Memories of the future or Reflections on Quality in the 21st century. Bill Gates business at the speed of thought "Electronic Nervous System"

Anyone who believes that success can only be achieved through hard work will get that hard work.

For most people, the process is more important than the result. Let's look at a common type of employee today, referred to in some manuals as a “driven horse.” Already found out? There are many of them, they have a lot to do, they are very active and very busy. Favorite expression: “Absolutely no time!” Identification sign: any order is turned into chaos, and never vice versa. The result of the day is complete despair: “I don’t have time to do anything!” Ask about the purpose of life - they will name ten, that is, none. Be curious about the results - they will readily present a sweaty shirt and dirty hands. And this is quite sincere! Many sympathize with them (?), some envy them (?!). For some reason they are called workaholics, which compromises the concept of “work.”

Professional inhabitants of closed loops, unlike others, do not walk in circles, but run. They are not and cannot be among the leaders of large enterprises - an urchin who has ripened everywhere will not last long, his thoughts jump like a squirrel in a wheel, his speeches and movements are uncontrollable. And they categorically deny such a thing as the speed of thought.

Speed ​​of action is the most important factor, so it is true that success in business is directly proportional to speed.

What speeds are important in business?

The speed of movement of material bodies (people, goods). Range - from kilometers per hour (by foot) to hundreds of km/h (by plane). Objects of different masses move. The speed in question is small, let's call it first.

Information moves at the second speed (the speed of light). In materialized form, it has mass, as do devices for its transmission, reception, storage, etc.

The third speed is the speed of thought. The images generated by it arise, transform and randomly combine with unlimited speed. There is no moving mass, no technical devices are required. The main and only instrument is built into every human head. A slow-witted partner or his refusal to use a brain-tool only affects the duration of the search for a suitable replacement: there is absolutely no need for a racing car to slow down because a camel has hitched a ride with it.

The first speed has been mastered and increased to the current level for thousands of years, the second - for decades. The third (highest) is at the disposal of every person from the moment of his appearance on the planet; it is a derivative of his brain, but is always closely connected with the base built at the first and second speeds.

In the course of life, a person either learns the ability to use this speed, or remains ignorant of its existence and the possibilities it opens up. You can also notice that at the third speed, the cost of movement is minimal.

Let's compare different speeds and pay attention to the driver's behavior.

Here is a cyclist - he can be dressed any way he likes, ride without holding the handlebars, carry all sorts of rubbish and generally be drunk.

And here is the pilot of a supersonic interceptor. The energy from the turbines of his car is enough to power the needs of an entire city; hundreds of sophisticated instruments help him in his work. He is dressed in a special spacesuit and strapped to a chair. Movements of the arms and legs are reduced to a minimum, but how the brain works!

Or a nuclear power plant operator: he can sit completely motionless, while the lives of many people depend on his decisions. Yes, they are received based on information received at the second speed, transmitted and executed at the second and first speeds. But the generation of a solution itself is the work of the brain, the third speed!

START

The conclusion is obvious: any material project must begin with the third speed - the highest and cost-free. Lying on the couch, sitting at the table, without moving anything heavier than a pencil, without spending money. We must suppress the temptation to call and run, we must remember that now the speed is maximum, and the mode is the most effective. This is a mode of concentrated thinking. A common type of behavior, when mountains of information are collected, many outsiders, even three times scientific, opinions are attracted and listened to, should be qualified as a refusal of the greatest efficiency and starting at an unprofitable first/second speed. And that's why.

We were all taught something at some point, we all learn new things throughout our lives, even unconsciously and quite sincerely we believe that we have forgotten much of what we were taught, and we need to call for help from those who “know better.” This is just a consequence of not understanding that the brain never forgets what is necessary and essential, that it is enough to turn to your own mind to obtain all the necessary information to build those very mental images.

With sufficient persistence, in 100 cases out of 100 it generates a complete image of a business, enterprise, management scheme - whatever the owner wishes. And subsequent calculations and consultations with specialists only confirm that the person unconsciously operated with knowledge that he considered non-existent or long and firmly forgotten. In 100 cases out of 100!

