Lick the stamp and send it
Watching the F1 last season, with the tech logos blazoned across the cars and kit, I couldn’t help but draw a correlation between F1 cars and an enterprise ERP system. The time and resource commitment from the teams to get to the start line. The years of research, competition, developments, updates and engineering to create an output of power, speed and commercial opportunity.
Yet, no F1 team would let inexperienced drivers or engineers behind the wheel, in the garage or in the pits. No F1 team would place unnecessary pressures on top drivers as they head towards the line. They know the cost, the risk and the potential damage.
It’d be a charging grey rhino heading straight for the grid
Can you imagine building an F1 car to then place no emphasis on ensuring the team can maintain or drive the car to the best of its abilities. Just letting innovation slide by the wayside – no tyre changes, no engine updates, no training – it wouldn’t happen – it’s a death wish.
F1 drivers are elite athletes, they train their bodies, their necks, their mind. There are performance coaches, nutritionists, psychologists, and that’s before you reach the talent needed to drive the car. In the pits and garages, the crew are at the top of their game, everyone is focused on the small details. There’s a continued investment in talent and innovation.
Yet, with enterprise ERP the investment to talent and innovation is often not on par with the solution being implemented. The JFDI attitude is rife. The industry norm seems to be – tick the boxes, train the trainer, produce a manual and get the consultants out the building.
This is a massive, missed opportunity and the equivalent of flipping the bird to your subject matter experts, sponsors, finance and supply chain teams and the business case objective.
JOE believes the expectation should be that learning is on par to the ERP solution.
That your team is trained to withstand the G-forces, to remain lightweight and aerodynamic, that they have the knowledge and backing to create the endurance, strength and resilience needed to keep everything running smooth and sleek.
In the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo is quoted to have said, “sometimes you’ve got to lick the stamp and send it”, and that he did, showing the world an overtaking masterclass as he passed five cars in the final stages. And we all know that wasn’t achieved with a train the trainer, tick box approach with an outdated manual stashed on a OneDrive.
So, before you lick the stamp and send it, make sure you’re not setting your team up for corners like Colapinto’s, because let’s be fair, s$!t happens, you don’t need to add to it.