As we invest time and energy into the different aspects of our lives, we can sometimes forget to analyze new information that could potentially bring us progress and success. Oftentimes, we simply “go with the flow” because everything seems to be going smoothly, and only struggle through adaptation when a large impediment to our prosperity becomes clearly visible. These impediments can become bigger and more detrimental to our goals if we cannot withdraw our targeted focus and evaluate all of the details available to us. Because of our limited focus, these barriers sometimes become too great to overcome; we can see a great example of this by looking at the history of a company called Blockbuster.
Many of us have heard the slogan “Make it a Blockbuster Night”, and have even rented movies from a Blockbuster near our home. The first Blockbuster store opened in 1985, and nearly 8 years later the company owned more than 3,400 stores. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster was the leader in video rentals, owning 9,000 stores worldwide and bringing in a revenue of $5.9 billion. At the beginning of the 21st century, their progress slowed due to competitors like Netflix. Netflix started out as a DVD rental company, but grew to be a very progressive online streaming and on-demand video provider. Due to Blockbuster’s inability to keep up with online providers’ newer technology, as well as refusing to let go of their declining business model, web based companies were leaving them in the dust. By 2010, Blockbuster realized the race had been lost and declared bankruptcy.
An interesting part of this story is that Blockbuster had a chance to buy out Netflix for $50 million in 2000, but declined the offer. Their business was invested mostly in physical products, and their lackluster transition to online videos cost them everything in the end. If Blockbuster had evaluated earlier the need for this transition, and examined the average customer’s preference more thoroughly, they would have understood that they needed substantial change. Nobody can tell the future, but it is evident that Blockbuster’s fate would have been different if the company’s goals and directions, as well as business processes, had been adjusted to the radical shift in video rental technology. Blockbuster did not embrace the changes that could have kept them a leader in today’s video industry.
Companies are made up of teams, and these teams must work synchronously to move that company through the jungle we call “Business”. An organization benefits the most when the information traveling through it has been analyzed and accepted with a fresh mind. We at Salient Process believe that a continually prosperous team is a group of talented individuals that are able to efficiently analyze all of the details available to them, and to focus on the ones that matter most. We strive to give clients insight to potential obstacles that are not easily visible, and stand by a principle core value, “We are one.” We have realized that knowledge of the bigger picture can streamline the way to nearly perfect solutions, and consistent analysis of new information has helped us grow. The end of Blockbuster presents us with an example of a team that did not analyze new information correctly, and the failure to react correctly to their opponent’s progressive actions took its toll. We love to help companies streamline the way they do business, because it means that we can share information and optimize every activity that makes up their Business Process.
In the Business Process Management world, the way we manage our time and efforts reflects directly on our progress toward optimization. If we spend too much time on aging and sometimes impractical methods of implementing a solution, our potential goes down the drain. A quote by Rosa Luxemburg summarizes this state of mind very well: “Those who do not move do not notice their chains.” Our desire is to help progressive thinkers free themselves from the chains of slower development patterns and to embrace BPM Innovation. We all want to build solutions faster, to receive more out of our work, and to use software that doesn’t limit our potential. One of the main reasons that I love working at Salient is that everyone is constantly searching for improvements in their work, and that we embrace the mindset of a team that always moves forward. I have used a wide array of BPM development tools and have worked with many user interfaces, and every new tool’s pros/cons make me realize what great possibilities a tool like SPARK provides.
Whether you are in management or a developer, looking into SPARK will definitely change your perception of BPM Development. SPARK (https://salientprocess.com/salesforce-toolkit/) is a User Interface Toolkit offered by Salient Process that can accelerate BPM development by 4 times! The community version of this toolkit is available free of charge, and can be a great tool in helping you increase your interface building potential. By implementing new ways of accelerating development, we allow bigger and better opportunities to present themselves.
What will you do with this new information? Will you let the advancement of UI development tools be overlooked in your drive towards success, or will you embrace and experience SPARK’s amazing capabilities?
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