Corporate Ratatouille
- So, who is next here ... Sergei Ivanov, director of information technology. –Nikolai Ivanovich ran his finger over a piece of paper, stopped and looked up at Evgeny Viktorovich.
- Yes, he is. - for some reason the owner smiled. - I strongly recommend that you, as a new director, establish good contact with this guy. It can be said survivor. The only top executive who has worked for the company for several years.
- Well, I hope I will be the second. - smiled Nikolai Ivanovich. - He who, in essence? In life, in a sense.
- I do not understand ...
- As far as I remember, three types of personalities fall into the CIO. - began to bend fingers Nikolai Ivanovich. - Programmers, system administrators, and net managers.
- Sergey is a programmer. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - And that says a lot. He will help you improve my business. Not just help, but he will do everything.
- In terms of? What is it about? About automation projects?
- No, we are talking about projects to change processes and achieve business goals. - smiled the owner. - Have you talked with Svetlana Vladimirovna?
- Yes, at the very beginning, yesterday.
- She did not tell you about the warehouse?
“A warehouse, a warehouse ...” Nikolai Ivanovich looked thoughtfully out the window. - No, there was nothing about the warehouse. What kind of legend?
- She has already grown moss, but nonetheless. - quickened Yevgeny Viktorovich. - Sergey, still being a programmer, volunteered to solve the problem of the warehouse.
- What's the problem? - interested asked Nikolai Ivanovich.
- There have always been big discrepancies between the real balances and the accounting system. About twenty-five percent came, if I'm not mistaken.
“Mother honest ...” gasped Nikolai Ivanovich. - So you just had to bring order.
- Everyone thought so, said so and did so. - the owner has nodded with a smile. - Several people have tried. Director, chief accountant, someone else, I do not remember. All were taken to restore order, but no one could.
“So you probably fired them?” - laughed Nikolai Ivanovich. - There are very few serious, tough managers capable of correcting such problems. Here I am ...
- Wait until you make conclusions, listen to it all over again. - raised his hand Evgeny Viktorovich. - These were normal, serious managers. Those that you brought or still bring, are unlikely to be radically different.
- Here, let me disagree, Evgeny Viktorovich. - the new director broke into a smile. - I wouldn’t take anyone to the team, at least - an MBA degree, five years of practice, and ...
- Well, with these MBA degrees, beautiful, with medals, they will fail to change. - the owner answered seriously. - Svetlana Viktorovna also has an MBA. And Voronin, who was before her, also had a degree, and the experience behind him is colossal. But this experience is enough only for current, operational activities. And when it comes to change, degrees do not help. And initiatives too. There are no drivers of change - people who will take the initiative, organize others, motivate them, convince management and, most importantly, make changes. They will figure out what to change, how to change, and implement it.
- Are you seriously? - Picture director rounded eyes. - Do you have a programmer doing such things?
- Not only he, of course ... - Yevgeny Viktorovich shrugged. - But he, in my memory, did the best. Of course, I do not take into account the period of formation of a business, when I personally was involved in management and change.
- And, so all the same you are a champion? - smiled the director.
- No, it is unlikely. - the owner did not succumb. - An analogy from the life of programmers will do. Sergey told me that there is a fundamental difference in competencies between those who write programs from scratch and those who then modify them. Literally, there are programmers who masterfully start, make a working prototype, or even a complete solution, but they are terribly slow and, as they say, they are blunt at work when the system needs to be changed - not their own, but someone else's. There, of course, not everything is so literally and polar, but a definite division is still present.
- Is it like the difference between an entrepreneur and a manager?
- Well, yes, sort of. - nodded the owner. - Here I am - an entrepreneur. I love creating new topics, digging into markets, looking for customers and ideas. But I can't stand picking at the processes, correcting the already built, doing my routine. More precisely, now I look at this work a little differently, again thanks to Sergey.
“So what did he do with the warehouse?”
- He did what I needed, and more. - smiled Yevgeny Viktorovich. “I wanted the deviations back to a few percent.” Even, it seems, the goal of the project was written in five percent. And he knows what goal he achieved?
- Well, surprise me.
- Shares of one percent. The maximum that was - half a percentage point. Can you imagine?
“Hmm ...” the director frowned. - Is the result steady?
- More than. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - A few years have passed, and the result is kept within this framework. The process is self-regulated, does not require intervention and control.
- How did he do it? - the director squinted. - data collection terminals? Has the staff increased? Fines imposed? Robots implemented? Although, I did not see robots, I was already in stock ...
- None of the above. - the owner smiled slyly.
- And what were the costs of the project?
- Approximately one thousand rubles. - the owner was clearly pleased with himself. - This is the cost of a barcode scanner, which Sergey hitched to an accountant’s computer.
