How to Improve Your Business 10x -- As Told by a Gamer
FGBG — As a Gamer, I have had quite the history from Atari to Nintendo to Genesis/SNES & PC to PSX and more modern consoles. I also custom-build my own gaming rig. More recently I even taught my 9-year old son how to budget, design, parts list, purchase, build, install, and enjoy his own gaming PC. But this story is about my gaming PC. I bet I have the oldest, highest performing, lowest cost / performance system in use out of anyone — comment if you can top this:
My PC = mid-range gaming custom build — more modern titles run 1080p ~60-fps in ultra-high quality settings AND most of my core components are from 2008 — 11 years old.
How is this possible?
No, I am not talking about just the keyboard, mouse, or case — and my monitor is a 27” Asus 1080p LED from 2010. I am talking about the core guts — CPU + RAM + Motherboard — I am still using an Intel Core i7 Lynnfield — 1st Generation i7 from 2008. It is a 2.9Ghz quad core on a 1333mhz bus. How is this dinosaur still an amazing gaming rig? The answer is EXACTLY how to get 10x business performance improvement out of your organization — and is also the core tenant behind Lean Thinking. Don’t misunderstand me, I have added ~1-component change or upgrade each year over the last 11-years. I have not been idle. I have been focused — focused intensely on what is MOST important.
Systems Thinking
Computer component manufacturers come out with new, better performing parts each year. The #1 question I always ask myself is: Where is the slowest performing element in my system’s performance? And how can I address one area this year? Well…wait a minute. Let’s take a step back. What do you think was the MOST expensive part when I first built the core guts — CPU / RAM / Motherboard? I’ll answer that below. The slowest element in system performance after the first year was — you guessed it — the hard drive. Intel X25-M 80GB — their 2nd gen SSD was my first component. Why? Because the I/O and throughput (not to mention access time) of an SSD vs. HDD was orders of magnitude better. I could not wait to make that my OS boot drive, along with my top played games at the time (as an aside to true Gamers, when I got my PS4 Pro, within 6-mo, I swapped in a 2TB SSD…ah, load times…and irony. The SSD was made by Samsung ;-).
You see, if you have unlimited resources, you can just upgrade everything all the time — but that’s usually not how an efficient business operation is managed — you have to plan, and use your resources extremely effectively. In this scenario, the storage component took a 2x-4x performance jump. Any money spent getting the latest CPU, RAM or Graphics Card would have been just a waste by comparison. So, back to the core guts — it was the Motherboard! I found the perfect motherboard — it was at the advent of the harmony of new infrastructures — USB 3.0 + SATA III + PCIe 2.0 — all the bandwidth of interfaces taking a huge leap at once. Yes, some of these are a little dated (USB 3.1, M2), and RAM has almost doubled in speed from 1666mhz DDR3 to 4000mhz DDR4 — but that’s exactly the point of systems thinking — never upgrade your RAM.
What? Why would I suggest an item that has 2x the performance should never be touched? RAM is the biggest waste when it comes to speed. The interface that connects to RAM is between the CPU and the motherboard (Bus). If the CPU has a clock speed increase but the bus speed stays the same, even with faster RAM, the limit is the bus speed — one slow element in the chain determines the system performance. There is no value improving the elements around it — you must focus on the most important one.
Graphics cards on the other hand, I upgrade like clockwork every 3-4 years — selecting a reasonable mid-range card for the money. There is no value getting the high-end graphics card, because the performance doubles every 2-years. Wait another year and the high-end of old becomes the low to mid-end of new. In addition, the GPU is the primary determinant of game performance for 90% of the games out there. This component consistently becomes the slowest element in overall performance when gaming on a cycle and can therefore be planned, budgeted, and upgraded regularly.
There’s more to the story, which can be fun over drinks sometime, but I think you get the idea — systems thinking drives your decisions — some items you improve as leaps in performance are needed. Others you never touch, and others you put on a consistent cycle. Lastly, there is a point of lifecycle — soon I’ll be surrendering those ancient components — but not yet. I have another son turning 9-years to teach. And this is the final point — efficient and effective use of resources enables you to deliver higher quality WITH increased value and performance. I would not have 3-gamer PC’s at low cost if not for amazing use of resources. Now go! Your 10x business improvements are waiting to happen.
Chris
See that is Simple! Want help? That’s why we are here. Our mission is to change the world and it starts with creating the greatest businesses and leaders the world will ever know! Joining our success list starts with a single contact. Oh and we can swap ancient gamer stories — like my first time playing online — 2-player Doom on a 2400-baud modem — sscrrreeeeeeettch weeee oooooooh bong bong bong ;-)