The Definition Of Insanity

Can be defined as doing the same thing, the same way every time, and expecting the results to change. (try W. Edwards Demings’ red bead experiment!)

Building a process oriented business is not a set it and forget it operation. It is defining and monitoring the desired outcomes. And identifying that if a desired outcome does not happen, that you have an opportunity for improvement.

In other words, if the desired outcome fails, what can we do to reduce the risk that it will fail next time?

In talking about process, you need to look specifically at what breaks. You need to look at the why, and the how of what went wrong. Is it a people problem? A process problem? or a system problem?

(within the context of ITIL I give some samples starting in this post titled; ITIL And The SMB Part 3; Incident Management)

Although please note that you do not need to go the ITIL route to become more process oriented.

It can be easy to overlook;

When something fails, there is an associated cost. That cost could be rework, lost time, maybe even lost business. Costs can be soft as well, for example, reduced customer satisfaction.

As an example of improving process efficiency, the large package delivery companies load their trucks in a first-in, last-out manner based on the drivers delivery route. This simple step reduces the amount of time finding the correct packages for offload at each stop, and reduces the risk of missing something. And of course missing packages can negatively affect customer satisfaction.

The More Things Stay The Same

When you start building a process oriented business (not just as an IT function) there are two critical pieces to start with;

1) Define the optimum outcomes. A process is nothing without a business outcome. This defined business outcome is also the measure that you can use to improve and monitor your processes.

2) Continually monitor and improve your processes. There are always opportunities for improvement. There is an old saying in music, that the spaces between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves.

The SMB Takeaway

Like the spaces between the notes, process optimization often comes hidden in the areas as work migrates from one individual or group to another.

Improving them, or identifying why something did not work, you need to understand – you need to look at the what the why and the how of what you are trying to perform.

Was it a person error? a process error? a system error?

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My Car 2.0

My car went into the shop for its first service last week. Along with the usual maintenance items, I asked the dealership to check out a little gremlin in how the transmission was shifting gears.

They upgraded the software!

Yup. Software.

The software that controls the engine management system.

As you might have guessed, when I told some friends that my car had to go in for a software upgrade, that drew a few chuckles!

The point of this story?

Technology is embedded in what we do. On both a personal as well as a business level.

We can look nostalgically back at the old days, but what we do with tech will keep marching on. We need to adapt our businesses. We need to ensure that we are leveraging and managing that technology as much as we can. It is simple;

If we don’t in our businesses, another business will.

We can look at 20 years into the past. Can we look 20 years into the future?

Can we know what that will be like?

I can’t. 20 years ago, could we predict cars with GPS, in cabin DVD, Blutooth, adaptive lane control. etc etc?

The only thing I can say for sure is that it will be different. And unless we want to join the lines of buggy whip makers, we will have to keep adjusting, keep changing.

This post was inspired by Frank Reed

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Image Credit purpleslog via flickr

Are You Being Nickled And Dimed?

Unfortunately this is all to common, you have that new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software or some other software tool.

You make the capital investment, go through a long and painful installation, configuration and training process and then;

Finished right?

Maybe not!

Once the software is installed the change requests start coming in.

Some of these changes will be great – they will add value, or improve decisions. But some of them won’t.

Every change has a cost. Both in time, and possibly work flows and training. Not to mention Quality Control and testing.

Do you manage these changes?

Do you understand the value equation in these change requests?

If it takes ‘x’ hours for one particular change, is there value there to be received?

One small change may not seem like much – but add them all up and the costs start to rise.

And when it seems that money is already spent – it can be difficult to see these operational cost leaks.

The SMB Takeaway

Nickles And Dimes

You have spent money, and time on that software implementation.

But you can’t consider it ‘complete’.

Put all changes through the same value ringer that the initial project went through.

As the old saying goes; Watch the nickles and dimes, then the dollars take care of themselves.

Photo Credit stargonautone via flickr

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Complexity Sneaks Up On You

When you start blogging – it seems funny how you can turn the most mundane thing into an idea (my wife says desperation, but hey!)

So here it is!

I had a burned out bulb in a lamp at home. Now I have an entire utility room shelf dedicated to spare bulbs – and that is the problem.

You buy a lamp – you really, really don’t think of what bulb type it takes do you?

I have lights and lamps with these;

and these – yes these too;

There are compact fluorescent, fluorescent, (straight, round and two sizes, halogen, candelabra, in three sizes and two base widths,some frosted some not, two sizes of globes,

Well you get the idea

Complexity sneaks up on you, you don’t plan for it.

It happens because;

• No one is accountable for planning
• Someone wants a special something
• Someone else insists that this one is better than that

The SMB Takeaway

You must manage your IT Infrastructure. You must plan it, and articulate it.

Because you don’t Plan for complexity – it does quite well on its own.

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New Here? A Summary Of This Blog To Date

This blog has been dedicated to exposing technology  to non-technology managers in the SMB space. To uncover the technobabble  that too frequently takes the place of true communication.

My philosophy on SMB IT

In and of itself, technology doesn’t matter.

The technology only supports your people and processes.

Technology Managent in the SME space needs communication. 

Management of your IT cannot be abdicated, and change must be frequently communicated and managed.

As managers in the small business space, we know that our businesses are not all the same.  But we still need to determine a strategic vision and ensure that we are executing  it properly.

Do your best to root out complexity,  and never, ever forget that it is our customers that pay the bills. 

And those of us in IT? we need to evolve,  part negotiator, relationship manager, and with deep understanding of the interdependencies among data, processes, and the individuals using them.

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Change Needs You, Or It Fails

Change is hard.

And I think it is doubly hard when there is a technology aspect to it.

As Michael Fillios writes here, Change is the heart more than the head.

It may be that sales rep keeping a shoebox full of contact information, or a software coder who refuses to document, it is a people issue, it is an emotional issue.

I don’t claim to have the answers.

Because it is something that I still have to work a on a daily basis.

The SMB Takeaway

As hard as change can be, it will be harder if you as the leader don’t embrace change.

If you do not support change clearly, the message to the people in your organization will be that change does not matter.

That the way we always do it around here will live on.

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NOTE: It was a snowy Sunday a few weeks ago when I cobbled this together, I was sitting watching feathery creatures flit around the yard (image), since then, a few other blogs have articulated the challenge with change, so for some linky goodness;

Olivier Blanchard with Dealing with agents of un-change  and Abandon Yesterday

And Vaughan Merlyn’s series of posts; Marketing and Leading Organizational Change