Why don’t we observe this in everyday practice, why does the leader turn any business into nervous gatherings with a showdown, why is the short order of a confident person replaced by the verbosity of a doubting person? Because the brain, a faithful and reliable servant, is oppressed by disbelief in its power, and it falls silent offended. And the vector of traction, volitional effort and clear direction always encourage the brain to work actively, and it solves all problems - this is its favorite activity, and it has no equal in this! There is no need to insult yourself with his mistrust - only your brain is always on your side, regardless of any circumstances.

The outstanding aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev was by all standards an extraordinary person, and even dared to object to Stalin, which was far beyond acceptable risk. Of course, he was educated enough for his work, but this is how, according to the recollections of his comrade, it looked like in a dead-end situation, downright critical.

The new super-powerful jet engine for the Tu-16 bomber stubbornly did not fit into the dimensions of the designed vehicle, and the designers of the design bureau (all “stars” of the first magnitude) began to say that it would not be possible to do this - the laws of aerodynamics were being violated, and this is a serious science. Then Tupolev, during one of his visits to the Design Bureau, sat down in front of the drawing board and began to draw with an ordinary pencil the layout of the engine nacelles and fuselage, saying at the same time: “Here the air flow is compressed, but here it will flow like this...” - as if he had seen these almost metaphysical flows on ten-kilometer altitude and thousand-kilometer speed! The Tu-16 aircraft turned out to be so successful that in some places it is still in service.

This example may seem isolated. But here are the results of psychological studies of ordinary people. It was proposed to draw a curve using the available points. Such problems are from the field of higher mathematics. And people who did not do mathematics professionally drew the line with 95% accuracy! From the high flight of Tupolev’s thought we moved to a sheet of paper, but we see the same thing: if the task set is feasible in principle, it is always solved, while the path and its actual awareness are not the most important thing. Since our intentions are completely utilitarian and boil down to help, we will record the result: the brain is capable of solving any well-formulated problem.

WHAT IS EASIER TO MANAGE?

A solid mathematical apparatus has been developed for the analysis of business processes, and the conclusions sometimes read like a fascinating detective story, for example: the larger the business, the easier and faster it lends itself to the necessary changes, the higher the positive effects, the more competitive the company, the more successful it will be.

This seems to contradict common sense: managing a bakery is easier than managing a confectionery association, but mathematics is not interested in our misconceptions, and we have to learn formulas. This begs the question “why?” and I want to get an accessible explanation. Here it is. The owner of the bakery carries a lot on himself, and also calls, writes, and talks.

There is no particular need for him to think, but there is always enough turnover and problems with the same bakers and loaders. The director of the confectionery association wears nothing, doesn’t talk too much - there is someone to do this, and it’s as if the boss is deliberately often left in a vacuum of communication so that he switches to third gear, so that he can think. The director of a large enterprise and the owner of a small business have a significantly different way of thinking, and the larger the company, the more significant the difference.

And the whole point is that someone doomed to think, cut off from the earth, will certainly figure out how to prosper his business, how to develop, how to advance. He will definitely come up with this, relying on a brain that not only has no equal, but also has no analogue in nature, because, freed from the first and second speeds, it immediately switches to the third. And he is not at all embarrassed by his own apparent inaction - this person already occupies a sufficiently high position in society to allow himself to think, for example, not always in real objects and numbers - he no longer needs to justify himself with the favorite phrase of ordinary people: “You have to be specific! "

LOOK BEYOND THE HORIZON

Let's take an interest in Bill Gates's opinion on speed - it is supported by significant personal achievements, and it no longer occurs to anyone to neglect it, as was the case relatively recently.

“In the next ten years, business will change more than in the previous fifty... If in the 80s everything was about quality, and in the 90s it was about business reengineering, then the key concept of the current decade is speed. Here is the speed of change in the nature of business; here are issues of efficiency of business process management; here is the dynamics of changes in the lifestyle of consumers and their demands under the influence of increasingly accessible information. The rate of growth in product quality and the rate of improvement of business processes will be much higher, and with a sufficiently large value of these indicators, the nature of the business itself will change.”

Let's end with the following statement. Globalization manifests itself in the increasing division of humanity according to different parameters; it also divides people according to speed. Anyone who believes that success can only be achieved through hard work will get that hard work. The ability and habit of turning on third speed is becoming increasingly important.

