The Systemic Effects of Customisation

Since the widespread adoption of information technology came into place in the late 90s, customisation has become a possibility for the masses; hence the term mass customisation. The underlying theory was, previously customisation is costly as manufacturers have to tailor their production lines to suit your preferences. The quantity of your purchases does not exceed those available to the mass market, the price you have to pay increases with the degree of customisation you require. Reason is because you need to compensate manufacturers for your smaller quantity purchases.

Anyone who have had the experience of printing name cards or brochures can attest to that. However, with the fall in prices of processing power, memory chips, and server space; now more than ever, manufacturers are able to customise their production to meet your needs at a much lower cost, hence the possibility of mass customisation. Somewhat an oxymoron, but its one of those geniuses of the "And"; as Jim Collins says it.

Mass customisation has come a long way since the late 90s, as now customisation has found its way into services as well. For example, in banking you can find services that is tailored to your needs even if you are not a privileged customer. Generally, consumers become happier as the services they now received are more aligned to their needs. Just looked at Dell and their level of sales when they first rocked the industry by allowing you to pay for what you need.

Even service providers are slowly but surely (either they are enlightened or they are being pressured to) are adopting a hybrid of the "Dell" model. For our firm, we undertake to conduct an initial assessment of the organisations we serve before deciding on our professional fees. From our knowledge, that may not be something every professional firm is prepared to do.

Even in the educational arena, the way to go is to allow educators to tailor the delivery of their programmes to the needs of the pupils. These needs go beyond just learning preferences and also into the relational aspect of the pupil and the educator. The idea behind it is that, if pupils have different learning preferences or styles, by customising the delivery of your programmes so that they can understand better, they will hence be more willing to learn because it connects with them. By engaging in differentiated learning, pupils learn better and if they learn better their results will improve, and with improved results spurned their level of interest further; henceforth the virtuous cycle.

In the not too distant future, when the school-going generation comes to expect differentiated learning as an industry practice, this will naturally impact on their outlook and expectations when they join the society as economically active citizens. With that, anything less than addressing their needs will be viewed as unpreferred or worse, unacceptable. What might now be a good-to-have will become a minimum expectation.

As a result, companies or individuals leading those companies will have to live up to that expectation or be termed anachronistic. Understanding this underlying phenomenon or trend is essential for those wants to not just survive but thrive in the new new economy, where the me-too culture will be magnified many times over.

So, if there is one skill or competency that one needs to have, non-negotiable, is the ability to relate to people. Because unless you are able to decipher their needs, as not everyone will tell you upfront, you will not able to customise your approach to suit them.

So, how may I help you today?

How come he get paid more?

We have, of course, from time to time wonder why others get paid more than we do. Especially when you compare the employee at the bottom of the corporate ladder with the CEO. The multiples could be as high as 50 times or even in the hundreds. So, how can a mere mortal just like everyone else command a much salary?

In the dynamic environment that we live in, things change so quickly and even as you read. With change being being the only constant, definitely our ability to respond to such changes will determine our survivability. Consider the mobile phone industry where 10 years ago, a new model's novelty can last for almost a year. These days it seems like new models are being introduced faster than you can complete the entire owner's manual. Besides, with increased competition, mobile phones manufacturers are facing additional pressure on price, downwards that is. So, putting yourself in the shoes of the manufacturer, will you be willing to pay more for design than before; knowing that by doing so will eat into your profit margins that is increasingly being eroded by competition.

Additionally, with increased pressure to develop and bring-to-market a new product so as to maintain the lead in market share, it means each new model's novelty lifespan is drastically shortened. What would you do? Of course you will be less willing to pay hefty sums for design that goes obsolete in a matter of months. Now, from the perspective of the designer, you will need to accept declining fees for your designs, unless you are a McQueen or YSL. So what makes the difference? Why is he paid more?

Well, let's name our two friends Mr Problem-solver and Miss Creator. Mr Problem-solver unique characteristic is that given any problems he will be able to solve it; not only that, he can solve it fast and his solutions are effective and practical. Miss Creator, on the other hand, is able to create new ways of doing things that is unique and effective as well. Let us examine each of our characters in turn.

Mr Problem-solver developed his problem solving abilities over the years as he has had experiences in a wide range of industries. As he's also not a top Grade-A student, Mr Problem-solver has to always find ways and means to work around a regulation, preconceived ideas, or rules. Some people even say that Mr Problem-solver 'breaks' the rule sometimes. What they really meant is because of his limited resources he often has to study the situation carefully and find ways to arrive at his desired outcomes at the minimum costs or resources. Hence, his experiences have helped him (and the companies he worked for) tremendously. Having said that, Mr Problem-solver is not without his limitations.

Being in a constrained situation most of the times, he has developed the perspective that there are just so much to go around. As a result, he becomes so task oriented that people around him feel he just care more about solving problems than about them as people. This has created certain problems for him as he becomes seen as not people-oriented. Many of his friends and even family members find that being around him can sometimes be 'pressurising' as he always needs to get something done, needs to not waste time. Because of his 'people' problems, he sometimes find it hard to work with a certain group of people. This is because of his lack of ability to relate well with people. And some of these people have characteristics of Miss Creator.

One day, Mr Problem-solver met Miss Creator at a social function. Miss Creator finds him really attractive as he seems to know exactly what he wants, while he enjoys her company tremendously. You see, Miss Creator always believed that being in a position where you understand the needs of every individual, you will inevitably be able to relate to people very well. Like what she does at work, she does not need to fear about the competition as she is always creating opportunities for herself and her company that they are always ahead of the competition. Not only that, the company she works for is always setting the industry standard for others to follow. Hence, she believes that there is always opportunities abound as long as you are able to create them and not wait for them.

Besides, Miss Creator generosity has made her a popular person amongst her friends and families, though some always find ways to take advantage of that. However, Miss Creator is not without her flaws. Her believe that there will always be enough to go around has caused some people, including Mr Problem-solver to think that she is somewhat a slacker. Even where there are opportunities to get ahead, she does not as she finds it more fulfilling to create opportunities herself.

Soon afterwards, both decided to see each other more and subsequently fell deeply in love as one seems to be able to fill the void that the other can't. Eventually they got married but the marriage has its challenges as well. Sometimes his urgency about things driver her nuts as she views it as sweating the small stuff. On the other hand, her seemingly easy going behaviour appears to him as being laid-back. Soon, they were experiencing some problems where one seem to not able to see things from the other's point of view. Notwithstanding their challenges, they stuck together as they deeply believe they were made for each other.

One day, they decide to start a business together to achieve their goals together. But it wasn't long before they start feeling that the working style of the other can sometimes impede on each other. After some major challenges, they then realise that they were indeed working towards the same aim. By now, they start to recognise the strengths of each and instead of fighting it.

You see, just like within ourselves, sometimes we know there are two conflicting emotions within us and we fight it. However, the way around it is to acknowledge them, leverage on the strengths of each and understand that each emotion serve us as action signals. Not fight it. Like in Aikido, where you harmonise the force coming towards you and not fight it.