Avoid aligning performance measures to people, it may lead to accountability.
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In the last of the Dirty Harry movies starring Clint Eastwood (The Dead Pool, 1988), Harry said "opinions are like _______, everybody's got one". Harry wasn't very politically correct, so think below the waist in filling in the blank...
The same might be said today in the technology space today - about dashboards. Some like to call them cockpits or scorecards. It doesn't really matter for purposes of this discussion. I'm referring to any graphical method of presenting performance measures. ERP providers have them; BI providers are all about dashboards, at least those that weren't acquired by an ERP company; CRM providers have them....the list goes on, and on, and on...
So there are lots of dashboard choices. Generally, these dashboards are taking the place of spreadsheets from ten years ago, or green bar paper from twenty years ago. By that I mean, the data they are presenting isn't necessarily current or trusted; and it likely is not formally aligned to the role/person that is accountable for that performance measure.
Performance measures inform us on our progress towards goals; goals align to our organizational strategies. Some people refer to this (strategy->goal->measure) as a strategy model. You can have the best strategy model in the world, but if its measures are not aligned to the roles or individuals that goals are met, then either it all falls apart or progress is very slow.
Isn't alignment of performance measures to roles the first thing you should do, once you decide a measurement is worth tracking? And while we're at it, the measurement likely aligns to a process that we perform, so aligning it to a process or an element of a process architecture sounds like a smart move too.
Doesn't this alignment between measurements, people, and process make the case for an integrated approach? An approach that, once you identify a measurement that is not tracking towards your goals, you can quickly identify the process that is not working, the people aligned to that process, and the technology that supports that process - so that they can improve it?
Of course not! Remember, this is about how to "avoid process excellence", so don't do anything I just described. Avoid using dashboards that align to people, process, and technology. It will keep you way too busy with improvement ideas.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Case for a Process Platform - part 1
The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, and Toy Story are noted in the top ten trilogies of all time, according to most lists by so-called movie experts. (Yes, The Godfather made the list despite Part III.) As I begin the first part of this intended trilogy of posts, I do aspire for a clear and concise trifecta of insight, information, and suspense. That being said, I did enjoy all six Rocky movies.
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Processes. Why should we care about them? The only process that really matters is bringing together buyers and sellers. You have a product. I need a product, so I buy your product. Done deal. Sounds easy, right? The reality is that buyers, whether they be individuals or organizations, can be very demanding. They want the right product at the right place at the right time, and at the right cost. Sellers really don't care about process...until they lose that first deal. Then starts the mad scramble of figuring out how to satisfy that customer, or finding other potential buyers, in order to get the product off their shelves. One could call this trying to learn from our mistakes, or improvement. Market leaders have learned that continuous improvement is a necessity.
"Okay, so I work for a company that provides both products and services. I guess that my company needs to care about processes, in order to have the right mix of quality, service, and cost. But not me...that's for those process geeks, right? The guys that change the name of their group every three years to the latest acronym...what is PEX anyway, I just learned what LSS means for Pete's sake! (It's Lean Six Sigmund, right?) I'm too busy doing my job to get bogged down with process. I'm accountable for 25% of the company's revenue, plus customer service. I need to make sure my team is performing at a high level and has the right training. Let someone else worry about process (just don't change mine)."
As process professionals, haven't we all heard or felt, the above comments from those in our organization? The reality is that this person's response included many nuggets about why process should be important to them. It just needs to be framed in a way that resonates with them.
The reality is that everyone is either directly involved in a core process (plan, develop, market, sell, deliver, service), or in a supporting process that is important (IT, finance, etc.). We all perform at least one process; some of us are accountable for the performance of a process; some of us manage risk associated with a process; other support a process with IT architecture, or training. There are many different lenses through which our organizations view process. It is possible to bring together these different perspectives, around a common process understanding?
To be continued....
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Processes. Why should we care about them? The only process that really matters is bringing together buyers and sellers. You have a product. I need a product, so I buy your product. Done deal. Sounds easy, right? The reality is that buyers, whether they be individuals or organizations, can be very demanding. They want the right product at the right place at the right time, and at the right cost. Sellers really don't care about process...until they lose that first deal. Then starts the mad scramble of figuring out how to satisfy that customer, or finding other potential buyers, in order to get the product off their shelves. One could call this trying to learn from our mistakes, or improvement. Market leaders have learned that continuous improvement is a necessity.
"Okay, so I work for a company that provides both products and services. I guess that my company needs to care about processes, in order to have the right mix of quality, service, and cost. But not me...that's for those process geeks, right? The guys that change the name of their group every three years to the latest acronym...what is PEX anyway, I just learned what LSS means for Pete's sake! (It's Lean Six Sigmund, right?) I'm too busy doing my job to get bogged down with process. I'm accountable for 25% of the company's revenue, plus customer service. I need to make sure my team is performing at a high level and has the right training. Let someone else worry about process (just don't change mine)."
