RPA is becoming a popular term. It’s entering our business consciousness, showing up in speeches, articles, blogs, and online searches. As RPA enters our business lexicon, business leaders should know what RPA is and what it’s good for.

In recent years, a trend has emerged where Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) become (or are replaced by) Chief Growth Officers (CGO’s). The trend has gotten increased attention in 2017 because large companies (like Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, and others) are jumping on that bandwagon. So, is this just a trendy title change, or is there more to it?

Over the last 20 years, my career has been rooted in professional services. As anyone knows, professional services is all about time. The only inventory you have is the time of the people that you have on your team. Efficient uses of time result in a thriving organization, non-efficient uses of time result in an underperforming organization.

When launching a new product or starting a new company it is very important to be able to explain what you do and the benefits of your services in a one-minute elevator speech. I have found that although this is much needed, people are much more visual than we believe. Furthermore (even in this digital world) there is something brilliant about putting the visual on a piece of paper, providing not only a visual but also a tactical experience.

I believe innovation is derived from collaboration and that genius comes from a group - not an individual. As organizations become more mature they become very process-oriented. This allows people to become complacent and less innovative. In short, innovation burns more calories than just following the process.