Once a Man of Action purchases a train ticket with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, he will forever receive emails; most of them will be in Hindi.
Every once in a while, though, he receives one in English – that may as well be in Esperantu. A journey through the rules of getting a rail refund. Continue reading Off The Rails: A Bureaucracy Update
Here’s the second stage of a “methodology-agnostic” model to scope, structure, and execute process improvement plans.
This is the fun part – coming up with what the future will look like. SPOILER ALERT: It involves Arts & Crafts! Continue reading Scoping Improvement Projects, Phase II – The Future State
Sticky post
With so many survey tools available, there are more and more ways to mismanage data and spin silly results. Here are some things to consider – and ways to present the info – that avoid those traps.
Oh, and I rant about the absolute claptrap that is StrengthsFinder! Continue reading As You Likert
Just because someone is “good with tools”, you wouldn’t hand him a fancy new wrench and tell him to “build somethin'” without plans or prints.
Regardless of what improvement tool you use – Lean, Six Sigma, whatever – you still need a blueprint for your engagement. This three-phase model will help you scope, plan, and execute your initiative, no matter what color your Belt is. Continue reading Scoping Improvement Projects: An Agnostic Model
‘Totality’ may have been the most over-used word this week.
But the difference in the skies for those “in the path” and those just outside of it was striking.
The difference between 99 percent and “totality” is… well, absolute. Continue reading When Step Change Is A Giant Leap
Ever stand around waiting for a cashier to “get approval” on a return? Eventually, the manager punches his code into the register and walks away – that’s the “approval process”!
Bureaucracy wastes your time (you had to wait for the manager to show), disempowers employees, wastes money, and destroys the human spirit.
So stop doing that. Continue reading The Hunt for Red Tape
‘Teaching to the test’ may be a crap way to run a school, but letting employees know what gets an ‘A’ is both efficient and effective.
Setting clear objectives – when launching a project or designing a business process – is a winning idea. Here are some quick questions to check your thinking.
(Part Two of Two) Continue reading What’s the Objective II: Of Projects and Process
After a few weeks of doing basically nothing, United Airlines’ CEO reached out with… really nothing but an empty email. (Well, they cleared up when he’ll call the cops on customers).
One of many things United needs is to take a hard look at its business processes, and make sure all employees understand their intent. Continue reading The Skies Still Ain’t So Friendly
Several chaotic journeys through Indian traffic makes one wonder: Is having a process, and executing it, complete folderol? Continue reading Does Chaos Really Work?
A recent run-in with Indian transport and teleco bureaucracy brings into stark contrast the difference between a good “Process” and merely “procedures”.
Some ideas to help make your processes more flexible. Continue reading Design Adaptability Into Your Process
Even the best designed processes can have “bugs” discovered during implementation.
Here are six steps to prepare the team – and the organization – to minimize disruption and quickly recover. Continue reading Get the Bugs Out of a New Process
Software sometimes makes us do stupid things just to get something done. Stop blaming the software, blame the underlying business process.
And stop blaming the process – it’s time you did something to fix it. Here’s how to get started. Continue reading Beat the System
Being able to check and track the quality of work before passing it on is a cornerstone of both continuous improvement efforts and ‘getting it right the first time’. Knowing the ‘leading indicators’ of success also saves a lot of time and heartache.
Here are some things to consider when creating a method to measure success – before the work is complete. Continue reading Designing Internal Measures
When metrics are used wisely, they can be effective tools for managing and improving processes. When they are used as weapons, or just improperly handled, they can be dangerous.
Some things to consider to keep yourself in the ‘wise’ column.
A common perception is that ‘following a process’ means limiting staff creativity. When processes are designed and implemented correctly, that simply isn’t true.
Here are some non-traditional examples of very strict processes with very creative outputs.
B-SPOKE 