Harvard Business Review · 14 Sep, 12:34 · Business briefing

Stop Automating Old Processes. Design New Ones Instead.

Harvard Business Review argues that organisations frequently waste resources by automating inefficient legacy workflows rather than reimagining them.

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The briefing

The story
in brief.

What happened, who it affects, and why it landed on our intelligence desk — in plain English, sixty seconds or less.

Harvard Business Review argues that organisations frequently waste resources by automating inefficient legacy workflows rather than reimagining them. The article suggests that true efficiency gains emerge only when companies redesign processes from the ground up, leveraging technology to enable novel ways of working. This approach challenges the common practice of simply digitising existing tasks. Instead, leaders are urged to question fundamental operational assumptions and create streamlined, purpose-built systems. The piece highlights how this strategic shift can unlock significant productivity improvements and competitive advantages that mere automation cannot achieve.

Employer demand for Process Improvement skills — indexed growth since 2019
Indicative index of skill mentions in professional job postings for the field this story moves (2019 = 1)

Your move

What this means
for your career.

Every headline redistributes opportunity. Here is who this one rewards — and how to be on the right side of it.

You must pivot from merely digitising tasks to fundamentally redesigning workflows. Process architecture and systems thinking now outweigh basic automation skills. Focus on identifying inefficiencies before applying technology. Professionals in operations, product management, and strategy should lead this shift. Develop expertise in change management and user-centred design to ensure new processes meet actual needs. Audit your current responsibilities; ask if a task is necessary or merely habitual or genuinely valuable. Priorise learning agile methodologies and business analysis. Those who master process innovation will drive higher value than those who simply speed up outdated routines. Start by mapping end-to-end value chains to spot redesign opportunities.

For this story, the fields that convert it into pay are Process Improvement, Business Process Management, Change Management and Systems Thinking — exactly the programmes matched below. The chart shows the indicative salary uplift certified professionals report in each of those fields; every one of them is a click away, from £79, finishing in as few as 20 days.

Indicative salary uplift in the fields matched to this story
Indicative ranges from published continuing-education salary studies, by field — each field is a recommended course below

Matched to this story

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