There are three ways to improve business performance of any organization: Technology – Processes – People.

New technology may give you a sizeable performance boost. However, it will NOT guarantee you a lasting competitive advantage because your competitor will probably invest in similar equipment or technology. New equipment will not protect you in case of a disruptive technology change (remember vinyl disks? remember CDs?). It can only guarantee the need for capital investment.

Process improvement may have been the most trodden path for many business leaders. Although it does quite often rely on new technology (and thus calls for CapEx), it shares the same winning qualities of the “hard stuff”: concrete numbers, dates and plans. Wrapped up in a “solid strategy,” investments in new technology and numerous performance improvement initiatives have been the two weapons of choice for the majority of organizations.

Which brings us the good news:

The secret to radical performance improvement is hidden in plain sight – it’s your People.

As almost all your business outcomes are connected to employee engagement, it is the latter that gives you the real, sustainable advantage. Engagement, however, does not appear all by itself. It may be hard initially to start the new trend and to prove the viability of the approach, but creating, development and maintenance of a culture of excellence is the only way to go.

This news is especially welcome by SME – the backbone of our economy. While their share in the GDP is not that big, SMEs have the necessary agility, boldness, and imagination allowing them to change, innovate, and create a high-performance culture within a year

To start building your cultural ecosystem, you need to make sure that you have the right Team. Try measuring your team’s values and their alignment with the Purpose of your organization: check out the Q7 tool – and come back to read the next article that will help you get started on your Quest for Excellence and make sure that you have all the necessary components – capable Leadership and Effective MOS as well.