In anticipation of his presentation at Building Business Capability in Vegas, Oct 31, – Nov. 4, 2016, we asked David Hamme, Managing Director at Ephesus Consulting, a few questions about pursuing business excellence. Check out his interview in relation to his BBC presentation entitled, Using Processes to Supercharge Innovation.

Q: In what ways do you see your group helping your organization pursue business excellence?

A: Our team builds sustainable innovation. We partner with leadership to facilitate the identification of opportunities and build the critical organizational capabilities and processes to evaluate, prioritize, allocate resources, and execute game changing strategies.

Q: Can you describe the challenges you face or have already overcome in establishing more robust business capabilities for your organization?

A: The two greatest roadblocks to crafting new capabilities are inertia (we’ve always done it this way and it works fine) and vested interest (I’m not giving up what I’ve created). Both challenges can cripple the creators of new capabilities unless there is overwhelming leadership support and a persistent and patient team.

Q: What are your short-term goals for becoming more agile?

A: My key is to always keep my finger on the pulse of change. This entails studying the customer, the competition, and general trends impacting the marketplace. Time spent gaining knowledge is never wasted.

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in the past year?

A: There are situations where it is impossible to move the ball forward immediately. In these instances, the best you can do is plant some seeds and gently nurture them. Everything changes with time and those pockets of resistance may become fertilizer at some point in the future.

Q: What do you see as the most important goal or trend for business analysts and other professionals to keep in mind?

A: While I’m not sure it is a trend, everyone needs to be fact based when exploring opportunities. If you want to be a part of something bigger than yourself, you have to let go of your ego, roll up your sleeves, and just get working.

Q: What’s the latest method/process/tool you’ve implemented to help your business operate more effectively? Have you seen any results yet?

A: Arguably the most powerful movement these days is the concept of process ownership. Jeff Immelt (CEO of General Electric) recently stated that his organization needed to rethink how decisions are made. He argued HQ could no longer be the driver of change in an organization. Decisions need to be made at the local level in the field. Process ownership is a powerful way to not only manage an organization but to also rev up its innovation capabilities. It fosters that management in the field idea that Mr. Immelt supports.

Q: If you could go back 5 years in time and give some professional insight or advice to yourself, what would it be?

A: Don’t be afraid to be an outlier.

Q: What’s one question you wished you were asked in this interview but were not? And how would you answer?

A: What can I do to get ahead in my career today? I recently read a blog on how to get into Ivy League colleges. The advice was simple and I think applicable to the business world. The author suggested building a spike instead of seeking to be a well-rounded individual. In other words, develop a deep competency that makes you the go-to person for a specific area. Demonstrating your competency is a proven method to obtain leadership’s trust.  Such trust is a harbinger of promotions.

Q: Sneak preview: Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your talk at the Building Business Capability (BBC) conference this year?

A: While I don’t want to give away my secrets – my intent is to lift up the curtain and show you an innovation success story and give some important tips to help anyone traveling on the innovation path.

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Don’t miss David’s presentation, Using Processes to Supercharge Innovation, at Building Business Capability on Thursday, November 3, 2016 from 2:10 to 3:10 pm. Click here to register for attendance.