Automation: In What Context?

A podcast by Hiran de Silva. Narrated by Bill.

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on automation, prompted by a comment I made on Mohammed Sharif’s LinkedIn post. Tanya McIlravy raises an important perspective from the field, emphasizing the personal benefits of automation–reducing frustration, increasing efficiency, and providing personal satisfaction. While Tanya’s point is valid, it highlights a crucial distinction: the context in which automation occurs.

The Two Contrasting Automation Scenarios.

I have previously discussed the difference between the single-user scenario and the enterprise process scenario. Let’s revisit this distinction:

1. **Single-User Scenario**: This involves a solo entrepreneur or an individual responsible for their own work, often managing tasks through spreadsheets. These tasks could include keeping lists of customers, orders, estimates, and other business-related activities–all managed on a single computer without involving others. Collaboration, if needed, typically happens through emailed spreadsheets or shared cloud storage like OneDrive. In such cases, automating tasks can free up significant time, allowing the individual to focus on higher-value activities or personal pursuits. Automation here delivers immediate personal rewards: less frustration, more efficiency, and more time for other things.

2. **Enterprise Process Scenario**: In contrast, most spreadsheets in industry are part of larger enterprise processes involving multiple people. In these scenarios, decisions about processes are made by management, who prioritize systematization and minimization of manual work. They want processes to be scalable, robust, and as automated as possible, with human intervention limited to domain-specific tasks. Unlike the single-user scenario, individual efficiency improvements alone do not necessarily add value to the enterprise unless they lead to broader process re-engineering.

Why Personal Automation Alone Isn’t Enough.

Tanya’s scenario–focused on personal satisfaction–is valid within the context of individual tasks. Automating personal work can indeed lead to lower frustration, higher morale, and greater individual efficiency. However, in an enterprise context, merely automating personal tasks does not justify higher pay or increased value to the organization.

Why? Because management’s goal is not just individual efficiency but end-to-end process optimization. Value creation in this context means making the entire process–involving multiple teams and departments–more productive. This is where re-engineering, not just automating existing tasks, creates value.

The Opportunity: Re-Engineering Processes.

Re-engineering goes beyond automating manual tasks; it fundamentally redesigns processes to eliminate manual work altogether. The transformation creates value by:

– Streamlining processes end-to-end

– Reducing errors and risks through robust design

– Increasing scalability and efficiency across the organization

I illustrate this concept in a sketch I call the South America Sketch, which differentiates between improving an existing manual process and re-engineering the process itself. The goal of re-engineering is not to speed up manual tasks but to eliminate the need for them entirely.

An Analogy: The Horse-Drawn Motor Car.

Consider an analogy: improving a manual process is like trying to make horses run faster by adding mechanical contraptions or even creating robotic horses. Re-engineering, on the other hand, is akin to replacing the horses with an engine. Instead of enhancing the old method, you adopt a new paradigm entirely. You no longer need horses because you have an engine.

In Excel terms, this means moving beyond simply making manual spreadsheet processes faster with tools like Power Query. While Power Query can automate manual steps, it still operates within the same framework of manually driven processes. True re-engineering involves designing a system where manual intervention is minimal or unnecessary, such as using a client-server architecture with centralized databases.

Conclusion: Two Different Paths, Two Different Outcomes.

Tanya’s point about personal satisfaction from automation is crucial in the single-user context, where individuals have full control over their work and reap the direct benefits of their efficiency improvements. However, in an enterprise context, where processes span multiple departments and involve many stakeholders, the opportunity lies in demonstrating to management how re-engineering processes can drive significant value.

With Excel’s massive capacity for programming and integration with other Microsoft tools, we have a unique opportunity to show management how existing processes can be re-engineered to eliminate inefficiencies. This is the path to creating real value and, ultimately, earning higher rewards–not just by automating tasks but by transforming the way work gets done.

This is a podcast by Hiran de Silva. Narrated by Bill.