If you move on the first one, you need to stay in your block with your store: there will always be old women who will not go far for bread, and “bruises” who need an urgent resuscitating sip. You should, however, forget about any ambitious plans.

If you move to the second, there will always be a delay compared to others like you, because someone will definitely be closer to your goal.

Today, a unique situation is emerging: all three speeds in question are achievable, and the “gearbox” does not contain gaps between the gears, previously filled only with helpless cursing and exclamations of “If only!” Any project conceived and solved at the third speed will certainly be supported by information flows of the second speed and material flows of the first. And little is required - to start correctly, switch on time and save the only thing that should be protected in this life - time.

Finally: there is an opinion that the third speed is nothing more than a literary image. Let us remember that the history of the second goes back not even two centuries, and only 30 years ago any talk about a planetary system of immediate communication, the current Internet, was classified as “science fiction.” Today we recognize in person the one who believed in the dream and started in third place - Bill Gates, for example. But this is only technology created by man...

Humanity will always be indebted to Henry Ford, who dreamed of seeing America filled with cars, and filled it with them. Without this crazy dream and unbending perseverance, the world today would be a completely different place. We are all prisoners of the moment, but maybe stubborn dreamers are allowed to bend World Lines?

Program budget

Key words: theory of incrementalism by A. Wildavsky, budget incrementalism, budget process, appropriations and requests, budget cycles

I. I. Klimova, Ph.D. Sc., Prof., Dean of the Faculty of International Economic Relations, State University of the Ministry of Finance of Russia (SUMF) (e-mail: [email protected])

The concept of incrementalism and its evolution
If previous eras of economic development were characterized by long periods of stability, which were interrupted by short periods of revolutionary change, then the modern economy is characterized by constant change, hyper-competition, uncertainty and, therefore, unpredictability. As B. Gates writes, the key concept of the current decade is speed: “Here is the speed of change in the nature of business, here are issues of operational management of business processes, here is the dynamics of changes in the lifestyle of consumers and their demands under the influence of the increasing availability of information”1.

In this state of affairs, the principle of a rational approach, which previously dominated economic theory, ceases to apply. According to D. Kahneman, Nobel laureate in economics in 2002, when making decisions under conditions of uncertainty, a person is not able to fully analyze a complex situation; he has to rely more on random choice or heuristics. As a result, predicting the consequences of a decision is quite difficult. In the era of acceleration of all economic processes, both long- and medium-term planning also ceases to operate: while a long-term plan is formulated, conditions on the world market will change. As a result, many scientists suggest being more flexible, improvising, reacting quickly to new situations, and finding unusual responses to competitors' actions. Then it becomes clear why today more and more scientists are turning to the theory of incrementalism, which can become the optimal methodological approach to decision making in modern conditions. Let us turn to the origins of the creation of the theory of incrementalism. In 1959, the journal Public Administration Review published an article by Yale University political science professor C. Lindblom, “The Science of Muddling Through,” in which the author presented his incremental model of decision-making by administrative and political systems, reflecting and complementing the results of research by scientists such as G. Simon, J. March and R. Cyert.
1

Gates B. Business at the speed of thought. - M.: Eksmo-Press, 2001. - P. 12.

Program budget Subsequently, C. Lindblom repeatedly reviewed and reworked this model. Nevertheless, it was precisely this that became the basis for the theory of budget incrementalism proposed by another American scientist, professor of political science at the University of California A. Wildavsky, which we will discuss below. What is the essence of C. Lindblom's incrementalist model? The term "incrementalism" comes from the English word "increment", which means "increment, increase, increase", and from a mathematical point of view - "infinitesimal increment". The meaning of this term perfectly reflects the provisions of the theory of incrementalism, which boil down to the following: It is necessary to move moderately, in small steps, breaking large problems into smaller ones, using the “trial and error” method. Under conditions of separation of powers, government decision-making is a process of mutual adaptation and competition between actors forced to wage a difficult struggle and long bargaining among themselves, but ultimately coming to a common denominator. The main importance in choosing a decision is not so much a rational analysis of ideally common goals, but rather the presence of different (often opposing) interests of individuals and groups participating in the adoption of a particular state act. Theoretical analysis plays a minor role due to the constant shortage of knowledge, information, resources and time, insufficient opportunities...

