I’ve spent the vast majority of my career in manufacturing. They haven’t all been the companies that show up in Harvard Business Review case studies, something I’ve come to see that as an advantage.
When you’re not at a company with infinite resources and a thousand engineers, you learn to be deliberate. You accept constraints while still delivering results. No excuses. You can’t buy your way out of problems. You can’t throw headcount at complexity. You have to understand what actually matters and focus there.
I’ve also learned to be skeptical when someone walks in with “how we did it at Big Famous Company.” Not because that experience is worthless. It’s not. But because the translation from their context to ours is never direct. The practices that made sense for a $500 billion retailer or a global tech platform don’t automatically make sense for a regional manufacturer.
What does work is curiosity. Asking questions before assuming answers. Understanding your own maturity level honestly, not aspirationally. Building relationships with people who will tell you the truth about what worked and what didn’t. Investing in your own judgment through frameworks and training instead of outsourcing your thinking to vendors, magical quadrants, or analyst reports.
We talk a lot about “People First” at my company. I’ve come to believe that extends to how we think about technology. Technology serves people. It solves human problems. It should be chosen and implemented with that in mind, not to check a box or keep up with what someone else is doing.
The phrase “Enterprise” gets thrown around like it means something objective. Like there’s a right way that big, successful companies have discovered and the rest of us are trying to catch up. I don’t think that’s true. I think “Enterprise” is just a word we use to give authority to preferences.
What actually works is simpler and harder. Know your context. Assess where you are. Build a plan to get where you need to be. Diversify your sources of information. Be skeptical of anyone who profits from your decisions. Invest in your own judgment.
That’s not a secret the Fortune 500 discovered. I’ve seen it in hundreds of small and medium businesses. It’s just good practice. And readily available to anyone willing to do the work.