Outcomes, Benefits, Value

Kumilos Vision is all about collective value creation. But in order to better understand value, we must understand it in the context of outcomes and benefits. These three concepts are interlinked in an important way.

Projects DELIVER outcomes. Outcomes are results that are punctual and specific. An example would be to deliver a new IT solution through an IT project.

But do we REALIZE benefits just because we go live on a new IT solution? We can have a new IT solution that no one uses. Sometimes, we install a new IT solution without doing the necessary validation as to our capacity and capabilities to run it, without change management or internal and external communications. We add training at the end thinking it will be enough. So if one of the benefits we want to realize is increased efficiency, we will need all these separate projects delivered in a coordinated way, sequentially, in the form of a program in order to realize that benefit.

Where does value creation come in? Value CREATION can be understood through the lens of benefits realization combined to solve a problem or problems specific to someone or a group of people. In other words, value creation is all about solving problems for someone. If your targeted benefits do not help anyone, then you do not create any value.

Why is this important you may ask?

The definition of value is crucial in understanding why you do business in the first place. Businesses normally start because they want to create value. What that really means is that there was a problem for someone that they wanted to solve with a product or service. The real VISION or WHY a business usually starts is because someone out there got tired of seeing a problem and they decide to fix it. The problem could be their problem or a more global problem. Businesses thrive, grow and become successful because they did a good job solving that problem. However and unfortunately, some businesses lose sight of that initial vision to solve problems and get pulled into new pressures and drivers to create a different kind of value more focused on a financial, monetary kind. When the ultimate goal becomes shareholder value and not collective value, then we can lose sight of what is really important and that is our people (employees) and our clients (customers). Whether we call it the value proposition or vision, it is lost along the way in the pursuit of quarterly numbers to please shareholders. Companies now get really good at creating shareholder value but are they still really creating value, and more importantly, COLLECTIVE value? Where does the priority lie?

The good news is that there is a way to get back to creating collective value. We can go back to basics and focus on PEOPLE and their needs and pains. We can go back to their gains and how products and services can help solve their problems. Focusing on PEOPLE internally will also result in more engaged, inspired and driven employees. In doing so , they will work harder to deliver a more professional, efficient and awesome product or service. When we go back to business fundamentals, we create collective value which in turn creates shareholder value. The equation is simple: happy employees equals best in class products and services which ultimately leads to happy and loyal customers.

How do you define value in your business? Where do your priorities lie? Why do you do what you do and how can your value proposition and vision align to go back to basics?

How do we define value?

How do you define value? What do you consider valuable? The traditional definition of value is monetary. The more something is worth in dollar terms, the more it is valuable. But in the context of an ever changing, challenging and increasingly individualistic world, is this classical definition of VALUE still the way forward?

Can value be defined and viewed from the perspective of collective value? Could it be that value can be derived from how much something helps others, how much your project or initiative actually benefits and helps others have better lives?

Collective value is also sustainable for our planet. It is not just enough to help people, alleviate their pain, improve their lives and help them get things done. It means doing all this but with a net positive or zero impact on our planet, it’s resources, environment and other living organisms. Collective value means we actually care about the future and that we are leaving this world better than how we found it.

Whether you are in the business of products or services, at Kumilos Vision we believe that value is truly created when we help solve someone’s problems in a sustainable way and thus ease their pain. In doing so, you are creating happy customers who stay loyal. Loyal and happy customers mean bigger revenues and profits. It’s that simple.

But here is the real secret: value is derived from PEOPLE. People are the key. In our rush to get things done and go straight to solution mode, we sometimes forget that people is what matters most, whether we are talking about customers, stakeholders, project team members or employees. Happy people means good business. Happy people means better project results. It’s actually that simple.

If you focus on people, you understand pains and gains, you understand what makes people tick and what drives them. You understand why people get out of bed everyday. No one starts their day wanting to do a bad job and we believe that there are no bad people, just bad contexts. It is up to leaders to decide where their priorities lie.

It all starts with how we define value, and what we consider valuable. Isn’t that what we are trying to create ultimately? When we have a great idea, and the idea turns into a project, aren’t we trying to ultimately create value?

If that is so, then remember why you want to create value, how you define it , and most importantly WHO you are creating it for. Only then will true VALUE be created.