Catch Me If You Can. So they say to each other. Directors catch their deputies, they catch ordinary employees, each other, but no one can catch anyone. Yeah, they don't even try. For them, the main thing is the game, the process. For the sake of this game they go to work. They will never win. I will win.
In fact, I already won. And I keep winning. And I will continue to win. I created a unique business scheme, the thinnest mechanism that works like clockwork. What is important - not only I win - everyone wins. Yes, I succeeded. I am a king.
I will immediately explain the origin of my nickname so that you do not think that I have delusions of grandeur. My little daughter loves to play such a game - she will stand in the doorway, close it with her hands, and will not let her through, asking for the password. I pretend that I don’t know the password, and she says: the password is the king sitting on the pot. So, consider that I am the King on the pot, with normal self-irony, understanding of my shortcomings and your superiority over me.
All right, let's go. I will briefly tell you about myself - this will make it clearer the tools that I use in business, and the conclusions on the basis of which I built just such a scheme.
It so happened that I very early became the director of a large enterprise. To be more precise, it was a poultry farm. I was then 25 years old. And before that, I managed a marketing agency for three years.
Both the agency and the poultry farm belonged to the same owner. I came to marketing right after college, the agency was recumbent - a standard, useless set of services, average results, faded advertising, empty market research, mediocre articles and a barely visible trickle of money in the owner's pocket. At first he was a marketer, but, because. was young and hot, he began, as they say, to rock the boat. He openly stated about the problems and mediocrity of our activities, about the lack of any ambitions of the director and the extremely low quality of work with clients. Naturally, he decided to fire me. We had a very emotional “last conversation”, but, fortunately, the owner was passing by the negotiation at that time. He is a direct person, from the 90s, so he did not hesitate and went.
As I found out later, he had long been heated against the director, and this time he came with his traditional goal - to quarrel and listen to another lie about how new management methods, the director’s personal initiative and a close-knit team “will raise the enterprise this time from my knees." The owner shut up the director and listened to me. Since that day, the marketing agency has a new director.
During the first year, the marketing agency became the leader in terms of growth rates in relative terms in the owner's investment portfolio. For the second year, we became leaders in the field, in terms of sales and project portfolio. For the third year, we crushed several neighboring regions.
The critical moment has come - it was necessary to relocate the company to Moscow. The owner, like a man from the 90s, lived where his main assets were, and even in the future did not plan to move. I, in general, did not want to go to Moscow either. We talked heart to heart with him, and decided that I should be transferred to a poultry farm, and the marketing agency should be released.
The poultry farm has become an even more powerful challenge than the marketing agency. First, she, too, almost lay on her side. Secondly, I did not know anything about the activities of poultry farms. Thirdly, there was a fundamentally different contingent - not urban office youth, but village shop kings, princelings and shirt-guys.
Naturally, I was almost ridiculed - some dude came from the city, "to raise us from our knees." In the early days, I heard a lot of phrases starting with “yes, you actually know ...”, and then there was some specific information related to chickens, their life and death, making feed and sausage, working in an incubator, etc. The guys frankly hoped that I would become a "wedding general" - a meaningless director, in which managers who come to the provinces often turn into. They sit at meetings, nod their heads, say something like “you need to track the cash flow”, but in reality they are not involved in management at all. They just sit there and smile. Or frown, sometimes.
But my situation was different - I was already almost a friend of the owner. I had complete carte blanche. But I didn’t want to just wave a saber - what’s the point in dismissing, for example, the heads of poultry houses, if there is nowhere to get new ones? There is only one village nearby.
I decided to do something that no “alien” director in his right mind does - to understand the business that I manage. This took me a year.
This practice, as far as I know, is widespread outside of Russia - the manager is literally driven through all stages, divisions and workshops. I did the same. I worked out the following schedule: the first half of the day I spend the necessary managerial activities, such as operational meetings, meetings, discussions, project control, task setting, debriefing. And in the afternoon, I go to the place where value is created (the Japanese, I think, call it “gemba”).
