Simple ─ Killing Complexity for a Lean and Agile Organization

The parameters of competition in business today are changing, where big will not necessarily beat small anymore; fast is beating slow. Agility, speed and flexibility will be the key elements of successful strategy and execution, and not just in the corporate world. Government agencies, health care, and education are all subject to the new paradigm.

How well will your firm execute its strategy? What barriers exist that inhibit your execution? Are you keeping one eye on tomorrow’s customers, while you manage those of today? These are all key questions as we strive to deliver value on an ongoing basis.

A significant challenge for many of us today is the increasing pace and complexity of business. Our customers want more, faster than ever before; faster service, faster innovation, and faster response. While we grew up in an environment where big beat small, the new world has the quick and agile leaving the slow behind.

Agility begins with planning, and most leadership teams develop decent vision. We know what we want to do, in general terms. Where many of our organizations break down, however, is in the area of getting things done.

• Do we have the resources to execute our strategy?

• Are we truly delivering value to today’s customers? Who are those customers?

• Is there an innovation strategy to plan for tomorrow’s customers?

• Do our key projects truly connect to the firm’s strategy?

• Is our operations strategy aligned to create an advantage or capitalize on our skills and expertise?

This book is about agility and simplicity, where achieving simplicity comes from a focus on the customer. By understanding who those customers are, and what they want, we enable the organization to focus our innovation strategy and projects in ways that deliver sustainable value. Even in not-for-profit and government agencies, executing in an aligned organization can become a way of life.

Barry Cross’s career spans over 25 years of industry, teaching and consulting experience. He joined Queen’s University in 2006 after spending 18 years in various Executive and Management positions with Magna International, Autosystems Manufacturing and DuPont. While in Industry, Barry led many key strategic initiatives, including a $200 Million business unit with operations in three countries.

Barry now teaches at Queen’s Smith School of Business in Strategy, Operations Management, Service Management and Project Management, where he is an Assistant Professor and Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Operations Strategy. At the corporate level, he speaks and consults regularly on Lean, Innovation, Execution, Operations and Project Management.

He has an MBA from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo. He is quoted widely in radio, television and the written media, and has published numerous articles and two previous books. He is the Globe and Mail #1 best-selling author of Lean Innovation: Understanding What’s Next in Today’s Economy (Taylor and Francis, 2012), and Project Leadership: Creating Value with an Adaptive Project Organization (Taylor and Francis, 2014; co-authored with Kathryn Brohman).