Doing More with More

These days an organization cannot afford “hidden” assets.  Who would want to be unaware of, and thus under-utilize, an asset?  Yet many organizations fail to leverage assets that essentially hide in plain sight.  In these days of austerity, particularly for small-and-medium sized businesses, an organization’s best efforts take on a whole new meaning:  It is no longer acceptable to take a position that, “Given the circumstances, we’re doing the best we can.”

We have to do our best (individually and collectively), in reaching the organization’s best – and further, we must constantly exceed “the best” by defining that best ever upward and hitting new heights.  A steep challenge – and yet an ongoing goal that must be attained – and one with attendant rewards.

We must change and bias circumstances to favor everything we do in achieving objectives – with the maximization of all resources:  tangible, fiscal, human, inside, outside, and so on.  Prior, we spoke of doing more with less – that is most certainly possible and surely desirable.  However, once the organization has eliminated waste, possibly even reducing expenditures to the point of impinging on some legitimate supports, it becomes necessary to look at what remains.  Within that context comes the concept of doing more with more.

Doing More with More

We need to achieve success on an ever-expanding basis, in the circumstances of a business-technology change continuum.  As but one example, let’s consider people.  When we consider people, we have in each individual a considerable set of circumstances – and the potential for many optimizations.  For any manager, we owe it to people to help them actualize and optimize their contribution to the organization.  For any person, manager included, we desire to work smarter, making greater contribution, in forwarding the organization… and ourselves.

Just as we expose and integrate apps and process, just as we leverage and combine content contained in various systems, and exploit reinforcing content, we must expose and leverage knowledge as contained in people.  This is what various forums present:  From Users’ Groups to programmers’ meetings, manager’s enclaves, work retreats, SharePoint Fests, the ASAE Conference, etc. – opportunities to expose and leverage collective knowledge and talent in managing the present and future.  There is always more knowledge and talent to be leveraged, and it involves every person at every level.

There are those individuals who know how to do things that others do not, or who know how to do things better than others:  things that are common requirements for all staff, or things that groups of  staff can use.  Because individuals have strengths and weaknesses, we should strive to propagate strengths in overcoming weaknesses.  After all, it’s not like transferring water from one bucket to another; with one bucket gaining and another bucket losing:  we don’t lose strength in one individual who imparts knowledge or training to someone who gains those things.

Further, the imparting individual can gain training skills, communication skills, and other collaborative skills. The receiver gains the new knowledge and abilities. Of course, the organization gains by having a more knowledgeable, able, staff.

This is a win-win-win for all involved:  You, staff, org.