I have worked in poultry houses - both those where hens lay eggs and those where broilers are raised for slaughter. I have participated several times in the sorting of chicks that have recently hatched from eggs. Reluctantly, I worked in the poultry slaughter shop. A few days - and there was no disgust, no fear, no disgust. I personally gave chicken injections of antibiotics and vitamins. I went with the men in an old ZIL to the litter storage, to bury chicken poop. I spent several days in the smoking shop, where they walk knee-deep in fat. He worked in the finished products workshop, where sausages, rolls, etc. are produced. Together with laboratory assistants, he conducted research on grain, which is brought to us from all over the region. I lay down under an old KAMAZ truck, helped the peasants board the T-150 wheel, and became convinced of the delusional procedure for filling out a waybill while participating in the life of the transport department.
Then he worked in all the offices of the plant management. Studied the reliability of partners together with lawyers. I comprehended the basics of the principle of double entry, the chart of accounts of RAS, basic postings (emphasis on the second syllable, this is not posting for you), taxation tricks, cost imitations and the wonders of bundling along with accounting. I personally traveled to grain farms, called South Africa about reducing prices for spices and went to solve problems with customs when I worked with suppliers. I found out the difference between STP twisted pair and UTP when, together with system administrators, I pulled it through the attic of a poultry house. I learned what it is to “wrap”, how to create macros, and what is the reason for the long submission of reports by economists (“damn accounting, when they close their month already”). And finally, I left the programmer.
There was only one programmer at the factory, he worked for a long time, he sat in a separate small kennel. I put it at the end of my learning plan, not because I thought that a programmer is a dessert. On the contrary, he thought that nothing useful would come of communicating with him. As you understand, I am a hardened humanist. I expected that I would not be enough for one day - I simply could not look at the program code, libraries, databases and a dirty T-shirt that I did not understand for a long time.
To say that I was wrong is to say nothing. As you remember, I considered myself a pioneer of the “learn the business from the inside out” approach. But it turned out that I was only the second. The first was a programmer.
It turned out that the programmer also worked in almost all departments of the factory. He, of course, did not try to do the same as the workers - the programmer was minding his own business, automation. But real, proper automation is impossible without understanding the process you are working with. In this, the profession of a programmer is akin to the path of a leader, as it seems to me.
I rode on the dung storage just like that, and the programmer calibrated the sensor and tracker of the positioning system, and at the same time the control fuel consumption sensor. I took a syringe and injected medicine into the chicken, and the programmer watched the process from the side, and knew exactly how many of these syringes deteriorate, are thrown away and “disappear somewhere”. I dragged meat and semi-finished products between stages of processing in the processing shop, and the programmer weighed this meat between stages, detecting and preventing the very possibility of theft. I lamented with the drivers about the complex process of agreeing and issuing a waybill, and the programmer automated its creation by linking it to the tracker, at the same time discovering that the drivers were carrying the wrong cargo. I knew more about the slaughter shop than he did - an automated Dutch line worked there, and the programmer had absolutely nothing to do.
For office workers, the situation is similar. I checked the reliability of partners with lawyers, and the programmer selected, configured, integrated and implemented a service that checks this very reliability and automatically informs about changes in the status of counterparties. I talked with accountants about the principle of double entry, and the programmer told me that the day before this conversation, the chief accountant ran to him and asked him to explain this principle, because modern accountants are, for the most part, data entry operators into some well-known program . I made reports in Excel with economists, and the programmer showed how these reports are built in a second in the system, and at the same time explained why economists continue to work in Excel - they are afraid of being fired. But he does not insist, because. understands everything - except for the poultry farm and the stall in the village there were no employers.
I stayed with the programmer longer than in any other division. I got a true, and versatile pleasure from communicating with this guy.
First, I learned a lot about all areas of the business that I managed. It was not like what I saw with my own eyes. Naturally, in all divisions they knew that I was the director, and they were preparing for my arrival. I made no secret of the business study sequence, and everything was ready for my arrival. Of course, I climbed into dark corners, unprepared for close scrutiny - like Elena Letuchaya in Revizorro, but I heard little truth. And who would be ashamed of a programmer? People of his profession in provincial factories have long been considered some kind of application to the system, if not to the computer. With him, you can at least dance naked - what difference does it make what this weirdo thinks?