If in the 80s it was all about quality, and in the 90s it was about business reengineering, then the key concept of the current decade is “speed”. Here is the speed of change in the nature of business; here are issues of efficiency of business process management; here is the dynamics of changes in the lifestyle of consumers and their demands under the influence of the increasing availability of information.

If a company that produces or distributes products is able to respond to the market situation not in a few weeks, but in a few hours, then in fact it already becomes a company engaged in offering services for these products.

The basis of all these changes is amazingly simple: the flow of digital information.

Very few are using these technologies for their intended purpose, that is, to create new, radically improved business processes that will allow employees to realize their full potential and provide the ability to respond to changing conditions at the speed necessary to compete successfully in the new world. high-speed business. And many problems in business are essentially information problems; almost no one treats information the way it deserves.

When people live for years without information at their fingertips, they cannot even know what they are missing.

Where to invest money? In information technology! The Internet creates a new unified space for information exchange, cooperation and trade. This new reality has two features that distinguish it from television technologies:

1) with its help, the necessary information is found;

2) it allows you to unite people into interest groups.

To operate successfully in the electronic era, we have specially developed a new electronic infrastructure. It is similar to the human nervous system (it activates your reflexes, which allow you to respond appropriately to danger or need). Likewise, it is important for companies to have their own “nervous system” - one that will ensure its sustainable and effective development, guarantee an immediate response to an emergency situation, promptly notify about the emergence of new opportunities, quickly convey useful information to company employees, prevent delays in decision-making and working with clients. Creating an "electronic nervous system" requires hardware and software; It is distinguished from a conventional computer network by: accuracy, efficiency and wealth of information provided, which gives intellectual workers the opportunity to carry out collective activities and develop original solutions.

With the help of the “electronic nervous system”, you can change any organization, making it more dynamic by improving the three main components of any type of activity - relationships with clients, partners, and staff.

The main purpose of the “electronic nervous system” is to support an environment in which employees work together to develop and implement new, effective strategies.
No company should view its market position as something permanent and unchangeable. You need to constantly re-evaluate the situation. At the same time, one company will achieve success by dramatically changing its type of activity. The other will come to the conclusion that you need to stick to the usual direction that has already brought success. It is only important that the management of each company knows exactly what exactly ensures its current superiority over its competitors and what other market can bring it success.

Information technology gives you access to data that allows you to gain greater insight into your business.

We are used to thinking about information—a piece of text, a picture, or, say, a financial report—as something static. ...There is another, active form of information. Actions that involve information as a verb. Information work generates 50-60% of the gross national product of industrialized countries.

Information work is the work of thought. When thinking and collaboration are powerfully supported by computer technology, you have created an “electronic nervous system.” It consists of modern computer processes used by knowledge workers to make optimal decisions in order to think, act, respond to and adapt to change.

Company employees should have easy access to information. We must get rid of the outdated perception that obtaining and disseminating information is difficult and expensive. Middle managers are the people who need accurate, actionable data because it is their responsibility to act. They need a quick and continuous flow of useful information plus the ability to present it in a variety of visual ways. These employees should not wait for senior management to provide them with the information they need. Instead of spending a ton of time protecting financial data from their employees, companies should spend more time teaching them how to analyze this data and how best to act on it.

Of course, in every company there must be some line drawn to delimit access to information.

Another sign of a good “electronic nervous system” is the number of useful ideas that “float” to the upper levels of the company from the level of product line managers and knowledge workers. Having the opportunity to analyze specific data, these people become generators of specific ideas on how work can be improved - and we note that this aspect of their activity is very inspiring to employees. Everyone is pleased to know that this or that product of their efforts works, and it is doubly pleasant if this can be clearly demonstrated to management.

The final hallmark of a good electronic nervous system is that it allows meetings to discuss specific, well-defined problems and make specific decisions that lead to specific actions. As pilots say, a successful landing is the result of a correct approach. Meetings are productive thanks to careful preparation. It's bad when meetings are used primarily to provide information.

Electronic technology has the potential to completely change both production processes and company business processes. In particular, it can save employees from slow and labor-intensive work with paper documents. Replacing paper-based processes with electronic ones allows knowledge workers to do productive work.

