The Myth Of Standards Of Excellence - Aditya Yadav

1. *
“Running an Agile Fortune 500 Company”
Aditya Yadav, aditya.yadav@gmail.com
in.linkedin.com/in/adityayadav76

2. * A Typical Global Company
* Fortune 500/1000
* 200 Divisions
* 40 Countries
* 25000 Employees
*

3. *
@ Acme Inc.

4. * Original Question “We need High Standards Of
Excellence. What Standards do we Establish?”
* The Correct Question - “How do we Promote
Excellence and Thought Leadership?”
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5. *
And The Philosophy Behind The Answer

6. * Standards
* Certifications, and
* Standardization
* Lead to Excellence. Which is the Primary
Reason for Adopting them.
*

7. * Standards may lead to a lot of things like
* Interoperability
* Ease of Management (???)
* Cost Savings
* Reduction of Barriers to Market Entry
* Increased Competition
* Easy Co-ordination
* Global Supply Chains
* Competitive Edge over Non-Participating Companies
* Manufacturing: Safety & Reliability
* …
* „Excellence‟ is Not One Of Them!!! [In Knowledge/Gold Collar Work]
*

8. * Standards Are Always Out of Date. So you can never rely on
them alone to Lead the World
* Industry Standards can never be designed that they fulfill all
the needs of the entire industry
* Standards only accommodate the Common Minimum Subset
* Any attempt to make them Comprehensively useful for
everyone either doesn‟t work or if Mandated will bring
everyone to a crawling halt
* Standards are „Only meant‟ to give Participants/Individuals
an Edge over Non-Participating Companies/Individuals
* Standards are an Entry Level Criteria
* Excessive Standardization, Regulation and Mandates have
extremely Distorted and Regressive Effects
*

9. * AT&T Charges a Premium Rate for Calls
* They „Promise‟ to route your Call even from around
The World to connect you to your Destination
* You will never get a “Network Overwhelmed” message
on the AT&T Network; justifying their Premium
* The Most Critical Calls and Businesses Rely on AT&T
* They use a Patented Constant Time Shortest Path
Optimization Algorithm to Route Every Call
* They also are compliant with All Necessary and
„Operational‟ Telecom Standards
* Which part of Excellence can you Trace to Telecom
Standards, Certifications and Standardization @ AT&T?
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10. * Knowledge Work is about Thinking, Leadership, Innovation and Being At The Cutting
Edge
* Excellence is a Mindset not a „Standard Prescription Medication‟
* Standardization is an Operational Necessity not a Strategic Driver
* Standards should be followed (In Word and Spirit) but only to Comply with Regulations
and Laws
* Extensive Standardization beyond that will Bring Your Company to a Crawling Halt
* Market Leaders rarely follow any Standards (In Knowledge Industry not Manufacturing).
* They are not Market Leaders by Virtue of the Standards they follow
* Focus On Excellence not Following Standards
* Rule: What works in Manufacturing is mostly not applicable to Knowledge Work. So
blindly copying concepts, models, and strategies from Manufacturing is very Dangerous
* Standards, Certifications and Standardization have the Strongest Correlation with
„Mediocrity‟
*

11. Aditya!!!
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