Secondly, the programmer turned out to be a very smart and diversified person. At the time I thought it was just this particular guy, but later I became convinced that most factory programmers have a broad outlook, and not only in their craft. Among all the specialties represented at the plant, only programmers have professional communities where they communicate, share experience and discuss issues that are only indirectly related to automation. The rest read only news, jokes and instagrams of stars. Well, with rare exceptions, like the chief accountant and findir, who monitor changes in legislation, the refinancing rate and the revocation of bank licenses.
Thirdly, I was amazed by the capabilities of the information system that worked for us. Two aspects struck me: the data and the speed of modification.
When I ran a marketing agency, we often had to work with customer data. But we have never been particularly interested in how these data are obtained. We simply sent a request containing something like “let's have everything in the form of tables linked by unique identifiers, in any format from the list”, and received in response a large amount of information that analysts twisted as best they could. Now I saw this data in a structured, primary form.
The programmer honestly said that no one needs this data. And his work to ensure the quality of this data is even more so. Moreover, the programmer did it not just as it came into his head, but according to science. I had heard the word “controlling” before, but I thought it was some kind of control (like Present Continuous from the word “control”). It turned out that this is a whole science, and the programmer adopted the data requirements on the basis of which management should be carried out. So that you do not get up twice, here are the requirements (taken from ):
Information Support:
- factual correctness (reported as requested)
- correctness in form (the message being reported corresponds to the predefined form of the message)
- reliability (reported corresponds to the fact)
- accuracy (the error in the message is known)
- timeliness (on time)
Transfer and/or transformation of information:
- the authenticity of the fact (the fact is not changed)
- the authenticity of the source (the source is not changed)
- the correctness of information transformations (the report is correct for hierarchical transmission)
- archival safety of originals (analysis of work and failures)
- access rights management (document content)
- registration of changes (manipulations)
The programmer provided the enterprise with quality data that should have served as the basis for management, but did not. Management was carried out, as everywhere else - manually, based on personal contact and rubbing points. Something called "catch me if you can".
The second aspect that struck me was the speed of creating and implementing changes to the system. I asked the programmer several times to show me how he does it, and was surprised every time.
For example, I ask him to calculate and fix in the system some indicator, such as "Percentage of shortage positions in supply", by quantity or in rubles, relative to the total volume of needs. Do you know how long it took the programmer to do this job? Ten minutes. He did it in front of me - I saw the real figure on the screen. In the meantime, I went to my office for a notebook to write down the figure and get to the bottom of the meeting with the head of supply, the figure managed to change, and the programmer showed me a graph of two points.
The longer I worked with the programmer, the stronger became a strange, conflicting feeling - a mixture of delight and anger.
Well, the excitement is understandable, I have already talked a lot about it.
And anger is due to the incredibly low use of the capabilities and data of the system by managers and employees of departments. There was a feeling that automation lives its own, incomprehensible life, and the enterprise lives its own. At first, I had a hope that the leaders simply did not know what they were deprived of. But the programmer showed me how blind I am.
One of his own inventions was the so-called. SIFA - Automation Functionality Usage Statistics. An elementary (according to the programmer) universal system that keeps track of which person uses what - documents, reports, forms, indicators, etc. I went to see the indicators - SIFA remembered. Who, when launched the tool, how much stuck in it, when it came out. The programmer formed the data on the leaders - and I was horrified.
The chief accountant looks only at the balance sheet, some kind of tax control report, and several declarations (VAT, profit, something else). But he does not look at accounting cost metrics, reports with jambs and their lifespan, analytics discrepancies, etc. Findir looks at two reports - on the movement of money and an enlarged budget. But he does not look at the forecast of cash gaps and the cost structure. The head of supply controls payments, keeps an eye on balances, but knows nothing about the deficit sheet and the timing of the need.
The programmer put forward his theory why this happens. What managers use, he called primary information - analytical reports created on the basis of transactions. The arrival of money, the expenditure of money - this is the primary information. A report that shows the receipt and expenditure of money is also primary information, simply collected in one form. The primary information is simple and understandable, it does not take a lot of intelligence to use it. But…
But primary information is not enough for management. Try to make a managerial decision based on the following information: “Yesterday we received payments for 1 million rubles”, “There are 10 bushings in stock”, or “The programmer solved 3 tasks in a week”. Do you feel what is missing? "How much should it be?"