By choosing a PC as the basis for creating the necessary systems in your enterprise, you have the opportunity to replace hardware without losing investment in software. You can always use the equipment of the manufacturer who currently has the most responsive technical support service or who produces the fastest (or cheapest) machines.

By upgrading your computer fleet every few years, you can re-evaluate suppliers against the same criteria and change them without fear of having to abandon existing software or retrain staff. Your software investment will continue to work as your PC migrates to new form factors, such as tablet devices or speech-input systems.

The computing architecture should play a unifying role in the company, ensuring overall integration, but not prohibiting non-fundamental deviations, especially at the departmental level. It is important to ensure a certain flexibility because it is impossible to develop in advance an approach to organizing computing that would satisfy the entire spectrum of needs existing in an enterprise.

The standards of the electronic revolution - the personal computer, the microprocessor on which many more electronic devices can be built, and the Internet - allow companies to create unified, comprehensive computing architectures without risking bankruptcy.

In the next decade, only those companies that can reorganize their work using electronic tools will achieve success. This will enable them to make the right decisions quickly, implement them effectively and maintain close relationships with their clients. The “electronic nervous system” will allow you to conduct business “at the speed of thought.” This is precisely the key to success in the 21st century.
In the updated list of the richest residents of our planet with a multi-year subscription, the head of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, took first place: his personal fortune is estimated today at $50 billion. However, throughout the world he is known not only for the size of his capital, but also for the ideas that have changed our lives.

Bill Gates- William Henry Gates III ( William Henry Gates III) was born on October 28, 1955 in the USA in Seattle, Washington ( Seattle, Washington).

In 1970, Bill and his friend Paul Allen's interest in electronics led them to create a company. Traf-O-Data, which was not particularly commercially successful, but allowed them to gain the necessary skills in management. In 1973, Bill entered the prestigious Harvard University ( Harvard University). Gates told his professors that he would be a millionaire by the age of 30, and this was a rare case when he seriously underestimated his capabilities. At 31, Bill became a billionaire.

In 1974 in the magazine Popular Electronics Paul Allen accidentally saw a photo of the first personal computer (PC) Altair 8800 companies Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. Bill Gates shrewdly assessed the market prospects of the new product and realized that “personal computers” needed special software. He dropped out of university and in 1975, together with Paul Allen, founded a company called Microsoft.

Five years later, the partners patented the operating system MS DOS, which began to be installed on all PCs IBM. Gates and Allen retained full rights to use and develop the system. First time managers IBM did not see prospects for the market success of PCs, considering personal computers to be a toy, a fad; but in the 1980s and 90s the PC market suddenly grew, bringing Microsoft incredible success and fame. In April 1983, the company introduced the first “mouse” to consumers, and in November - the now well-known graphical interface Windows. We lived the evolution of “windows” together with their creator. Products Microsoft constantly in the spotlight - on news feeds and in jokes. Fame always accompanies her with a tart taste of envy.

Bill differed from his peers in his keen sense of perspective and clear vision ( vision) future. From his early youth, he was convinced that not only should every business have a PC, but every housewife should have her own personal computer on her desk (using, of course, soft from Microsoft). Gates dreamed of creating a competitive software industry. He has had a tremendous impact on the way we work with information. Society changed thanks to a man who had vision. In 1992, Bill Gates was awarded the National Medal of Technology ( National Medal of Technology).

Gates does not lecture at universities or give consultations. But he did not become a recluse; he devotes a lot of time to charity. His thoughts on management are now available to the general public - he has written two books: The Road Ahead ( The Road Ahead), 1995 and "Business at the Speed ​​of Thought" ( Business @ the Speed ​​of Thought), 1999.

He always had something to say about strategy. In the spirit of a management guru, Bill Gates formulated his recipe for company success. Here are its ingredients:

concentrate on a market with great potential and few competitors;

play ahead and play big;

occupy your niche in the market;

protect this niche with all available methods;

strive for high or maximum possible profits;

make your clients an offer they will find difficult to refuse.

"Mister Microsoft“has always tried to provide the organization with vital components. He formulated the design rules for a viable company as the “five E’s” ( five E):

Enrichment(enrichment). Employees are attracted by high salaries and retained by generous bonuses ( generous option schemes).

