It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [70]
“We haven’t finished yet,” I try to encourage him. “What we have to do now is use the real power of the Future Reality Tree, Negative Branch Reservations.”
“What good will that do?”
“It might help us trim the wings of these pigs.”
“If you say so,” he mutters, without much hope.
I copy the original injection, flip the page and post it at the bottom. I read it again, “ ‘The company takes actions that sufficiently increase the perception of value the market has for the company’s products.’ Don, what increases perception of value?”
“A better product.”
I know that we cannot afford it. This is the real reason why our injection seems to be a flying pig. But, according to Jonah, following this route is supposed to lead us to a practical solution. I hope he is right. Since I don’t have any other alternative, I take the time to write it properly.
Don reads what I write: “If ‘The company takes actions that sufficiently increase the perception of value the market has for the company’s products,’ and ‘The market appreciates better products,’ then ‘It is apparent that the company has successfully launched better products.’ The negative branch is obvious, it takes investments of time and money to launch a new product. Things that ‘we don’t have.”
“Correct, but we should write it down. If, ‘It is apparent that the company has successfully launched better products,’ and ‘It takes investments of time and money to launch a new product,’ then ‘It is apparent that the company has invested money and time.’ As you said, ‘We don’t have money and time,’ and thus the conclusion is, ‘We are replaced as the management of the company.’ Negative Branch, no doubt.”
I stand up and take our cups for a refill. “Don, in our negative branch, where do we switch from positive to negative? The injection is positive. Successfully launching a new product is positive. The next step, investing time and money, is negative. Here is where we have to concentrate. What is the assumption under the connecting arrow?”
“Alex,” Don clears his throat, “we are assuming that the new product is actually new.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe the new product is just the old one with small modifications? Then the company doesn’t have to invest a lot of money and time. No, this is not a flying pig, it’s realistic. Take Pete’s solution as an example. He made minimal changes in his offering, and it didn’t require any investment or time to implement.”
“Yeah, good idea. Let’s put it back into our Future Reality Tree.”
“How?”
“Here, take your cup,” I hand him his coffee and flip back the page. “We have a new injection, ‘The company introduces small changes that sufficiently increase the perception of value the market has for the company’s products.” And I post it at the bottom of the page. “Now our original flying pig is not an injection but a derivative.
“See, if ‘The company introduces small changes that sufficiently increase the perception of value the market has for the company’s products,’ then ‘The company takes actions that sufficiently increase the perception of value the market has for the company’s products.’ ”
“I must admit that our new injection is more down to earth. But we still don’t have a clue where to look for the small changes that will make a difference. Our new injection still has wings,” he says flatly.
“Which we’ll have to trim.” I’m not losing my optimism.
“How?” Don is discouraged. “I don’t see even a negative branch that we can write.”
“When all else fails, read the Current Reality Tree again,” I’m quoting Jonah. “If there is a clue that can pave the way, it is there.”
Don is beyond arguing.
We read the tree, again. To my surprise I do find a clue. Right at the bottom.
“Listen to this, Don. ‘Market perception of value is in accordance with the benefits of having the product.’ ” I write it on a post-it and stick it near the bottom injection.
“I don’t see the relevancy.”
I ignore him. Now, at last we’re getting somewhere. “If, ‘The company introduces small changes that sufficiently increase the perception of value the