I seem to recall that Valentino Rossi himself, the rider with the most podium finishes in the history of motorcycling, acknowledged more than a decade ago that Formula 1 was the queen of motor racing. The greatest concentration of technology, talent and resources in the world. Of course, once you saw the start of a Grand Prix, you sometimes felt like taking a nap. And when you woke up, almost nothing had changed in the race standings. I think those of us who followed F1 decades ago could agree with him. Boring, not boring, not boring at all.
One of the key moments of the race, which helped to provide some excitement, was the pit stops. The drivers and their teams are gambling on winning or losing a race. Always, to be able to lose positions in the standings. Nowadays, this manoeuvre involves more than twenty high-performance mechanics, coordinated in a fascinating dance, so that in an approximate time of about 2 seconds, they can refuel, change the tyres, replace some element of the damaged vehicle, … A great spectacle.
During the 1950s, such stops used to take around 2 minutes. 120 seconds. So, for 70 years, the racing teams have been working on the efficiency of that operation, almost to human limits. From 120 to a mere 2 seconds. There is no room for significant improvement. The limits of efficiency.
I am grateful to one of my professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the story I am about to share with you. With it, Dr. Abel Sanchez, Director of the Geospatial Data Center, illustrates the difference between working on efficiency and working on real transformation. The necessary transformation in the times we live in.
About a decade ago, a premier class team, more than modest in terms of victories, dared to stop focusing on the efficiency of this manoeuvre. It was far more ambitious, and introduced an element that changed the rules of the game forever in formula one. And it broke the status quo. They installed several hundred sensors in their cars, which collected real-time data on what was happening in the car during the race. The information was transmitted live to a control centre in England, where data analysts, engineers and strategists analysed it. And they made data-driven decisions, which they fed back to the drivers directly, for the duration of the race. The result was that the team improved its results, winning four consecutive world titles against teams with a great track record and history in the competition.
One learning applicable to our organisations is that in the era we live in, we need to stop thinking only with an efficiency mindset. And we need to dare to think with a transformation mindset. That is precisely the challenge of Digital Transformation. The evolution of different technologies is what allows us to go far beyond the human limits of efficiency, to which in some cases we are doomed. To allow us to think creatively, and to bet on new ways of competing, selling and working in our companies.
To continue with the case of F1 and Data, and to exemplify it in the customer-oriented teams of our companies (sales, marketing, …): what else do our professionals need to learn? To go back to sales models that have been known for years by everyone? To go back to the same old skills to improve the customer experience, … there is little room for improvement.
There are “traditional” organisations, similar to this engine story, that are building and evolving systems to capture more and better data. Hiring data analytics experts, and working with business experts to find solutions to help them make better decisions. Finding patterns of actions and behaviours, not always obvious. Making decisions that aim, even for an organisation that is not a leader in its market, to achieve large increases in sales, make more money or minimise its investment in resources.
And the first major difficulty they encounter in the face of this major paradigm shift comes from the organisation’s failure to understand the magnitude of this key transformation. The failure to truly understand and manage the huge gulf between efficiency and transformation.Transformation is a challenging challenge that we cannot delay. Because of one thing we can be sure. At this very moment, as you read this publication, one of your competitors (symmetrical or asymmetrical) is working on transforming itself. On breaking the status quo. They are working on eating our toast.