Egalitarianism(equality). The company is trying to develop social insurance, provide free medical care, and provide loans for housing construction.

Empowerment(empowerment). The transfer of authority to employees and increasing their responsibility for work are encouraged.

Email(Email). Widespread use of the capabilities of modern communication systems, in particular e-mail, is considered mandatory.

Emphasis on Performance(emphasis on results). Particular attention is paid to the quality of employee work; their achievements are assessed twice a year (in Microsoft A "four" means "this is incredibly good" and a "one" means "you're fired") on a scale of five.

In the 80s, everything was decided in business quality, in the 90s - reengineering. The key concept of this decade is speed: the speed of business change, determined by the dynamics of changes in consumer demands, and high requirements for the efficiency of business process management. The main problem of “accelerating” a business often lies not in the technical, but in the cultural area - all employees of the company must realize that the survival of the organization depends on the ability of each of them to act as quickly as possible. In business, as in war, the one with the shorter procurement and implementation cycles wins. If a company that produces or distributes products is able to respond to the market situation in just a few hours, then, in fact, it is already providing services to promote these products. The flow of information is the main factor of successful business in the computer era, so the speed of a company's response to unplanned events - good or bad - is the main indicator of its ability to compete.

"Business at the speed of thought"* - not a technical book. On its pages, Gates advocates for the introduction of electronic technologies into the work of every company (the creation of corporate “electronic nervous systems”) and shows the advantages of their practical use in solving real problems. I want to believe him - he knows about the knowledge economy firsthand.

Microsoft is an intelligence-oriented company, its main assets are highly professional and very creative employees. They are connected by a kind of digital nervous system (a digital nervous system, DNS) - email, which provides instant communication and allows you to maintain a high level of coordination of work (see. rice.). Thanks to it, Gates was able to control and comment on the smallest details of the work of each employee.

"Electronic nervous system"

A key feature of the company’s “electronic nervous system” is ample opportunities for coordinating activities in three areas: knowledge management, business operations and commerce. The book is devoted to the consideration of the basic conditions for the correct organization of information flows. Here are B. Gates' recommendations:

In the field of intellectual activity

Ensure that your organization communicates via email. Only then will you be able to react to events with the proper speed. Middle managers need as much information as senior management, although they often receive less of it.

Explore sales data online to make it easier to spot patterns and share insights. You must understand global market trends and provide each client with an individual approach.

Use the power of computers to analyze your business. Free your knowledge workers from routine work so they can focus on doing the work that requires real brainpower—improving products and services, increasing profitability. Unproductive meetings devoted primarily to clarifying the current state of affairs are a sign of poorly organized information flows.

Use electronic tools to create virtual groups of employees from different departments: let them exchange information and work together on their ideas (all this in real time and regardless of where in the world each of them is located). Keep an electronic record of your organization and let your employees study it.

Convert all paper-based processes to electronic ones, freeing up knowledge workers for more valuable tasks. 90% of the work involved in administering employee data can be done by the employees themselves.

When conducting business transactions

Use the power of automation and computerization to eliminate routine tasks or transform them into knowledge-based jobs.

Create an electronic feedback loop to improve the efficiency of processes and the quality of goods and services offered. Every employee should be able to easily track all key company performance indicators.

Use electronic communications to redefine the nature of your business and its boundaries. Dynamically expand or contract your business depending on the market situation.

When carrying out commercial activities

Exchange information for a time. Reduce the product preparation cycle by switching to electronic transactions with all suppliers and partners; transform all business processes, achieving coordinated work on a just-in-time basis.

Make extensive use of e-commerce to eliminate intermediaries from your transactions with customers. And if you're a reseller yourself, use these tools to add value to the products or services you offer.

Use the power of the Internet to help your customers solve problems; reserve personal contacts for answers only to the most complex and significant client requests.

Well-organized information flows are the “circulatory system” of any business; this is what can set a company apart from its competitors. Bill Gates writes: “It is how you collect, organize and use information that determines whether you win or lose. The number of competitors is growing. The volume of information about them, as well as about the market, which is now becoming global, is also growing. And the winners will be those companies that can implement a top-class “electronic nervous system” - one that ensures the uninterrupted flow of information for the sake of intensive development of the company’s intelligence.” Every organization should encourage knowledge sharing through specific corporate strategy provisions, prize funds and projects aimed at creating an appropriate culture.

