The flow of value to customers is of upmost importance. When a business gets that wrong, the consequences are brutal.
Everything about product and service development begins and end with the customer. When factors influence outcomes, flow gets disrupted. Throughout 2020, 2021, 2023, and now going into 2023, we’ve seen how organizations can get their operations turned upside down.
Which brings up the question of what enables and support the flow of value? Since flow is a concept that cuts across every area of life, there are many examples of how flow is enabled while transforming the concept of value.
Hydroelectric power has changed our lives in measurable ways. Rivers flow within the constraints of their banks. Henry Ford’s company created ways to harness the power resident in the water.
By repurposing mills along rivers, Ford and company enabled the Ford Motor Company to grow quickly. As well, Ford built generators and plants in areas that showed economic promise while not being considered highly prosperous.
Flow of Value to the Customer
In the previous post, we explored being Customer 1st. Every organization is responsible to flow value to its customers. If it doesn’t deliver value, it will cease to exist.
The Flow System (TFS) is designed to assist organizations adapt when value flow is disrupted. Think of TFS like a river. A river will flow toward a lower resistance path, and it will overwhelm a path once it is over capacity.
To avoid catastrophic outcomes, like river floods, we build countermeasures to harness its power. The same applies to TFS as it equips companies, and not-for-profits alike, to take a hold of situations with the right tools.
The force and volume of the river is controls by different approaches, and business can act similarly. By using Complexity Thinking, Distributed Leadership, and Team Science, any enterprise can deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).
To quote from “The Flow System: The Evolution of Agile and Lean Thinking in an Age o Complexity”
Only when FLOW is achieved, by connecting all three components [Complexity Thinking, Distributed Leadership, Team Science] of TFS, can customer value be maximized. When these three components are not connected, bottlenecks are formed that contribute to the loss of information, knowledge transfer, or incorrect information exchanges, resulting in defects and delays. These bottlenecks hinder customer value rather than increase customer value. TFS provide maximum value to the customer in times of complexity and ambiguity.
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Reference to TFS —
©2019 Professor John Turner, Nigel Thurlow, Brian Rivera. The Flow System™ is offered for license under the Attribution license of Creative Commons, accessible at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode and also described in summary form at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ By utilizing this Site and any information presented you acknowledge and agree that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms of the Attribution license of Creative Commons. The Flow System™, The DNA of Organizations™, and The Triple Helix of Flow™ are all trademarks of the copyright holders.
