Ontonix: "Optimal does NOT mean best"

Nowadays it is very popular to seek optimal solutions to a broad spectrum of problems: portfolios,  engineering systems, strategies, traffic systems, distribution channels, networks, policies, etc. But have you ever wondered if optimal really means best? Well, it does not. Optimality is not the most convenient state in which to function. The reason?

Optimal solutions are inherently fragile.

Our economy (but not only) is fragile because everything we do is focused on maximizing something (profits,  performance, success) while minimizing something else (risk, time, investment, R&D) at the same time. This leads to strains within the system. Everything is stretched to the limit (or as much as physics will allow). This is exactly what one should not do when facing turbulence. The focus should, instead, be on:

• Solutions that are fit, not optimal.
  
• Simplifying business models and strategies.
  
• Accepting compromises not seeking perfection. Improve, don’t optimise.

 

Read the full article: Ontonix – Complex Systems Management, Business Risk Management.

Management Consultants: “Capitalising on complexity”

I have accumulated quite a collection of “papers” advising business how to deal with complexity and am happy to share them…so long as everyone understands that I am not endorsing any of them!

For your delectation I am pleased to add to the list of what, in the main are “qualitative management consultant-speak” that, even when referring to research, interviews, etc. read (to me at least) like documents produced on a topic, primarily because it is topical and offers a further opportunity to secure some well paid consultancy work.

This latest publication is from Celerant Consulting. Make up your own mind…then take another look at the Ontonix website.

Call, email me or get an objective, quantitative, insight into complexity for  FREE!

It really makes my day when other people do a marketing job for Ontonix! OK, so there is never a specific recommendation to contact us but we are happy to settle for the next best thing. That is to identify where complexity IS already costing and will, increasingly, cost through: the impact upon clients, customers, employees and “the bottom-line” budget to identify, measure, manage and monitor on an ongoing basis reduced ROI on assets and facilit … Read More

via Get “fit for randomness” [with Ontonix UK]

Reveal Your Hidden Profits: Looking at complexity in business?

It really makes my day when other people do a marketing job for Ontonix! OK, so there is never a specific recommendation to contact us but we are happy to settle for the next best thing. That is to identify where complexity IS already costing and will, increasingly, cost through:

• the impact upon clients, customers, employees and “the bottom-line”
• budget to identify, measure, manage and monitor on an ongoing basis
• reduced ROI on assets and facilities or increased insurance/risk management outlay
• reduce business capabilities &/or become less flexible (lose competitive advantage!?)

“I wouldn’t give a nickel for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity”                                                                                               – Einstein

In previous posts I have made reference (and provided links) to reports by, such as, IBM, McKinsey, PwC, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) – on behalf of RBS, KPMG and  AT Kearney, each spelling out WHY COMPLEXITY IS SUCH A MAJOR ISSUE for modern business!

It is reassuring to now see that business’ are being recognised as “systems” operating within inter-connected ecosystems and networks. As a result the “Economic domain” is beginning to benefit from a the lessons learnt in a wide range of inter-disciplinary scientific fields…and can build resilience across domains, rather than destroy it.

Ontonix: "Optimal does NOT mean best"

Nowadays it is very popular to seek optimal solutions to a broad spectrum of problems: portfolios,  engineering systems, strategies, traffic systems, distribution channels, networks, policies, etc. But have you ever wondered if optimal really means best? Well, it does not. Optimality is not the most convenient state in which to function. The reason?

Optimal solutions are inherently fragile.

Our economy (but not only) is fragile because everything we do is focused on maximizing something (profits,  performance, success) while minimizing something else (risk, time, investment, R&D) at the same time. This leads to strains within the system. Everything is stretched to the limit (or as much as physics will allow). This is exactly what one should not do when facing turbulence. The focus should, instead, be on:

• Solutions that are fit, not optimal.
• Simplifiying business models and strategies.
• Accepting compromises not seeking perfection. Improve, don’t optimise.

Read the full article: Ontonix – Complex Systems Management, Business Risk Management.

Changes to air cargo security will have repercussions

Image via Wikipedia

What will be the impact upon Global Supply Chain in the short and medium term? How well equipped are organisations to cope with disruption and delay. Or, more significantly, the financial impact of events outwith the scope of their anticipation, control and measurement, upon their own and their customers’ business?

Black Swans: A Corporate Governance “blind spot”

How many have really assessed “their fitness”? I suspect that, as the focus for so long has been “lean”, that some will be so fragile that, failure is inevitable…but the only way to know where an the operation stands – how structurally robust it is – is to measure it. That is precisely what we, at Ontonix, are able to do!

The discovery of two bomb devices en route to the US has resulted in proposals to tighten air cargo security. Yet, without standard security measures which are internationally applicable, this will be difficult to enforce. Meanwhile, more stringent restrictions may adversely impact wider economies as a whole, with many sectors depending on timely cargo deliveries.

The recent events in the air cargo industry, where two bomb devices originating in Yemen were intercepted by security officials in Dubai and the UK on their way to the US, have shaken the foundations of air freight to its core. Apart from passenger safety considerations, the air cargo industry and the impact on the wider economy are at stake. Furthermore, most passenger airlines carry air cargo in the belly of the plane, so the threat applies to both areas of air transport. Global volume for the air freight industry is estimated to reach almost 200 billion freight tonne kilometres in 2010, of which a substantial percentage is carried on passenger aircrafts…

Read more at Datamonitor Research Store – Changes to air cargo security will have repercussions.

Related articles

• Supply chain complexity (davidgwilson.spaces.live.com)
• Infosys: DNA Therapy for Strategic Cost Reduction in Supply Chains (fitforrandomness.wordpress.com)
• Reveal Your Hidden Profits: What can we do to overcome the increasingly-costly complexity in business? (fitforrandomness.wordpress.com)
• Updated: Enterprise Risk Management & Complexity analysis (fitforrandomness.wordpress.com)