- What kind of scanner? No, that is, I know what a stroke scanner is. - director fussed. - But why?
- It's a long story. If interested, Sergey will tell you himself. - continued Yevgeny Viktorovich. - He told me several times, but I still don’t understand why he did it. I only know that these bar codes have become the cornerstone of the project. And everyone laughed, including ... No, I did not laugh, I doubted. There was even a thought, in the course of the project, to drop everything and expel Sergei. But something held me back, and I am immensely pleased.
“Somehow this is all strange ...” the director shook his head. - How can a barcode help clean up the process? This is just a small technical solution.
- Well, I will not give spoilers, you talk to him yourself. - smiled the owner. - Be sure you will be surprised. Everything is much simpler than it seems.
- Ok, I'll tag myself. - the director took a notebook and wrote something down in it. - So, as you tell, the whole thing looks like a strong consultancy project.
- This is just the beginning. - the owner mysteriously smiled. “Then he doubled our sales.”
- What? - genuinely surprised Nikolai Ivanovich. - Programmer?
- Yes, by the way, he was still a programmer then. Or not ... - the owner thought. - Yes exactly! Based on the results of this, I nominated him as the CIO.
- Listen, Evgeny Viktorovich. - Mumbled the director in dismay. - Whether I'm stupid, or skis do not go. How, and why did the programmer work with you to increase sales?
- There was a project to optimize supply. Optimized so that sales have doubled. You understand that supply is a purely internal function. Sergey did not communicate with customers, did not invent new products, did not look for orders. Just made it so that we stopped losing money out of our hands, delaying the deadlines and torturing customers with deficits.
- And he is still the CIO? - continued to be surprised Nikolai Ivanovich.
- There is a problem here. - the owner said with a serious look. “We made him development director, but he himself left this position recently. He even said that he wanted to leave general positions.
- Why?
- He is a programmer. In fact, in the shower. He and business transformation looks like programming, or how to build and optimize systems. He has a whole theory on this subject.
- What? - the director was surprised.
“Now ... He explained to me ...” The owner stared at the ceiling. - And here, I remembered. Watched the cartoon "Ratatouille"?
“I don't know ... About the rat that cooked in the restaurant?”
- Yes, yes, he is. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - There was one wonderful phrase, I often use it now. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
- Well, it sounds, of course, beautiful, just what's the point?
- The fact that changes in business can be done not only by the manager. And Sergey proved it in practice. I honestly have never seen this. In books and articles, of course, all sorts of stories happen, but here is my own business, and Sergey copes with his changes better than anyone. Although he is a programmer. And he wants to be a programmer. Only here ...
- What?
- Recently, he has become some kind of strange. - on the face of the owner ran a sad shadow. - Actually, the changes have ceased to engage. Turned into such things, I do not know ... Don Quixote, perhaps, or D'Artagnan. Everyone is dissatisfied, he seeks out any problems, and flaunts, as his own achievement. With all the managers in the counter, everyone sees a bunch of flaws. And, as you understand, everything is on business, basically. But to sense something ...
- In terms of?
- Well, he, you know, as if mocks everyone. All the time such a call sounds. He knows, and everyone knows that he is right, and there are problems. And everyone also knows that no one but he can cope with these problems. No, new managers, of course, petusha first, they say, we will fix it ourselves, but in the end they have nothing.
- What about Sergey?
- And he stands aside and looks. Does not help, and does not interfere. He observes, submits - like “let's, let's, all the same you will fail”. Italian strikes likes to arrange. All automation projects are carried out in strict accordance with the task, everything is closed, you will never get to anywhere, but ... There is no result. And to him it is like a joy.
- Straight troll some. - smiled the director.
- Yes, a good definition. - nodded the owner. - Business troll. I tried to talk to him, but he closes, does not want to move forward, as if motivation, perhaps, is not enough. I do not know ... Maybe you can move it from its place?
- Perhaps he needs a goal. - the director said thoughtfully. - Well, as in those projects that you talked about.
- By the way, yes ... - the director thoughtfully left, then suddenly he smiled. - Exactly! Listen, but the truth! Those projects, both, were not initiated by him, understand? In one he was asked, in the other they shoved him, but everywhere he achieved success. And now we seem to be waiting for the initiative from him, but instead, he is satisfied with all this fuss.
- Well, that means a person like that. - pleased with himself, the director nodded. - His goal should be set from the outside. He himself does not cope with goal setting.
- Well! - the owner almost beamed. - Let's think about what goal he set!
At that moment there was a knock at the door. The director grimaced in displeasure and shouted "Come in!"
The upper half of Tatyana's body, HR-director, pushed through the door.
- Sorry, it's very urgent. - she mumbled. - Evgeny Viktorovich, trouble.
