Operators and Obstacles – Overview of Operations Lens (Series of 9, Part V)

Inquisitive minds burn with a consuming desire to discover and understand. In the process of business development, such impulses are quite helpful. Take business operations, for example, businesses must develop a thorough knowledge of their processes and optimize them over time to ensure success. The operations lens encompasses the planning, tactics, and logistics required to implement the company’s strategy. It’s the pragmatic side of strategy. Because it concerns the daily functions of a business, it acts as a conduit between the strategy lens and execution lens.

Every business has hundreds, or even thousands of processes that are used daily. This enormous volume of information presents a challenge. No single person can track all of it. Consequently, businesses frequently develop overlapping processes. Sometimes these overlaps are necessary redundancies, but other times they are wasteful. The point of 9Lenses is to utilize social discovery to find those processes that are useful and those that are frivolous. Systems are closely related to processes because the system frequently shapes how a process is developed. Infrastructure examines the key reports used by the business to make decisions. If the infrastructure is weak, then the company’s ability to perform will be compromised.

For left-brained, detail-oriented individuals, operations will come naturally. Other freer intuitive thinkers find this difficult. Regardless of your natural cerebral orientation, every element of the operations lens ensures that a business runs efficiently and effectively. Thus, building a well-documented operations lens grounded in concrete techniques helps drive and sustain productivity.