Radical Collaboration… a necessity and a culture shift

The Quorum Principle can be invaluable when developing industrial digital transformation projects

by Ian Clarke

Sales & Marketing Director inControl

Major transformational drives in manufacturing can be career defining and create existential change for business leaders and their companies. However, outdated ways of managing and outsourcing projects are holding businesses back, so do we need true cultural re-evaluation in companies and their project vendors to realise the full potential of these kind of projects?

John Robinson – Creator of The Quorum Principle, is a straight-talking Yorkshireman who has an impressive track record in industry, one that gives credibility to his argument that outmoded methods of managing big transformational projects in industry, such as digital transformation projects, has resulted in many of them failing. He is now trailblazing a major change in how we can approach these projects, and it’s a change that is gathering a lot of momentum and followers — gaining support from forward thinking businesses that see this approach as something simply makes a lot of sense.

But whilst many have seen the light, is it too much of a change of habit for some organisations to cope with?

“One throat to choke”

Past methods of project outsourcing rely on a small number of contractors being invited to an RFQ, to provide best pricing and strategy to meet a specification and scope of works. Manufacturers like this approach, as it keeps the number of people involved to a minimum, and seeks to drive best cost whilst providing a ‘single throat to choke’ if the project deployment develops problems.

Kept at arm’s length, tenderers select their usual sub-contractors and vendors, and tend not to have the chance to discuss major challenges, technical compatibility issues — or even to select and work with the best vendors for the each element of each project.

It’s understandable, this competitive approach means that sub-contractors or event main contractors aren’t necessarily working to their strengths and this lack of communication and collaboration can result in a very fragmented approach which can really hamper a project’s chance of success.

Also, vendor representatives are often ‘sales people’, and so by nature have a very competitive DNA, something that can prove a real barrier to fostering true collaboration.

‘Siloed’ thinking: not ideal across big digital transformation projects

Let’s take the example of a big Digital Transformation project, in a medium to large sized enterprise. The end game is likely to use digital techniques to improve every possible aspect of a business’ efficiency and productivity, with the goal of reducing costs and achieving sustainable growth.

Far too many manufacturers, still approach this topic with a siloed mentality, where the project is given to a manager, in operational excellence or IT, to define the scope of works — deciding how best to start the journey and define the parameters of the RFQ.

Done in isolation, they could be missing valuable insights from other department in the business, or even ignoring obvious operation technology challenges — such a technology obsolescence or OT data gathering from machinery and process plant. Similarly, without suitable levels of cross departmental cooperation, major obstacles such as system incompatibility or technology ‘cul-de-sacs’ could bring a digitalisation journey to a juddering halt or even hugely delay them getting started.

Customer and contractors, can they ditch their bad habits?

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”  Charles Darwin

It’s never easy to change ‘the way we’ve always done things’, harder still when others around us have similar bad habits, but potentially we are on the brink of a new way of approaching major projects, where manufacturing businesses start by involving all stakeholders, internal and external from the off — assessing the strengths and really valuing the accumulated knowledge of all the parties involved. In turn each part of the project can realise that success comes from truly collaborating with everyone involved, not simply seeking to ‘win’ at the expense of others in some zero-sum game.

As Paul Polman former boss of Unilever said in his book ‘Net Positive’: ISBN: 9781647824730

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This underscores the importance of collaboration and partnerships in achieving long-term goals.

The Quorum Principle: Help is at hand…

The Quorum Principle – explained in three minutes

The Quorum Principle Playbook is a guide to how manufacturers can take this radical approach to collaboration and achieve high levels of project success. Multiple vendors are steadily joining the vanguard and pledging to act collaboratively.

At inControl Systems, we have already pledged to play our part in the Quorum Principle’s collaborative approach to projects. We know where our strengths lie as a systems integrator, and we know we can’t deliver anything of real value to our clients without working with the right vendors of hardware and software.

Ultimately, we know that the most successful projects are the ones where the customer is eager to engage the teams across their whole operation when they are scoping out their long term needs and vision for the future of their business.

A ‘call to arms’

There’s certainly a lot to take onboard around this subject, and chances are that you’ve already realised that you need to have a wider level of support from your teams and senior management before looking to change your approach to transformational projects.

In the true spirit of the Quorum Principle, inContol are happy to bring in to any conversation people from the concept’s growing community, including John Robinson himself.

If you want to learn more about this approach, change your habits and start a true collaboration, get in touch with the inControl team today.

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