Whiteboard: How Progress is Made

Like most companies, we have our own lingo here.  Definitions, jokes, double entendres all float through the air and are shared virally, like great Dilbert comics.

To my surprise last week, I stumbled on a Harvard Business Review blog post from author Whitney Johnson related to Progress vernacular. While the post focuses on the reasons social media is important, I love Johnson’s use of The Re-Wired Group’s equation of progress whiteboard.

Progress happens when the Push (F1) + the Pull (F2) is greater than Allegiance to the past (F3) + Anxiety (F4).

What struck me is how well this definition works in the technology world:

• F1 (push) = lack of visibility across the supply chains or into your customer’s entire experience (just two examples).
• F2 (pull) = you know it’s possible to truly put business intelligence to work, so maybe you’re shopping for a dashboard.
• F3 (allegiance to the past) = the reality is most business processes already exist, so you have to find a way to work within, and around, those systems.
• F4 (anxiety) = we can help with some anxiety; for the rest, I’ll gladly share some of my Dilbert favorites.   

In short: progress requires Progress.  

How do you define progress? How does your business make progress? Would love to hear your thoughts, so please post a comment here or tweet at me @colleenovate or @progresssw.  We’ll be tracking your thoughts and giving away a $50 iTunes gift card to one lucky respondent, so hit us with your comments, and check back next Friday to see if you’ve won!

And a huge hat tip to Re-Wired – thanks for the thought provoking equation.