Optimization

Optimization is the process of getting more of what you want, faster.

You can maximize anything- any system, process, business, marketing, or relationship.  Typical online applications include SEO (search engine optimization), and pay per click optimization, but the process can be generalized for any purpose

The keys to successfully maximization  are:

1.       Identifying the goal

o   Goals predict achievement level.  You can’t get anywhere until you’re trying to get somewhere.  Aim too low and you underachieve.

o   Clarify goals. Sometimes goals aren’t clear enough to measure.  Keep asking “Why? To what end?  What’s the point?  What will that look like?”

o   Goals must fit. Your goals should fit with your mission, vision, and values.  Where you need to go is personal.  Don’t assume you need the same goals as every other company, or that every employee needs the same goals.

o   Goals require a team. Your entire organization needs to know the goals, the destination and why it’s important.  Otherwise everyone goes in different directions and no one goes anywhere.  Tell everyone what the goal is.

o   Goals come in different sizes.  This can be as general or granular as you want- but in a big organization, it’s likely each dept will have a main goal, possibly sub-goals, along with milestones.  Every team member needs goals as well.

o   Goals guide us.  They help everyone make course corrections.  If everyone knows where we’re headed, they all make smarter decisions, require less management, and the organization makes more progress faster and fewer mistakes.  Tell everyone to head toward the goal.

o   Goals are paramount.  Remember and focus on your goals.  You can change a goal later based on results or new information, but until then, go after the goal.

o   Goals can be changed by the rest of this process.  Some goals are “no matter what”- but other times, analyzing your resources and getting feedback from your efforts tell you your goal was wrong in the first place.  Get a better goal and start over.

2.       Establishing measurements

o   Measurements are clear.  Measurements should be quantified, even if the best you can do is a rating between one and ten.  Doctors use visual analogue pain scales (a picture where zero is no pain, ten is excruciating and the patient marks how strong on the scale they feel their pain is)- this arbitrary but quantified scale brings clarity to a high subjective area where showing progress can mean the difference between satisfaction and depression.

o   Measurements define achievement.  Your goal should be quantified in terms of the measurement.  E.g.  Goal: achieve 99.999% error-free manufacturing; or, Goal: achieve 500% return on ad spend in your online advertising campaign.

o   Measurements demonstrate progress.  Measurements are the only way to see progress and results- “not there yet” is a frustrating and insufficient progress report.  You can’t know if you’re getting closer to success without a goal and a measurement.

o   Measurements must fit the goal.  If a company has multiple goals, it needs at least one measurement for each goal.  If a company has unique goals, it needs a unique measurement.

o   The simplest example of a measurement is MPH- your goal is to get home, it’s 25 miles away, and if notice you’re driving 50 mph- that’s your measurement, and it  tells you you’ll reach it in a half an hour

o   Some situations require dashboards or profiles- when driving, you may also need a compass, fuel gauge, oil gauge, engine temperature, and tachometer.  Computerized cars now tell us how many miles we can drive until the gas tank is empty.  This is analogous to a company- the leadership is the compass (sets direction and decides if course corrections are needed), accounting tells you if you’re running out of fuel (money), management may tell you if you’re running too hot (overworking your employees), etc.

3.       Inventorying strengths and weaknesses

o   You’re not perfect. Your business has strengths and expertise as well as weaknesses and limits- an accounting firm might have limited creativity, so a goal that requires creative tactics would require new resources.  But the same accounting firm’s analytical talents might help evaluate and select the best creative talent.

o   Find Hidden Gems.  Undiscovered talents and resources are wasted. Until you know what you have, you can’t know how to best use it.

o   The Truth Will Set You Free.  Dishonesty about your limits leads to failure. The courage to face the truth is essential.  Mediocrity loves to delude itself.  Ego is a self-perpetuating vice and necessity.  Admission of the facts is the first step to freedom and power.

o   Talk About The Facts.  Teach people to communicate about the good and the bad.  Everyone should be able to give constructive feedback AND positive feedback to their coworkers, bosses, and employees.  Otherwise, you have some complete losers and some complete egotists. 

o   Eliminate Ego and Sensitivity.  If you don’t tolerate sensitivity and ego, you’ll have the freedom to argue constructively until you uncover problems and find solutions.  Walking on eggshells is inefficient – it creates expensive complexity and prevents the clarity that creates progress.

o   Leverage your strengths.  Doing what you’re best at gets you further faster.  Competitive advantages should be used to your advantage.

o   Your strengths can make up for your weaknesses.   In fact, overcoming or compensating for weaknesses with strengths can be an invigorating and transformative challenge, an opportunity to make the most of your strengths.

o   Your limits help create your strategy.  Without understanding of limits, you’ll be surprised by shortfalls, crippled by your sins, and sabotaged by your vices.

4.       Reconfiguring tactics and resources

o   Goals and Resources Suggest Tactics and Strategies.  Once you know where you want to go and what kind of vehicles you have to get there, you can define the routes and logistics.

o   Start with Your Best Guess.  Until you have results to measure, you have to guess what will be best to do.  Make your guesses better by researching keys to success in similar situations, companies with similar strengths or similar goals- network and ask people in similar situations.  Use a board of directors and consultants.

o   Good people aren’t always in the right positions.  Sometimes this is called getting people into the right seats on the bus.  A good person can be mediocre or fail in one position but shine in another.   People are good if they have solid character, but whether you’re optimizing them as a resource depends on their strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the demands of their role.

o   A Symphony of Tactics Creates Synergy.  Synergy requires multiple parallel and mutually beneficial efforts.  You can have multiple goals and strategies- a mix along the efficient frontier- sometimes only doing the most efficient thing has little effect, so to reach certain scales of results, sometimes you have to mix in tactics and activities with high, middle, and lower efficiencies.  Some activities have positive results in multiple measurement categories.

5.       Letting results guide you to success

o   Measurement builds morale.  Seeing your progress makes you feel happier and more successful- as a result you work better- it increases effort and the speed at which you achieve, and this builds momentum.

o   Commit to Constant Improvement.  Everyone should focus on three things- doing their job, making their job get more results faster, and improving themselves.  Optimize the job, optimize the system, optimize the self.  Own and be accountable for your own performance, give feedback to those who affect your job about their effects on your job, give feedback to your supervisor about your obstacles, your ideas, and your successes.

o   Everything has an ROI.  The value of any activity is defined by how much impact it has on getting you to your goals quicker.  All activities should be defined in terms of $ cost and $ return- ROI on every activity, tactic, strategy, plan, and goal.  Every minute of your day can produce results, eliminate obstacles and increase efficiency.  Keep track of your time, activities, and their positive impact on the organization’s goals.

o   Analysis kills some things.  It’s tempting to try to optimize via analysis things that can’t be analyzed- there are things like intuition, enthusiasm, spirituality, etc. that don’t submit well to analysis.  And try optimizing your marriage and you’re likely to end up on the couch.  Just kidding- sometimes the optimal thing is to let go or surrender or go with your gut.  Some people operate best that way.  Others are horrible.  Back to strengths and weaknesses.  Going with the flow- choosing the optimal times to wait, to speak, to influence, to listen…