Watch out! Are You Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

When looking for efficiency gains, companies often prioritize automation, outsourcing, or elimination. However, the real starting point should be analyzing and optimizing the underlying processes first.

Let’s look at some common mistakes:

❌ Outsourcing Without Optimization
Shifting tasks to low-cost markets may seem like a smart move, but if the process itself is inefficient, you’re simply relocating the problem instead of solving it.

❌ Automating Flawed Processes
Many companies implement automation tools without first assessing whether the sequence of activities, roles, and controls are actually optimal. The result? They end up digitizing inefficiencies instead of eliminating them.

❌ Measuring Success Solely by Immediate Cost Savings
Under pressure to reduce costs, organizations often make decisions based on short-term savings, without considering their impact on quality, customer experience, or operational flexibility.

The outcome in these cases?

- Hidden inefficiencies
- Cost savings that never materialize
- And in the worst-case scenario, new problems that didn’t exist before

Technology and outsourcing can be powerful allies for productivity, but only when used strategically—after refining internally processes first.

👉 Have you seen this mistake in your organization? What other solutions would you suggest?

As usual, I appreciate you being part of this learning journey. Sharing these insights publicly is my way of helping others achieve their goals while also keeping myself accountable to continuous learning.

Let’s keep growing together.