Even the Best People Have Limits (The Need for Engines)

Great organizations are built with great people (not a revolutionary idea, I know).

The thing is, people can also limit organizations from reaching the next level of success.

Look, people have finite capacity. They can only take organizations so far because they are limited by the tick of the clock.

You know what else people have? Brains and emotions and shortcomings and limits that often get in the way of accomplishing more.

So those same great people that are the foundation to great organizations can become limiting factors to sustainable growth.

If that's the case, how do we make sure our organizations continue to grow and thrive?

This is where "engines" come into play.

Companies need to build engines to do things with people, for people, and in spite of people.

During my time at Baker Tilly, engines were one of the primary factors behind our growth from a $475 million firm to a $1.5 billion firm in a matter of a few years.

Today, I'll share:

• what engines are and why they are important

• what it means to build them with people, for people, and in spite of people

• how you can design and utilize engines to reach the next level of success within your organization or team

Let's dive in.

What are Engines?

Think of engines as systems or processes that are running within an organization at all times.

Engines create more predictable progress toward our goals.

They can be built with technology (but don't have to be) and they automate manual tasks or define standardized ways of doing things that allow people to do things at a new scale or with a new level of consistency.
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Engines have been around for decades—just not always thought of in a business sense.

Think about each time you start your car.
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You turn the key and your engine starts running and powers the entire vehicle—and the key here is you don’t even have to think about it.

It runs without a need for your continual input.
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You can go about doing your most important task of traveling to your next destination.
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The engine may break, but it never gets tired, impatient, or distracted.
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This idea applies to companies too.

For example, during my time "inside the ring" as CEO, I worked to build an engine for innovation within the firm.

The question was: How do we ensure we prioritize innovation and continue to be a forward-thinking firm?

My solution was to create an innovation lab. A place where all new hires to the firm would invest time during their first week.

Within the lab, we'd speak about and demonstrate what it looked like to bring innovation into day-to-day work to create a certain culture within the firm.

Once built, it would become an engine for innovation.

The parts would work as they were designed and we'd create a systematic experience that was contributing to our strategy as a firm.

With People, For People, In Spite of People

Effective engines are built with one (or multiple) of these ideas in mind:

Engines should be built WITH PEOPLE so that we add structure and routine to the ways we collaborate with one another.

Example: My marketing partner and I meet weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The primary purpose behind those meetings is for him to interview me to understand my ideas and the "isms" I write about here and on LinkedIn.

Then, we work together to turn those interviews into the many LinkedIn posts and newsletters you read here.

The structure and cadence of our meetings and interviews are the engine of my entire content strategy.

It's been built and it continues to run on a weekly basis resulting in the things you see me sharing.

Engines should be built FOR PEOPLE so that we automate (or have organizational departments do) tasks that allow people to work on their highest and best value to the organization.

Example: I recently spoke to a partner at a firm I'm advising.

He said, "I made $600k this morning."

He shared that he spent the majority of his morning processing 125 bills for $600k.

My response: "No, you didn’t make $600k (you actually lost $5k in client revenue). You processed the paperwork for $600k of work already completed.
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The generation of the value already happened. There's a major difference."

This is where I'd build an engine.

What would it take to build a system that could be managed by another team or department to allow a partner-level person to focus on their highest and best value to the organization?

What parts of the billing process could be systematized and automated so they occur in a predictable manner?

That's an engine.

Engines should be built IN SPITE OF PEOPLE so that people (and their imperfections, tendencies, or shortcomings) don’t allow effective and important processes to be ignored or stopped.

Example: At the partner level, individuals are faced with numerous responsibilities. Selling, producing, billing, developing people, etc.

Without engines, it's possible one (or multiple) of those balls can get dropped due to limited capacity, ability, or energy.

But what if each of those things is important to the firm's strategy?

That's why things like sales engines are built to facilitate automatic outreach on a partner's behalf.

No matter if the partner inputs their effort into selling or not, some form of outreach is happening on a systematic basis.

Now, their personalized input is a bonus instead of the whole system depending on it.

How to Start Building Effective Engines

So, how do you know what engines to start building (or refining)?

First, think about the success factors that are critical to executing your strategy.

"If we can achieve _______, we will be on track to reach our vision and accomplish our goals."

Now that you've defined those things, do some analysis.

• What will it take to ensure that success factor is achieved?

• What roadblocks or friction points currently exist?

• What will it take to bypass or eliminate those roadblocks?

This analysis starts with intentional time dedicated to work ON the business instead of IN the business.

(More on that in a future newsletter... )

Dedicate time this week to examine your organization, department, or team.

What is most important for you to achieve to execute your strategy?

Where can engines be built with people, for people, or in spite of people to create more predictable outcomes?

What will it take to build them?

As engines start to get designed, built, and implemented (and intentionally tied together with other engines), the fun begins.

That's where meaningful and sustainable growth happens.

If you'd like to discuss ideas of how you or your organization could build engines for growth, sales, people development, or anything else, let's chat.

You can book a 30-minute call on my calendar here.

With intention,
Alan D Whitman