This is “How much should it be?” all leaders prefer to keep in mind. Otherwise, as the programmer said, they can be replaced by a script. Actually, he tried to do just that - he developed management tools of the second and third order (his own classification).
The first order is "what is". The second is “what is and how it should be”. The third is “what is, how it should be, and what to do”. The same script that replaces the leader, at least in part. Moreover, third-order tools are not just footcloths with numbers, they are tasks created in the system, with automatic execution control. Amicably ignored by all employees of the company. The leaders ignored voluntarily, their subordinates - by order of the leaders.
As fun as it was to sit with a programmer, I decided to finish my studies. I had an ardent desire to urgently increase the rank of this guy in the company - it is impossible that such knowledge, skills and desire for improvement rot in a small kennel. But, on serious reflection, and after consulting with the programmer himself, I decided to leave it there. There was a very high risk that, having risen, he himself would turn into an ordinary leader. The programmer himself was afraid of this - he said that he already had such an experience at his last job.
Therefore, the programmer remained in the kennel. We kept our close acquaintance and further close interaction a secret. For all colleagues, the programmer continued to be a programmer. And I quadrupled his income - from my own, so that no one would know.
Returning to the post of director, as they say, full-time, I began to shake the company like a pear. I rocked everyone, top to bottom and left to right. Nobody could play the game of "catch me if you can" with me - I knew everything.
There were no more doubts about my competence, because. I could replace, if not every ordinary employee, then any leader - for sure. No one could hang noodles on my ears when jambs happen. I knew the key details and parameters of all processes. I caused very conflicting feelings among subordinates. On the one hand, I was respected and feared - not because of managerial tantrums or unpredictable nature, but because of my competence. On the other hand, they hated me - because I had to work for real. For some, for the first time in their lives.
I implemented the tools of the second and third orders very simply: I began to use them myself. And I talked to the leaders through the prism of these tools.
I call, for example, a findir, and I say - in a week you will have an unsecured cash gap. Makes round eyes - where does the information come from? I open the system, I show. It is clear that he sees for the first time. He says - this does not take into account foreign currency deposits, which we insure against such situations in extreme cases. I start digging, I find out that a serious part of the turnover is frozen on these deposits - despite the fact that I launched a very active investment activity. Findir gets a hat and wants to run away already, but I don’t let up - I say to return the deposits, especially since they are short-term, but not to cover cash gaps with them, but to send them to the budget for the construction of a new feed mill. The cash gap, then, is still a problem. Findir dodges - they say, some strange data is issued by the system. I ask a direct question - do you know about this tool? Says he knows. I open SIFA - pf, Findir has never been there. I remind you that I do not need to let dust in my eyes. Hands to feet - and to the programmer, and so that in a week there will be no excuses that the system gives out the wrong numbers. After 5 minutes, the programmer writes that the finder has arrived. Two hours later he writes that everything is done. And so it is with everyone.
Over the course of several months, I downgraded fifteen executives, including three of the deputy directors. All of them were from a neighboring village and, oddly enough, agreed to be demoted to leading specialists. He fired five - those who traveled here from the city.
The company was at my fingertips, as Bill Gates said. I knew about everything that was going on - successes, problems, downtime, efficiency, cost structure and the reasons for its distortions, cash flows, development plans.
In two years, I turned the poultry farm into an agricultural holding. We have a modern feed shop, a pig farm, a second deep processing site (they made pork sausage), our own retail network, a brand recognizable in several regions, a normal logistics service (and not the old KAMAZ trucks), our own sown areas for grain, we received several prestigious federal and regional awards in the field of quality and HR.
Do you think the King was born here? No. I was just a successful director of an agricultural holding. And a former successful head of a marketing agency.
The king was born when I realized what made me different from other leaders. I analyzed my path, successes and failures, management approaches, attitudes towards automation and the programmer, the level of business understanding and ways to achieve this level, and managed to compare all this with the experience of colleagues.
The results of this analysis amazed me myself. So much so that I decided to step down from my post. I saw exactly and clearly what I needed to do. Where exactly I will become the King.
The conversation with the owner was not the easiest, but he let me go. A good man, albeit a tough one. He paid me a huge severance pay, even though I didn't ask for it. Subsequently, this money helped me a lot in the ascent of the King.
Source: habr.com