Mike Russell

There is a great scene in the movie “Amadeus”: (https://lnkd.in/ehsJqwM5)

Composer and teacher Salieri presents Mozart with a piece of music in Mozart’s honor.

Mozart thanks Salieri and plays the music … then declares “that doesn’t really work, does it?” And proceeds to test some variations until he finds one that “works.”

Salieri was clearly a technical master and popular as a teacher. He did achieve success in his lifetime.

However, his success paled compared to Mozart’s both then and especially now. If it had not been for the play and resulting movie, Salieri would have been mostly forgotten … at least outside classical music specialists.

What does this have to do with AI and your business?

Business is ultimately both science AND art.

Keeping your business humming requires both having a score and conducting the orchestra.

AI can help with the technical details and automating some lower level work. And should for your business to keep up with (or pass) competitors. Don’t fear AI; fear competitors using AI if you don’t.

AI cannot help so much with the “art” of your business. What makes truly great music? Going beyond the mechanics of the score and by-the-numbers “conducting” … infusing art to both.

Make sure you understand what is the science part and what is the art part.

The art part is the human part that AI can’t replicate, at least now.

The former (AI) serves the latter (humans). Don’t let it get the other way around.

Culture will happen … the question: is it intentional or unintentional?

Colleague Tom Meloche and I have a discussion about some aspects of culture, and why it’s even more important for small to medium size businesses than they think.

https://www.linkedin.com/events/7171549638255071232/about/

Develop medical devices or medical device software?

Here are some observations and take-aways from the recent Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation® (AAMI) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2024 neXus conference:

https://lnkd.in/ecXnuBqZ

A subtle form of organizational suboptimization can lead to not-so-subtle problems.

Process optimization has been popular for decades … and often needed.

When technology became a key driver, “tech stack” optimization came to the forefront as well. “Moving to the cloud,” AI, and other tech developments have only added to a necessary focus on optimizing the various technology layers.

But what about optimizing the overall organization?

That’s another “stack” that is often overlooked: the org stack.

It’s helpful to optimize processes and technology.

However, neglecting people, culture, organizational structures, etc. can undo all our other process optimization efforts. More likely, the resulting chaos and even dysfunction in the rest of the organization “system” will outweigh the targeted optimizations. Hence, suboptimization rather than overall improvement.

Pay attention to the entire organizational system when making improvements.

This applies to both startups and established businesses, especially most transformation initiatives, digital or otherwise.

We have assessments that can identify your highest ROI improvements. Don’t guess or take on popular projects … apply your scarce investment and time where it counts most. Contact us to discuss your objectives and needs.

Most people don’t understand “coaching” via words or descriptions … it helps a lot to experience it.

That’s why we offer you a free session to see what it’s like … before you have to make any commitments to anyone.

We have a small number of openings each month across our team for trial sessions.

Don’t wait until the openings are gone or too late to do the prework …
Contact us to arrange your free session.