In the depths of most organizations, huge amounts of useful information and colossal practical experience have accumulated that could make it even stronger... if only these treasures were available to all employees! Managers must realize that the purpose of knowledge management is to enhance corporate IQ(intelligence quotient) by providing employees with wide access to current information and data from past years.

Without the rapid movement of useful information, it is impossible to effectively organize work processes and systematically improve product quality and intellectual productivity. There is no place for single operation workers in the future. Their activities will be automated or included in more complex procedures that require working with knowledge. Providing access to information about production processes to employees directly involved in them opens up new ways to improve product quality, and transferring this information to other departments can improve the overall efficiency of the company. Its employees are no longer just cogs in a giant mechanism - they get the opportunity to make an intellectual contribution to the development of the business.

The Internet will help achieve “friction-free capitalism” by connecting the buyer directly with the seller and giving each of them more opportunities. Check if you have enough information to answer the following questions:

What do customers think about your products? What new services do they want to receive from you? What problems are you expected to solve?

What challenges do your distributors and resellers face when selling your products when working with your company?

In what areas of your business are you inferior to your competitors and why?

If your customers' needs change, will you look for new opportunities? Do you have enough resources for this?

What emerging markets do you need to enter?

Having an “electronic nervous system” does not guarantee that you will find the right answers to these questions. But it will help free up time to think about more important things and relieve you of the burden of old paper processes. This system will provide you with the data to start thinking immediately and allow you to see business trends in a timely manner. Finally, an “electronic nervous system” will allow facts and ideas to quickly float from the depths of your organization to the level of senior management (by the way, it is very likely that people “down there” also have the answers). And most importantly, the “electronic nervous system” will allow you to do all this quickly. Very fast. Faster than competitors.

The “Electronic Nervous System” unites all areas of the company’s activities. Ensuring access to accurate information for everyone transforms strategic decision-making from a separate autonomous activity of top managers into an ongoing process of strategic thinking for each employee. However, the “electronic nervous system” itself cannot ensure victory in the competition. It can only help a company change itself and find its place in the future, while vitality or apathy, success or failure depend on its leaders.

Creator Windows is not a management guru in the usual sense. He is not seen actively promoting his business “recipes”, although he sincerely believes that the factors that led to success Microsoft, may be useful to other companies. In any case, what he did is worthy of being studied.
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* This article uses excerpts from the book: Gates B. Business at the Speed ​​of Thought. Ed. 2nd, corrected - M.: Eksmo Publishing House, 2006. - 480 p.

Article provided to our portal
editorial staff of the magazine

If in the 80s it was all about quality, and in the 90s it was about business reengineering, then the key concept of the current decade is “speed”. Here is the speed of change in the nature of business; here are issues of efficiency of business process management; here is the dynamics of changes in the lifestyle of consumers and their demands under the influence of the increasing availability of information. The rate of growth in product quality and the rate of improvement of business processes will be much higher, and with a sufficiently large value of these indicators, the nature of the business itself will change. If a company that produces or distributes products is able to respond to the market situation not in a few weeks, but in a few hours, then in fact it already becomes a company engaged in offering services for these products.

The basis of all these changes is strikingly simple: the flow of digital information. We have been living in the information age for thirty years, but buyers are still looking for sellers the old fashioned way, since the bulk of the exchange of information between companies still occurs using paper media. Yes, many use the capabilities of information technology - but only to control basic operations: managing production systems, compiling accounts, maintaining accounting records and calculating taxes. All this is nothing more than automation of old processes.

And only a very few use these technologies for what they are really intended to do, that is, to create new, radically improved business processes that will allow employees to realize their full potential and provide the ability to develop responses to any changing conditions at the speed necessary to successfully compete in the new world. world of “high-speed” business. Most companies don't realize that today the tools to make these changes are already available to everyone. And although many problems in business are at their core information problems, almost no one treats information the way it deserves to be treated.

