One thing a machine does is repeat. It does the same task again and again. That’s good. It’s better than doing it yourself.
One thing a Value Capture Machine must do is repeat the task again and again, looking for ways to improve how the task was done.
This is your job, as the creator and operator of the machine. To make sure that your business doesn’t stay still, doesn’t accept what it is doing as “ok”.
You should be looking for ways that your business can either create more value for its customers and capture more of that value, or create value for more customers and capture that value before each repetition.
There are three stages to this:
- assess how well the last cycle went
- find ways to improve on that job
- then repeat the task with any slight improvements you have made.
And then…
- assess how well that cycle went with the new improvements
- find new ways to improve on that
- then repeat the task with any extra improvements made.
And then,..?
You get the point. This is us tinkering with the machine. This is how we understand that our value capture machine is something that lives and improves and becomes better all the time.
Whether the goal of the machine is to improve the lives of as many customers as much as possible, or whether it is to make as much money as possible, the steps are the same.
It is why the Value Capture Machine stresses the importance of Standard Operating Procedures over a detailed business plan, and why we want to help you create a business plan as quickly as possible, using our questionnaire. A great SOP will never be perfect. It can always be changed to improve the business. Even if it is perfect, that perfection won’t last, as the world around it changes.
Detailed SOPs are there to be followed AND to be changed. If you write down (or photograph) your procedures, you can change them. If you don’t, you will have to go inside everyone’s brain and find the synapse that has memorised the procedure, and change that.
Which do you think will get done?
Understanding that the machine operator (you) will need to assess and improve on SOPs is so much more important than building an overly detailed plan that is out of date while the ink is still wet.
It’s a key to understanding why we’re building a machine.
It’s key to knowing how to devise a real-world plan that can be executed in the real world.