Buddha and the “Enterprise Value Stream”
I need to thank Brent Dykes this week.
He shared an ancient Buddhist parable. (Don’t worry, this won’t get heavy 😉)
He described the challenges in understanding, and misunderstanding, the full perspective and “story” of data.
It resonated because it applies so broadly to our world of driving change and transformation.
The parable describes a King that brings an elephant to a group of blind men and asks them touch and then describe it.
Each walk away convinced they understand the whole animal.
None of them is wrong, exactly. But none of them is right, either.
They describe the elephant from the perspective of what they individually experienced.
- Side: “Like a wall”.
- Trunk: “Like a snake”.
- Tusk: “Like a spear”.
- Leg: “Like a tree trunk”.
- Ear: “Like a fan”.
- Tail: “Like a rope”
The men fight, believing their partial, subjective experience is the absolute and complete truth.
Apparently, Buddha used this to explain that religious teachers often fight because they hold onto partial views rather than the complete truth.
Now THAT never happens in your company, right? 😉
This story highlights very visually (no pun intended), the necessity of understanding different perspectives.
It is supremely relevant now as we strive to address transformation and business value creation from a true “enterprise value stream” or “end to end process” viewpoint.
“The whole elephant” . . .
This is a powerful metaphor to help us focus on identifying and understanding the “blind spots” and gaps between the functions in our end-to-end processes and enterprise value streams.
Curiosity is the critical skill/habit. Even for a “subject matter expert”.
Even when we think we are certain (that the most dangerous time!), we must retain our curiosity for alternative perspectives, if we want to drive business value (P&L, Working Capital, Customer impact).
Real Enterprise Value Lives Between the Silos . . .
“Certainty is a disease that is only cured by Curiosity”.
No, that wasn’t Buddha, but it has been said I have some of his physical characteristics . . . . .
You can read Brent Dykes’ post on “Data Storytelling” here . . .
Buddha and the “Enterprise Value Stream”
Thanks for reading . . .