(Business As Usual Continued from Page 1)
Key Point #1 : The best practices of today were breakthroughs in the past, and will become business as usual in the future.
EXAMPLE: In 1904, growing rice in Arkansas was a breakthrough. It became a best practice 20 years later, and today it is business as usual, bringing in over $800 million to Arkansas farmers.
 "At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable."
Christopher Reeves
Key Point #2 : When everyone has embraced a Best Practice, it ceases to be a competitive advantage.
EXAMPLE: When W. Edwards Deming developed continuous improvement, it was a breakthrough. Our manufacturers passed on it, Japan embraced it, and we have been playing catch-up ever since. It has now become best practice in manufacturing sector. However, continuous improvement takes place within a current paradigm – a box. It takes innovation and breakthroughs to get out of the box and create new competitive advantages.
Key Point #3 : Most people “know” that Best Practices are as good as it gets.
EXAMPLE: Everyone knew that flight with heavier-than-air vehicles was impossible. However, if Wilbur and Orville Wright had stayed with Best Practices, they would have had one of the most efficient bicycle shops in the country, and you would be taking the train to visit Aunt Martha in San Francisco .
EXAMPLE: All the experts – even scientists – “knew” that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. (Science studies what is, and it had never been done before). On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4 minutes, blowing away the experts and changing the world of running.
Key Point #4 : We need Breakthroughs to move forward.
EXAMPLE: When George Washington became ill, his doctor practiced a Best Practice – bloodletting. Up through the 19 th century, causing patients to bleed to “cure” them was considered a Best Practice. George Washington was treated with this Best Practice, which contributed to his death. Learning that bloodletting was part of the problem was a Breakthrough.
EXAMPLE: If Tim Stephenson from Greenbrier had adhered to Best Practices, there would be no EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Program, and thousands of high school students in the nation would not be hooked on technology (but probably something else).
Key Point #5 : It often takes little more effort to create Breakthroughs than it does to preserve Business as Usual or employ Best Practices.
EXAMPLE: When Robert C. Coizueta became CEO of Coca Cola in 1981, he increased Coke's market share significantly by asking his executive team three questions: what is our market share, how much liquid does an average person drink in a day, and what percentage of those liquids do we sell to them?
EXAMPLE: The Breakthrough Solutions Program presents 10 approaches to creating breakthroughs for communities, organizations, businesses, and regions. Learning to create breakthroughs can make a huge difference in your community and economic development efforts.
"It's always fun to do the impossible because there is less competition. "
InnovationCenter.org
Strategic Questions:
- In your community, organization, or region, are you seeking to:
- preserve business as usual (which takes real effort and is often unsuccessful),
- employ best practices, or
- create breakthrough solutions?
- Which do you think has the brightest future – the community, organization, or region that tries to preserve the status quo, the one that employs Best Practices, or the one that nurtures innovation, Breakthroughs, and entrepreneurship?
- Are you frustrated with what is happening in your community, business, or region? Perhaps you need a breakthrough.
You may learn more about the VisionWorks Breakthrough Solutions Program by going to www.vworks.org . To receive VisionWorks News, an electronic newsletter that shares insights, resources, and tools that equip community and regional leaders to create breakthroughs, to think and act strategically, and to prosper in the global, knowledge-based economy, send an e-mail requesting to be on the VisionWorks News list to mpeterson@uaex.edu.
|
