Generation and Protection

I've built a few technology companies over my career and I have found that there are two main concepts that enable company launch, growth, health, and sustainability.

• Generation

• Protection

Business functions can be based on these two concepts regardless of department, division, area of operation, or responsibility.

As an example, a sales role is not only an act of generating new business but protecting the accounts you currently have. New business development, outreach, networking, evangelizing, are functions of Generation. Following up with existing clients, check ins, discussions, listening, adjusting, offering recommendations, and reinforcing relationships are acts of Protection. Depending on your personal disposition, you may favor one more than the other. Finding that balance will lead to greater success. Nothing is worse than a account rep who disappears after the sale.

As it relates to Operations, the same concept can be applied. Generating new systems and processes that enhance the business area. Creating ways for all internal business areas to grow and interact, by breaking down traditional silos of operation. Protection can come in the form of reinforcing the things that are working and removing the things that are not, processes or people. So then if you abstract the concept higher level operationally speaking, Sales as whole could be considered Generation, and Legal could be considered Protection.

No business area is only Generation or Protection. All good and healthy businesses have equal parts of both. In my opinion, this is because we are fundamentally wired this way as humans. Creating is generating and preserving is protecting.

Generation expands, and Protection secures.

When we create something our natural instinct is to preserve what we have created or built. We do this with our children, we also see this with animals and their offspring. The same goes for in our personal lives, as we build and create relationships, and then we work to preserve them, keep and expand them.

If we look at this from the perspective of technology systems we can also see this concept in play. Developers create, and administrators protect. The code base is generated by the expertise of the developer, who envisions new functions. This new code generation will go into a repository and then deployed to a production system. Whereas the health and stability of the system where the code is executed and delivered from is protected and preserved by the administrators.

What I have found is that if you operate with a healthy mix of both Generation and Protection your success far exceeds those that only operate with one or the other. Although you may have a disposition of one more than the other, finding the opportunity to embrace both will prove to be highly valuable.