The Logical Organisation FAQ's

What is a Logical Organization?

It’s an organization that recognizes that the primary platform upon which decision must be made are facts – not intuition or emotion.

A recent study by Economist Intelligence Unit revealed that over 70% of executives in major corporations believed that poor decision making was a major factor in the performance of their companies. Yes – my book is based on proven evidence as well!

So does that mean that experience doesn’t count?

Not exactly – it’s a matter of applying weighting to the various factors contributing to decisions. Some elements of knowledge that are garnered from experience may not yet be captured in a format that can be analysed. But if it comes down to the crunch – the facts win out. The problem with ‘experience’ is that it relies on a persons recall of a particular set of events and is biased by their own values. In spite of our brain recording events as they were, but our recall is tempered by patterns we build along our lifetimes based on values, emotions etc. Therefore, personal recount is not reliable. The reality is that the environment present today may be fundamentally different in ways not necessarily perceived as relevant to the person relying on experience. What decisions need is evidence – and that means factual data.

Doesn’t that seem a little cold hearted?

Not to include an emotional or caring element in business decisions? No, because an emotional or moral check is an important part of the decision process. Let me give you a quick example. A very large car manufacturer was presented with evidence that a faulty part in their vehicles had directly lead to greater injuries than would otherwise be sustained in car accidents at low speed. To replace the part was going to cost a little more than $2 per vehicle. So using that math, they deduced that it cost less to pay out on injury claims than it would to replace the faulty part. That was an immoral decision and later lead to litigation in its own right.

So you see there is still a place for experience and emotion but it must not be used in place of, or superior to factual evidence.

Is this the start of business decisions being made in a court room like scenario?

In some ways – in that one has to prove a statement, rather than just rely on persuasion. I am pleased you raised the parallel to the legal system. It’s a place where the logical organization needs to be applied, rigorously. As it stands today, a court case today is not won on the facts – the truth holds little weight in the court room. The outcome is determined by the persuasive skill and manipulation of the truth by the legal counsel – and to me, that is criminal. It really destroys the soul of a person when they go into a legal battle with the truth and morality on their side and get plundered by someone with a bigger wallet to pay a better lawyer. I will never forget the person who first told me that – he was an ex lawyer who actually left law because of this. I still admire his integrity today.
Is this something that just applies in the board room or can it be applied anywhere in the organization?

It can apply anywhere. Even in an everyday business meeting – there are those who are forceful and push their own agendas and opinions assertively. Others, who may have more real evidence but don’t have the confidence to share this with the group are overpowered. This is where the chair of the meeting has to recognise the personalities in the room and specifically ask for facts from particular people and keep the ego maniacs under control.
The culture of an organization changes once logic starts being applied. There is more collaboration and more use of information in many different aspects – from design of new products, marketing, customer support, partnerships etc.

So how would someone start out transforming into the Logical Organization?

Like most change programs, it needs to start with absolute commitment at the top. I am not a great supporter of requiring input into the need for change, but I do believe that if you ask from input on how that change will be effected, then the organization as a whole gets on board. There are effective strategies to implement change, that surprisingly are not the ones heralded by the major consulting firms and business schools. In most cases those fail. They are too formal and rigid. But people respond to social influence, an informal allegiance to change.

They also respond to logic. It helps them feel empowered, and it is amazing how people start stepping up. I have raised my children on this. If they had a problem they could always come to me, but they had to have proof and a proposed solution. The most powerful catalyst and support tool for a logical organization is business intelligence, and that is why I started there with my crusade. Business intelligence is a capability – not just a technology. It is a way of keep a watch on the landscape and horizon and responding to real signals.

Many elements of BI can be applied to every part of the organization. In this way the change can be driven up from the bottom as well as down from the top. By giving each individuals their own personal performance dashboards, not only do they see who their work links to particular strategic objectives, but they can measure their performance to targets and lower level strategic goals. This gives a real sense of purpose to a role and a lot more satisfaction. You know then that your performance can be judged on evidence, not just someone elses opinion. It makes everyone accountable for their own responsibilities.

Most of us at some point in our career have come across a team mate who doesn’t pull their weight, and pulls the team performance down, or a manager that for some personal reason refuses to acknowledge your contribution. BI gets rid of that – you can’t dispute the facts.

Is this just a big business thing or does it applies to smaller businesses as well?

Logic applies anywhere. It is often harder for small business owners to adapt to as often they have been running their business by the seat of their pants for so many years, its sort of a badge of honor. But small businesses take the hits as much as big business and they are more agile than most large businesses so they often have more to gain by being more aware of what is happening in the market.

In addition, people in small businesses are often assigned to several roles and don’t have the time or resources to keep up to date with changes in the market place or to investigate new markets. This is where BI has a real impact. In the past BI technology was outside the budget of most small businesses, but not so today. There are many niche solutions on the market and the new web based models known as onDemand, SaaS or cloud computing are providing very good applications on an affordable basis.

So what exactly does the book take you through?

The book is divided into four main sections.

Part one looks at business performance overall, and how BI supports logic in the various aspects of the business, and the value that is derived from that.

Part two covers the technology – but in a way that non-technical people can understand. Executives and business owners can not hide behind technology ignorance any longer. Its part of business, and something that they need to understand to be able to make investment decisions. In this section I also provide tips on selecting the right technology and the right vendor. I have been rather harsh on some past vendor practices, so this is valuable insight for those business owners seeking to make an investment.

Part three then shows how the technology is applied in various parts of the organization and the benefits it accrues – this covers supply chain, marketing, finance, HR, and the management suite. It then looks at how BI is used in major industries – manufacturing, financial services, transport, health and telecommunications.

The final section, part four, provides a framework for BI programs. Remembering that BI is a lot more than just technology, so this framework helps businesses identify where BI could benefit the organization and how to put all the various aspects of BI together for the best return.

It is a big book, more like a reference guide than a one off read – so it was important to lay it out so that the readers could refer back to it time and time again. Its like having a desktop consultant 24x7 for only $79.95 – that’s less than half an hour’s consulting fee.
And where is the book available?

The book can be purchased worldwide through Amazon.com.

So can businesses get access to you for consulting?

Yes, they can do this in two ways. Either one on one consulting or by attending one of my seminars. They can even have their own in-house seminars. My contact details and all the details of the seminars are on both the book site thelogicalorganization.com and on my corporate performance consulting site coded-vision.com.

They will find the blogs and article on these sites interesting reading, and if they have specific questions they can post these on the blogs and I will respond to them.

Click here to securely order your copy on Amazon TODAY!

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