The term “deep dive” is a long existing, stand-by term for “we see great improvement opportunity in developing a team to focus on organizations (companies) and their metrics”.
The mentality is always the same. There are large numbers (metrics) which represent the driving forces of any company. The thesis is if the deep dive team (we used to call them Black Ops teams) can move the “underperforming” organizations, or metrics, in “X” estimated, incremental percentages (see the ever present chart with 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, etc improvement) then the yield, “Y” is compelling.
Said another way, as an example, "If we can improve this number by even 2%, then we will make XXXX more money!" Just to be sexy, they might throw in terms like "basis points". Basis points are 1/100th of a percentage point. So, what sounds better, 2% or 200 basis points!? It's the same number.
Once they rinse and scrub and scrub and rinse the numbers, the improvement assumptions are included in the company's forecast/forward looking statements. Part of the selling process of the investment opportunity in a public company is the company "has rigorous discipline in all aspects of their business". The investor can have CONFIDENCE in the company's operational acumen and commitment to delivering shareholder value through its multiple operational improvement initiatives.
That’s it. That is the entire reason these Deep Dive initiatives happen. In this world there must be confidence building initiatives to 1. Drive revenue, “take price where we can”, 2. Drive cost out of the middle - labor cost, cost of goods sold, harmonize products, administrative cost, etc. 3. Drive shareholder value, which also often includes share buybacks. These Deep Dive initiatives have clearly established goals in the form of improved metrics and the additional profits they will yield. If they tell you otherwise, they are either ignorant or misrepresenting.
When I was working for a an approximate 4 billion dollar company, we hired two of the Country's leading consulting companies to do a total company Deep Dive. I learned a lot from these recent college graduates as they dissected every component of every process in the company. After a full year and a price tag of one million dollars, we ended up with a "rock solid and conservative" map of metric improvements that would lead us to the promised land for sure! Oh we were so quick to announce it to our shareholders and the investment community - they should have supreme confidence in our ability to deliver on our improved forecasted numbers now. For sure.
Not long after that laborious process was over a friend at the company who had been there prior to a large acquisition and consolidation, told me that the company he was with (that was acquired by our current company) had done the exact same thing with one of the two consulting companies ten years earlier. They had also spent one million dollars and also were delivered a new set of improvement metrics.
In the end, neither project delivered. Why? Consultants get paid on the promise. Despite their sharp business acumen, they just don't know the company or industry well enough to foresee all variables and factor them in, nor do they have the long term vested interest necessary to sustain these projects. After the consultants are gone, the senior management team can often catch some strong initial improvements and maximize their annual bonus. But neither group is vested in the long term success of the company and their Deep Dive initiatives.
So what's the point here? Am I saying that there is no benefit in a company breaking down their processes and looking for ways to improve efficiency, improve margins, income and shareholder value? Of course not. There is a place to look, however, which is how a public company does this. Everything a public company does, everything, is in the name of (short term) shareholder value.
It often comes back to the scorpion and the frog parable. Often times, most often in fact, the company starts with the priority of shareholder value and does anything and everything necessary to achieve that goal. Profit. Share price. Earnings Per Share (EPS). The truly outstanding companies start with where the real power lies, with the people. Not just the front line workers, but all of the people that contribute to the end product or service. Whether they are employees, contractors, subcontractors, or even vendors, the great ones start there because they understand that there are no free rides across the river on the backs of the people, especially when you are stinging them half way across! And when forced to choose between the short term profit and the culture and health of an organization (the frog), the company will go to the stinger more often than not.
It depends on collaboration; on clear and transparent feedback, on creating a culture that can chew through the constraints created by short term, numbers driven thinkers and get to the singular thing that can differentiate ANY company...the people; the culture. A company that gets that right always enjoys long term success.
Even in these turbulent and insane times, I believe it will be these companies that will pull us out of this mess.
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