Run, Improve, or Transform - You Can Only Prioritize Two
- Andrew Bissot
- Sep 22
- 3 min read
When someone thinks about manufacturing, things that come to mind are machines, production schedules, and supply chains. But at its core are people who make choices daily while deciding how to produce today and tomorrow. Every facility, every team, and every organization faces the challenge of delivering value today while also preserving the possibility of creating value tomorrow. But when considering all this talk about AI, what should an organization do to align its mission with the rapid changes in AI?
Considering the options, there are really three ways to manufacture a product and produce value.
Run – Keep machines operating, meet quotas, and maintain the process.
Improve – Make things safer, faster, higher quality, or profitable.
Transform – Rethink the entire model: what and how you produce, or your motivation to produce.
A similar saying is, good, fast, or cheap - pick two. The “Iron Triangle” is a common saying that refers to the trade-offs in production management and business economics. Complementary to the saying, you cannot have a product that is high-quality, produced at a maximum speed, and inexpensive simultaneously. You cannot have all three, but instead you can only choose two.
It sounds simple enough, but here lies the paradox when it comes to manufacturing. You cannot effectively run, improve, and transform simultaneously. The best organizations, regardless of the industry, understand that you can only choose two of the three to apply the majority of your energy.
Run + Improve: A Path of Steady Excellence
Many organizations live here and are comfortable with it. They keep operations humming while inserting continuous improvement projects and initiatives that improve efficiencies. This is the area where kaizen or lean manufacturing flourishes by focusing on daily disciplines to make tomorrow a little better than yesterday. The risk in this strategy is that your thoughts prance around regarding what else you could be doing. You see AI as the way forward, but you spend more time dabbling in the buffet of options versus committing.
Improve + Transform: The Challenger’s Way
This is where startups and ambitious innovators find themselves seeing a market just beyond the horizon. There is constant refinement with iterations of products and processes. Today, AI nicely fits within the role of the transformer as these two are paired. You may see machine learning optimizing supply chains, predictive maintenance, and quality in ways humans couldn’t achieve at scale. However, the challenge operations may face is one of stutters or false starts as they find themselves without the capital to sustain the AI investment through the long haul.
Run + Transform: The Leap of Scale
Some companies, especially those with strong financial positions or start-ups, are strategically focused on running today’s operations while investing heavily in transformation. Think of a company that maintains its production lines at the status quo while holistically focused on seismic shifts versus improving velocity. The transformation is bold and inspiring, achieved by keeping the operations humming. However, a faultline lies just below the surface, waiting for the first sign of complacency.
The Discipline of Prioritizing Two
Leaders often get duped by the appeal, motivation, and desire to say we can do it all. Especially with the recent flood of AI options, organizations want to couple it to their existing “Run” and “Improve” methodologies. Lacking is an organization and cultural structure committed to resources, energy, and time to transform. Instead, the organization attempts to couple the “transform” as a bolt-on or simply a hobby.
The insight is revealed when the organization recognizes the trade-offs by prioritizing two but not ignoring the third. If an organization aspires to transform, it must be coupled correctly. It is this combination that underwrites the organization’s vision, culture, and people.
Run + Improve if operations and quality exist as a competitive advantage, and are not hesitant about the investment to transform.
Improve + Transform if innovation is part of reinventing an organization's identity, and does not lose sight that running underwrites the transformational investment.
Run + Transform if funded by operations to scale by leaping, and embraces a culture that celebrates the disruption of complacency.
Embracing the AI transformation
Manufacturing is not just about producing things; instead, it is about its people making choices. Never have organizations been as challenged as they are now to evolve immediately or risk being left behind. AI is a powerful tool, and must be respected as a transformational tool. In an age of AI, manufacturing longevity is not just how products are made, but how AI is deployed in parallel to running and continuous improvement.