“I need my company to be more systematized,” is something I hear from many remodeling company owners. What exactly does that mean and why is it so alluring?

I have been looking with no success for a definition of “system” that addresses what I think it means. The definition that works for me is “a written procedure(s) for a given situation that produces the likelihood of positive predictable results”.

A system might not be written but that makes the successful and regular application of the system much less likely. Even if it is written there must be the discipline in the organization to make it be applied, over and over. The owner creates value in the company by teaching his people to hold one another accountable regarding using the systems.

The procedures are the backbone of the system. Typically they are best discovered by asking those who are most familiar with the situation (the people who are actually doing the work!) to write down what has worked best in the past.

A system is not a cure-all. It does increase the likelihood of things going well but it does not prevent things from ever going wrong.

Ultimately, a company’s success is a function of regularity with which it achieves the positive desired results. The most compelling thing about a system is it makes good results happen without creating great dependence on any given individual.

And that is why the concept of systems is so appealing. Reducing the dependence of the company on the owner is very alluring.

To make that happen is a job that never truly is over. That is where the rub is. We tend to think we are in the business of remodeling when we are actually, in fact, remodeling the business. That work is where systems come from, as long as we write down the insights and solutions, and then make sure they are applied. The clearer you are about this the more likely you business will become a systems-based enterprise.