It was 7:30am and I was half-listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 when David Brailsford, head coach of British Cycling, was asked how they managed to win so many gold medals. His reply was ”Focus on the process, the outcome will look after itself”. I was wide awake.

Don’t we all worry more about the outcome than the process? “Why didn’t I win that sale?” “How did we make that mistake?” I think I’ve spent years looking hard at the wrong thing.

The strong link with IT is that IT automates processes. It also changes processes, leading to issues of getting people on-board with working in new ways. There is a good 2-minute article in Information Week about the importance of a focus on the process. It starts off talking about how, in today’s tight economy, IT Managers have to deliver better business processes, not just better IT. It goes on to declare “You give me good people and a great process, and we’ll beat any organization with the best technology but a poor process and undermotivated people”. The article was published in 2002 but it could have been written yesterday.

My new mantra within Riverbank is going to be “Focus on the process, the outcome will look after itself”. If you need better IT so you can deliver a better process, just ask Riverbank.