For use: Sunday, August 10, 2000 and thereafter

Business Bestiary: "Tasmanian Devils"

by Michael Finley

Copyright (c) 2000 by Michael Finley

In 1994, Michael Treacy became the hottest business author of the decade with The Discipline of Market Leaders. In that book, he and co-author Fred Weirsema described three "value disciplines" that all businesses must somehow incorporate into their strategies. The book shot to the top of the best-sellers list, as businesses scrambled to incorporate his ideas.

But this story is about a remark Michael Treacy made in passing at a Masters Forum session in Minneapolis not long ago, about the age of change we live in.

"I began my career as a proponent of technology-driven strategy, back in the 1980s," he said. "I believed computers would change everything. When they didn't change nearly enough, at least right away, I soured on the so-called technology revolution, and re-focused on the marketing-driven strategic notions outlined in The Discipline of Market Leaders.

"But now it dawns on me that the revolution I gave up on has occurred without me.  I see the 20-year period we are in the middle of right now as a time of upheaval and reformation -- because technology has finally kicked in as a transformational factor.

"Currently I am thinking that we are on a temporary on-ramp, which we have to accelerate furiously on, but which will lead to a period of less frantic change, and more flow."

Picture Treacy's view of history as a 10-foot sheet of paper. On the first 9.5 feet we are like lumbering draft horses, trudging through our agricultural chores. For the next 5.99 inches, we are sped up like beavers, eagerly going about our industrial business. Then, in the last final sliver, 1/100th of an inch, we become crazed Tasmanian Devils, whirling form new technologies, continuous learning, and ever-accelerating chip speeds. Beyond the paper's edge, Treacy said, we finally get to slow down to a manageable pace.

He says we're in a tempestuous period between two eras, and that it will naturally subside as the new era takes hold. Tomorrow will not be as frantic as today. Indeed, Treacy's own teachings are a case in point. The Discipline of Market Leaders preached that successful businesses must be excellent at one of the following three options:

• Product Leadership -- selling the best widget on the market, like Hewlett-Packard's laser printers.
• Operational Excellence -- having your processes under such great control that you offer your customers the best total cost. Like McDonalds.
• Customer Intimacy -- you solve all your customers' problem in an era, so they give you their business. Amazon.com, when it knows what books you like, is being customer intimate.

In 1994, Treacy believed these ideas were in tension -- you could only be great at one, and trying to be better than "OK" at the others ensured your doom. But now he's changed his mind. Technology allows us to do more, with devilish efficiency, than his original scheme imagined:

• Southwest Airlines can know everything about its customers' individual likes and dislikes, and still have lowest fares.
• Dell Computer can have the most efficient inventory and production, and also sell top-rated computers.
• Nothing prevents Lexus from making great cars and taking top care of  its customers.

So there's really no end to how excellent we can be.

It's a comforting thought that in the near future, maybe 10 years from now, being the best at everything will be a manageable goal. Technology will eventually ride to our rescue, as it already has for these companies, and allow us to work like the devil without breaking a sweat.

Meanwhile, have fun in Tasmania.