learn to read the pulse of the organization and you will benefit from a new source of profit generating energy and risk deflection.
James O’Sullivan
Ireland