As process professionals, haven't we all heard or felt, the above comments from those in our organization? The reality is that this person's response included many nuggets about why process should be important to them. It just needs to be framed in a way that resonates with them.
The reality is that everyone is either directly involved in a core process (plan, develop, market, sell, deliver, service), or in a supporting process that is important (IT, finance, etc.). We all perform at least one process; some of us are accountable for the performance of a process; some of us manage risk associated with a process; other support a process with IT architecture, or training. There are many different lenses through which our organizations view process. It is possible to bring together these different perspectives, around a common process understanding?
To be continued....
Sunday, October 7, 2012
X = ?
"...Have you read my blog today? 300 Million Little USA's. Your doorstep is just a click away. We'll get together one of these days"
These lyrics, from the Five for Fighting song "Slice", come to mind as I dare to write my first post on my first blog. I have no delusions of 300 Million reading this, but I do hope that at least one non-family member and one person outside the USA read it.
The blog is titled Business Process Xcellence and the url is BPXscout.blogspot.com. The common theme being X. No, I'm not an X-Man, so there's no need to send the FBI over to round me up...but if I were an X-Man, I would have to be Wolverine, given that I'm from Michigan. I know that the letter X can be scary; that elusive letter that we are trying to find what it is equal to, from the time we are first introduced to Algebra, to the time we conclude our math studies. Unfortunately for me, that extended well into college as engineering school which was littered with that elusive X.
There is no need to fear the letter X in this case. X can be whatever you want it to be. Doesn't that feel great? No need to figure it out! There are so many acronyms in the Business Process community: BPM, BPA, BPI, PEX, LSS, ITIL, BPMS, BPMN, BPEL. BPM has several different interpretations: business process management; business performance management; business process modeling; and even beats per minute. Business Process Management doesn't seem to mean the same thing it did 5+ years ago, when it had mostly a workflow or process automation focus. So really, what's the point in getting too caught up in acronyms? Hence, BPX, where X can be: excellence; management; automation; improvement; analysis; monitoring; or another relevant word as things change.
So why BPXscout? (@BPXscout is my twitter name, just for consistency). The definition of scout is: person who is searching, investigating. My team at work knows all too well that I am always searching for: a better way to do something; a better way to communicate a concept; or what may be "next" in our market. In addition, I am a huge sports fan and feel that scouts are a very important part to any organization. I also think of scouts as humble, which I try to be, but do not always succeed.
So, welcome to my blog. Now you know what X equals. The plan is for future posts to address relevant topics in the Business Process Community, and alternate between: serious industry observations and advice; and satire or sarcasm intended to make a point, while having a little fun. Plans have a funny way of changing though, so we will just see...
These lyrics, from the Five for Fighting song "Slice", come to mind as I dare to write my first post on my first blog. I have no delusions of 300 Million reading this, but I do hope that at least one non-family member and one person outside the USA read it.
The blog is titled Business Process Xcellence and the url is BPXscout.blogspot.com. The common theme being X. No, I'm not an X-Man, so there's no need to send the FBI over to round me up...but if I were an X-Man, I would have to be Wolverine, given that I'm from Michigan. I know that the letter X can be scary; that elusive letter that we are trying to find what it is equal to, from the time we are first introduced to Algebra, to the time we conclude our math studies. Unfortunately for me, that extended well into college as engineering school which was littered with that elusive X.
There is no need to fear the letter X in this case. X can be whatever you want it to be. Doesn't that feel great? No need to figure it out! There are so many acronyms in the Business Process community: BPM, BPA, BPI, PEX, LSS, ITIL, BPMS, BPMN, BPEL. BPM has several different interpretations: business process management; business performance management; business process modeling; and even beats per minute. Business Process Management doesn't seem to mean the same thing it did 5+ years ago, when it had mostly a workflow or process automation focus. So really, what's the point in getting too caught up in acronyms? Hence, BPX, where X can be: excellence; management; automation; improvement; analysis; monitoring; or another relevant word as things change.
So why BPXscout? (@BPXscout is my twitter name, just for consistency). The definition of scout is: person who is searching, investigating. My team at work knows all too well that I am always searching for: a better way to do something; a better way to communicate a concept; or what may be "next" in our market. In addition, I am a huge sports fan and feel that scouts are a very important part to any organization. I also think of scouts as humble, which I try to be, but do not always succeed.
So, welcome to my blog. Now you know what X equals. The plan is for future posts to address relevant topics in the Business Process Community, and alternate between: serious industry observations and advice; and satire or sarcasm intended to make a point, while having a little fun. Plans have a funny way of changing though, so we will just see...
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