Lead with Entrepreneur System Designers

Successful manufacturing or technical entrepreneurs are almost always superb system designers: that is, they architect the complete operational value cycle, tying the fundamental arrangement of product and manufacturing system to their vision of serving customers. (Think of Henry Ford or Bill Gates.) These are the kind of people we want leading projects.

Entrepreneurs understand the connection between customer need, technical opportunity and profit. They formulate and communicate a vision and organize and lead resources.

System designers define the fundamental architecture of the complete system or value cycle (customers, product, manufacturing system, and supply base) help team members communicate their expertise to each other and orchestrate the combination of all the elements into a superior whole. They are like the conductors of great symphonies. They apply the LAMDA cycle to the “big pictures” (Look - Ask - Model - Dialogue - Act).

Eliminate barriers to the entrepreneur system designers. Development projects and business line leaders are crucial to project or business line success. They need most of the skills and qualities of those who originally create companies. However, conventional and bureaucratic companies usually force these people underground because they are poor bureaucrats: they won’t follow rules and they care more about their dreams than promotion, metrics or their bosses’ tastes. If you work in a large, mature company you will have to look for these individuals carefully, provide training and provide support and a willing ear. (It is easier to find an entrepreneur and a system designer than the combination, and you can try teaming them)

Select leaders on their personal characteristics: their business and technical vision and passion, their ability to synthesize complete systems, their ability to communicate across functional boundaries, their ability to identify the simple essence of anything and their ability to get things done. Choose people who want to create new products more than they want anything else. (Actually, these people will select themselves, given the opportunity: you really only need to eliminate the organizational barriers to their emergence.)

 Questions to Consider:

• How are project leaders selected and developed?

• What latitude does a project leader have?

• What are the responsibilities of a project leader?

• What is the expectation of project leaders to mentor and develop others?