I don’t know if Ali was the greatest of all time, but when I think of greatest in boxing, I think of him (really I think of Rocky, but that was just a good movie). He certainly told people he was the greatest, and wasn’t shy in letting people know that he was the greatest. He also put in the time and effort to become the greatest.

S0?

I think a lot about AP Automation being great… I know – I am a lot of fun at parties. I draw inspiration from Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. In the book he writes about being good as a limiting factor to being great, because everyone know when things are terrible but not everyone knows when things are great if nothing is broken.

What Make AP Automation Great? – 4 Things

1. Vision – Having talked to tens of thousands of people about AP Automation the first thing that separates the good from the great is the understanding of where you are going and where you want to be. Vision is not just having a plan for the future, it is being able to communicate that plan to others so they will want to join.

2. Baby Steps – Companies and the people who lead those companies that have great AP Automation view it as a process not an event. They are able to take smaller step to make sure that they don’t kill the improvements and moral before they can take effect. The greatness of their leadership also affords much higher buy-in and less push back.

3. Partnerships – Primarily partnering with an automation service provider that has identical goals and aspirations. Notice I wrote “identical” and not similar. The difference is huge when getting in bed with a service provider. I write a lot about this in The Argument to Automate and I give things to look for when courting (I am southern) a service provider. Partnerships, however, don’t stop at the automation service provider it extends to other departments in the business as well as vendors that provide goods and services who will ultimately send in invoices.

4. Knowing when you were wrong – This is a difficult one, but knowing when you messed up, or had a wrong idea or service provide is a difficult discussion to have with yourself none the less your company. The separation of good to great here is a common instinct within business to cover up your mistake and/or pretend that it didn’t happen… or worst try to blame someone else. The great AP Automated companies are able to use a wrong move to their advantage.

Want To Know More? Buy The Books!

To buy the book – The Argument to Automate – How Innovation Can INSPIRE Not Fire – click here to buy

(Also) To get your copy of The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation – click here to buy