SearchBy Laura Hansen, Senior Vice President of Operations
Operational excellence has always been a vital pillar of business performance. Historically, it emerged from manufacturing-driven philosophies like Lean, Six Sigma, and Total Quality Management—models focused on eliminating waste, reducing variation, and increasing efficiency. These principles remain valuable, but in today’s landscape of accelerating change, operational excellence must do more than fine-tune the engine—it must steer the vehicle.
At eimagine, we’ve redefined what operational excellence means in a digital, people-first environment. For us, it’s not about perfection or process for process’s sake. It’s about delivering value in a way that’s measurable, repeatable, and adaptable—especially when the road ahead is uncertain.
This evolution didn’t happen overnight.
A Real-World Example: From Recovery to Resilience
Several years ago, we encountered a pivotal moment. One of our most complex projects—a cross-functional, multi-year initiative—had drifted. Teams were moving, but not together. Scope was being executed, but outcomes weren’t being felt. There were missed expectations and plenty of frustration. We needed to fix more than a process—we had to restore trust.
We took that moment to reflect and realign. Out of it came the foundation for what is now the eimagine Trust Advantage (eTA)—our framework for operational excellence. Rather than a one-size-fits-all playbook, eTA gives us a structured way to align people, process, and data to outcomes. It ensures we define success early, track the right metrics, and coach our teams to lead—not just deliver.
We’ve applied eTA ever since to some of our most successful efforts, including modernization programs, enterprise platform upgrades, and large-scale data projects. The lesson? Operational excellence isn’t a fire drill—it’s what prevents the fire in the first place.
How We Got Here—and Where We’re Going
Our current mindset was shaped by tough lessons, intentional reflection, and a belief that “good enough” is never enough when it comes to serving our clients or growing our people. The future of operational excellence at eimagine is rooted in a few simple but powerful ideas:
- Structure shouldn’t stifle innovation—it should enable it.
- Visibility builds trust.
- Leadership is a behavior, not just a title.
- And doing work that matters is more valuable than doing more work.
Actionable Takeaway: Ask your team: “How does the work we’re doing this week connect to the goals we’re chasing this quarter?” If you can’t draw a direct line, recalibrate. Real excellence isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters, consistently.
Let’s stop measuring operational excellence by what doesn’t go wrong—and start measuring it by the value we create, the people we grow, and the outcomes we elevate.
#eimagineBetter