- What? The owner frowned.
- Sergey wrote an application for dismissal.
- Yes, he is. - for some reason the owner smiled. - I strongly recommend that you, as a new director, establish good contact with this guy. It can be said survivor. The only top executive who has worked for the company for several years.
- Well, I hope I will be the second. - smiled Nikolai Ivanovich. - He who, in essence? In life, in a sense.
- I do not understand ...
- As far as I remember, three types of personalities fall into the CIO. - began to bend fingers Nikolai Ivanovich. - Programmers, system administrators, and net managers.
- Sergey is a programmer. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - And that says a lot. He will help you improve my business. Not just help, but he will do everything.
- In terms of? What is it about? About automation projects?
- No, we are talking about projects to change processes and achieve business goals. - smiled the owner. - Have you talked with Svetlana Vladimirovna?
- Yes, at the very beginning, yesterday.
- She did not tell you about the warehouse?
“A warehouse, a warehouse ...” Nikolai Ivanovich looked thoughtfully out the window. - No, there was nothing about the warehouse. What kind of legend?
- She has already grown moss, but nonetheless. - quickened Yevgeny Viktorovich. - Sergey, still being a programmer, volunteered to solve the problem of the warehouse.
- What's the problem? - interested asked Nikolai Ivanovich.
- There have always been big discrepancies between the real balances and the accounting system. About twenty-five percent came, if I'm not mistaken.
“Mother honest ...” gasped Nikolai Ivanovich. - So you just had to bring order.
- Everyone thought so, said so and did so. - the owner has nodded with a smile. - Several people have tried. Director, chief accountant, someone else, I do not remember. All were taken to restore order, but no one could.
“So you probably fired them?” - laughed Nikolai Ivanovich. - There are very few serious, tough managers capable of correcting such problems. Here I am ...
- Wait until you make conclusions, listen to it all over again. - raised his hand Evgeny Viktorovich. - These were normal, serious managers. Those that you brought or still bring, are unlikely to be radically different.
- Here, let me disagree, Evgeny Viktorovich. - the new director broke into a smile. - I wouldn’t take anyone to the team, at least - an MBA degree, five years of practice, and ...
- Well, with these MBA degrees, beautiful, with medals, they will fail to change. - the owner answered seriously. - Svetlana Viktorovna also has an MBA. And Voronin, who was before her, also had a degree, and the experience behind him is colossal. But this experience is enough only for current, operational activities. And when it comes to change, degrees do not help. And initiatives too. There are no drivers of change - people who will take the initiative, organize others, motivate them, convince management and, most importantly, make changes. They will figure out what to change, how to change, and implement it.
- Are you seriously? - Picture director rounded eyes. - Do you have a programmer doing such things?
- Not only he, of course ... - Yevgeny Viktorovich shrugged. - But he, in my memory, did the best. Of course, I do not take into account the period of formation of a business, when I personally was involved in management and change.
- And, so all the same you are a champion? - smiled the director.
- No, it is unlikely. - the owner did not succumb. - An analogy from the life of programmers will do. Sergey told me that there is a fundamental difference in competencies between those who write programs from scratch and those who then modify them. Literally, there are programmers who masterfully start, make a working prototype, or even a complete solution, but they are terribly slow and, as they say, they are blunt at work when the system needs to be changed - not their own, but someone else's. There, of course, not everything is so literally and polar, but a definite division is still present.
- Is it like the difference between an entrepreneur and a manager?
- Well, yes, sort of. - nodded the owner. - Here I am - an entrepreneur. I love creating new topics, digging into markets, looking for customers and ideas. But I can't stand picking at the processes, correcting the already built, doing my routine. More precisely, now I look at this work a little differently, again thanks to Sergey.
“So what did he do with the warehouse?”
- He did what I needed, and more. - smiled Yevgeny Viktorovich. “I wanted the deviations back to a few percent.” Even, it seems, the goal of the project was written in five percent. And he knows what goal he achieved?
- Well, surprise me.
- Shares of one percent. The maximum that was - half a percentage point. Can you imagine?
“Hmm ...” the director frowned. - Is the result steady?
- More than. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - A few years have passed, and the result is kept within this framework. The process is self-regulated, does not require intervention and control.
- How did he do it? - the director squinted. - data collection terminals? Has the staff increased? Fines imposed? Robots implemented? Although, I did not see robots, I was already in stock ...
- None of the above. - the owner smiled slyly.
- And what were the costs of the project?
- Approximately one thousand rubles. - the owner was clearly pleased with himself. - This is the cost of a barcode scanner, which Sergey hitched to an accountant’s computer.
- What kind of scanner? No, that is, I know what a stroke scanner is. - director fussed. - But why?
