Talking to the System Guru   Expert's view on standards and more.

I am meeting with Shahin Imanov in one of the cozy cafes in downtown. These are my favourite places for an interview, mainly because my collocutors feel more relaxed and informal. I know Shahin for many years and consider it very fruitful for me to meet him from time to time to learn about world's new trends in the sphere of business and technology. Shahin graduated from Baku state university, the faculty of chemistry and his first job was at the Holcim cement plant. The young graduates from local universities were called “baby engineers” and Shahin was one of them. His first and last paid job was cement plant and he left it after 4 years after feeling that this place is too small for his plans and ambitions. Today Shahin owns one of the most successful consultancy companies in the country, providing services in the field of quality, safety and management. His clients' list includes such global giants as Nokia and Wärtsilä. Shahin's deep knowledge of chemistry, physics and math helped him to learn how to make a good quality product. What is equally important, his intellect and passion to sci-fi reading makes him a very interesting person to communicate with.

He arrives in time, man in his early 40-s, modestly dressed in clothes which can be easily confused for casual, but equipped with all gizmos necessary for modern business activity – laptop, smartphone, smartwatch. He is strongly built, sporty and looks straight into a person’s eyes.

- Hello Shahin, I decided to talk to you about things which are, I believe, currently hot topics in the country. Big changes and reforms require a systematic approach to be successful.

- I cannot disagree with you Sir 

- You have been on the market for more than 20 years, and I would like to know how our country is changing, how the mentality of people is changing in the light of new world trends.

- This is too broad a question to answer, not even a day is enough.

- Well then, let's start with quality - to what extent our enterprises are imbued with the need for a systematic approach to quality control problems, or rather, to what extent the top management of these enterprises accepts this approach.

- I can only say that the number of companies using these approaches is steadily growing, but the motivation is different for everyone. There are enterprises whose management simply tries to constantly improve their level. This is the most grateful part of the consumers of our consulting services. These people are usually very attentive to the implementation of quality systems, devoting a lot of time, attention and resources to this. There is another category that simply operates on the principle, "To be no worse than the competitor." These approach the matter not quite professionally, trying to save on everything or appoint people who are not quite ready to fulfill their functions in this direction. The third category is managers who are forced to use these systems by circumstances, such as an upcoming audit by large international audit companies or investor requirements. For the second and third categories, everything usually ends not very well, the system is not durable, however, there are also positive examples when managers realized the importance of the decision made “on the go” and they succeeded by changing their attitude to keep the system in working order for a long time.

- In order not to turn into a boring track, how are we doing with the systematicity?

- It is no secret that Western countries are setting the tone on this issue in the world today. Almost all areas of Western activity are now covered by a systematic approach - from space to food production, from urban development to agriculture.

- And what are the main elements of systematicity in the West and what gives the use of systemic approaches in enterprises and organizations?

- As a rule, the departure of a key worker in unsystematic structures leads to disastrous consequences. Here, for example, take a historical example. The powerful tribe of the Huns, which owned almost all of Europe, however, after the death of Attila, fell apart in a matter of months. Because in the kingdom of the Huns everything was tied to one person - the person of Atilla himself. In system structures, after the departure of a person, all that is required is for the personnel department to find an appropriate replacement for this person or in the case of public organisation – to hold early elections.

- But there are irreplaceable people with a high level of creativity.

- What happened to Apple after Steve Jobs died? Stieve Job was the founder of the company and his creative ideas help Apple to become what it is today. And today it is the second-largest company in the world by capitalization, regardless of Stieve Jobs’s presence. So, I repeat the hackneyed truth - there are no irreplaceable people.

- What sequence of actions awaits the head of an organization or business owner who decides to implement a systematic approach?

- Firstly, before the system is established, it is required to conduct a so-called “baseline study” that will determine your current state. If this state does not reveal obvious problems, then a system can be established, the viability of which will be ensured not by individuals, but by clearly defined instructions, which the responsible persons must strictly adhere to. At the same time, discipline must be observed so that employees do not enter other people's areas of responsibility.

- And what to do if as a result of this research serious problems in the organization of processes come to light, what then?

- Then the consultant will develop recommendations to eliminate these problems and determine the period of time during which these recommendations will be implemented.

- What is ISO?

- International Organization for Standardisation. It develops and publishes International Standards.

- What is the standard?

- Simply put, the standard is a formula that describes the best way of doing something. It could be about making a product, managing a process, delivering a service or supplying materials – standards cover a huge range of activities. Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter and who know the needs of the organizations they represent – people such as manufacturers, sellers, buyers, customers, trade associations, users or regulators.

- I know there are many ISO standards.

- Yes, they cover almost any area of human activity - from production to security.

- Are there any areas not covered by İSO?

- Yes and these areas areas are creativity and love. Everything else can be standardized! I tell you this with authority ( He smiles)

- I still have a lot of questions for you, but we'll probably leave them until our next meeting.

- I am always at your disposal 

- Thanks, Shahin for an interesting conversation. I hope we will be able to share our thoughts with Caliber readers in time.