It seems that too many upper echelon managers still believe that the lack of timely information is a given. Well, when people live for years without information at their fingertips, they cannot know what they are missing. One of the goals of my presentation to executive directors of companies was to raise the level of their demands. I wanted these people to realize what a ridiculously small amount of useful and meaningful information they were accustomed to receiving in exchange for their investments in information technology - and they would grab their heads. I wanted them to feel the need to create a flow of information to quickly get accurate information about what was really going on with their clients.

Even companies that spare no expense on information technology do not get all they could from their investments. Interestingly, this discrepancy is not eliminated by increasing capital investment alone. The fact is that most companies invest capital in elementary particles of the information complex: personal computers for office business applications, networks and e-mail for organizing communications, applications supporting the main business. Eighty percent of the average company's total investment goes to technologies that can provide the most effective information communications, but the return is only 20% of the benefits that are available today. The inadequacy of the result to the costs is explained, firstly, by insufficient awareness of the opportunities provided by modern technologies, and secondly, by the incomplete use of these opportunities, even when the organization has all the means to promptly deliver the necessary information to all employees of the company.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES OPEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Most companies today handle information in a way that was appropriate just a few years ago. Back in the 80s and even in the early 90s, meaningful information was extremely expensive, and the means to analyze and disseminate it were practically non-existent. But today, on the threshold of the 21st century, we have new software and access tools that enable us to obtain information, work collectively with it, and make decisions based on it. Although powerful, these tools are easy to use, making them truly worthy of the electronic age.

For the first time, it became possible to represent any type of information - numbers, texts, sound, images - in a digital format suitable for storage and processing in any computer, as well as for transmission from computer to computer. For the first time, off-the-shelf hardware coupled with a standard software platform provides the “economies of scale” that make powerful computing systems inexpensive and therefore accessible to businesses of all sizes. The information provided by such systems can be received and analyzed by any knowledge worker - for this he has at his disposal a wonderful tool - a computer, which is called “personal” for a reason. Not only is the microprocessor revolution providing exponential growth in PC power, but it also puts us on the cusp of a whole new generation of personal electronic “companions”—PDAs, car computers, smart cards, and other devices—that will make the use of digital information ubiquitous. The key factor here is progress in Internet technologies, which will provide access to the global information space to any user.

In the information era, the concept of communication receives a broader interpretation than simply ensuring contact between people. The Internet creates a new unified space for information exchange, cooperation and trade. This is a new reality in which the immediacy and immediacy of television or telephone messages is combined with the depth and content inherent in written messages. But this reality also has two features that distinguish it from television technologies: firstly, with its help the necessary information is found; secondly, it allows you to unite people into interest groups. \ The new standards of equipment, software and communications that are emerging today should re-shape user behavior patterns at work and at home. In less than a decade, most people will find PCs an essential part of their home and work environment, email and Internet communications commonplace, and carrying digital devices that store their personal and business information. New consumer devices will emerge that will process virtually any type of information - text, numbers, voice, photographs, videos - in digital format. When I say “Web lifestyle” and “Web work style,” I am talking specifically about the behavior of people using the Internet in the office and at home. Today, the scheme for accessing information looks like this: a person sits at his desk, and communication with the Internet is carried out through a material cable. But over time, portable digital devices will accompany us everywhere, putting us in constant contact with other digital devices and with other people. Electricity and water meters, alarm systems, cars and other material objects of our everyday life will be ready at any time to report their status via the Internet. All of the above-mentioned areas of application of electronic information are now approaching an “inflection point” - a moment when changes in the nature of their use by consumers will become rapid and widespread. Taken together, all these changes will lead to a radical transformation of both the world of business and our daily lives.

Microsoft and a number of other companies are already reorganizing their business processes taking into account the web style of work. The transition from isolated work of people with paper media to collective work with electronic documents allows us to save entire weeks when performing various production tasks, in particular when drawing up a budget. Using electronic work management tools, a group of people can perform joint actions almost as quickly as a single action can be performed by one person - but add the power of the combined intelligence of team members. Strong teams are strong because everyone thinks about everyone’s idea. The faster we have access to information about the distribution of our products, the activities of our partners and, most importantly, our customers, the faster we can respond to problems and seize opportunities. Other innovative teams that are switching to electronic methods of doing business are also achieving amazing results.