- It's a long story. If interested, Sergey will tell you himself. - continued Yevgeny Viktorovich. - He told me several times, but I still don’t understand why he did it. I only know that these bar codes have become the cornerstone of the project. And everyone laughed, including ... No, I did not laugh, I doubted. There was even a thought, in the course of the project, to drop everything and expel Sergei. But something held me back, and I am immensely pleased.
“Somehow this is all strange ...” the director shook his head. - How can a barcode help clean up the process? This is just a small technical solution.
- Well, I will not give spoilers, you talk to him yourself. - smiled the owner. - Be sure you will be surprised. Everything is much simpler than it seems.
- Ok, I'll tag myself. - the director took a notebook and wrote something down in it. - So, as you tell, the whole thing looks like a strong consultancy project.
- This is just the beginning. - the owner mysteriously smiled. “Then he doubled our sales.”
- What? - genuinely surprised Nikolai Ivanovich. - Programmer?
- Yes, by the way, he was still a programmer then. Or not ... - the owner thought. - Yes exactly! Based on the results of this, I nominated him as the CIO.
- Listen, Evgeny Viktorovich. - Mumbled the director in dismay. - Whether I'm stupid, or skis do not go. How, and why did the programmer work with you to increase sales?
- There was a project to optimize supply. Optimized so that sales have doubled. You understand that supply is a purely internal function. Sergey did not communicate with customers, did not invent new products, did not look for orders. Just made it so that we stopped losing money out of our hands, delaying the deadlines and torturing customers with deficits.
- And he is still the CIO? - continued to be surprised Nikolai Ivanovich.
- There is a problem here. - the owner said with a serious look. “We made him development director, but he himself left this position recently. He even said that he wanted to leave general positions.
- Why?
- He is a programmer. In fact, in the shower. He and business transformation looks like programming, or how to build and optimize systems. He has a whole theory on this subject.
- What? - the director was surprised.
“Now ... He explained to me ...” The owner stared at the ceiling. - And here, I remembered. Watched the cartoon "Ratatouille"?
“I don't know ... About the rat that cooked in the restaurant?”
- Yes, yes, he is. - Yevgeny Viktorovich nodded. - There was one wonderful phrase, I often use it now. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
- Well, it sounds, of course, beautiful, just what's the point?
- The fact that changes in business can be done not only by the manager. And Sergey proved it in practice. I honestly have never seen this. In books and articles, of course, all sorts of stories happen, but here is my own business, and Sergey copes with his changes better than anyone. Although he is a programmer. And he wants to be a programmer. Only here ...
- What?
- Recently, he has become some kind of strange. - on the face of the owner ran a sad shadow. - Actually, the changes have ceased to engage. Turned into such things, I do not know ... Don Quixote, perhaps, or D'Artagnan. Everyone is dissatisfied, he seeks out any problems, and flaunts, as his own achievement. With all the managers in the counter, everyone sees a bunch of flaws. And, as you understand, everything is on business, basically. But to sense something ...
- In terms of?
- Well, he, you know, as if mocks everyone. All the time such a call sounds. He knows, and everyone knows that he is right, and there are problems. And everyone also knows that no one but he can cope with these problems. No, new managers, of course, petusha first, they say, we will fix it ourselves, but in the end they have nothing.
- What about Sergey?
- And he stands aside and looks. Does not help, and does not interfere. He observes, submits - like “let's, let's, all the same you will fail”. Italian strikes likes to arrange. All automation projects are carried out in strict accordance with the task, everything is closed, you will never get to anywhere, but ... There is no result. And to him it is like a joy.
- Straight troll some. - smiled the director.
- Yes, a good definition. - nodded the owner. - Business troll. I tried to talk to him, but he closes, does not want to move forward, as if motivation, perhaps, is not enough. I do not know ... Maybe you can move it from its place?
- Perhaps he needs a goal. - the director said thoughtfully. - Well, as in those projects that you talked about.
- By the way, yes ... - the director thoughtfully left, then suddenly he smiled. - Exactly! Listen, but the truth! Those projects, both, were not initiated by him, understand? In one he was asked, in the other they shoved him, but everywhere he achieved success. And now we seem to be waiting for the initiative from him, but instead, he is satisfied with all this fuss.
- Well, that means a person like that. - pleased with himself, the director nodded. - His goal should be set from the outside. He himself does not cope with goal setting.
- Well! - the owner almost beamed. - Let's think about what goal he set!
At that moment there was a knock at the door. The director grimaced in displeasure and shouted "Come in!"
The upper half of Tatyana's body, HR-director, pushed through the door.
- Sorry, it's very urgent. - she mumbled. - Evgeny Viktorovich, trouble.
- What? The owner frowned.
- Sergey wrote an application for dismissal.