Process Re-design, Challenge #02

Always an art, never a science?

Art and science have their meeting point in method.
~Robert Bulwer-Lytton

What makes BPM different than scientific management approaches (like project management, six sigma etc)?

1. There is no global optimum
There is no best way to execute a process, it all depends on availability of resources (time, money, talent) for execution. It is an illusion to think that one may ever reach a global optimum in any process.

2. BPM is a continuous deployment framework
There is no best time to improve / change / upgrade a process. Or rather, the best time to do that is "as soon as possible". A business process must be agile, i.e. must be able to adapt to new conditions (shift in strategy, legislative changes etc). Therefore on-the-go tweaking should be part of the process design philosophy.

Hey, this sounds a lot like the lean start-up philosophy!
1/ start small with a minimum viable process and with a few process metrics that matter,
2/ continuously test your model's falsifiable hypotheses along the way until you get it right and avoid local optima,
3/ tweak it on-the-go based on the learnings above.

Actually, there are at least two major differences:

1. Approach on customer problem
A lean start-up defines how a new product solves an existing / emerging customer problem.
A business process redefines how an existing organization addresses entire classes of existing problems (effectiveness, efficiency, segregation of duties, activity cost, information distribution, asset / function redundancy etc).

2. Build-Measure-Learn cycle
A lean start-up iterates the product. One product iteration may be deployed almost instantaneously. Customer reaction can measured reliably in direct relation with that specific iteration.
A business process iteration manages the change to the process (employee education, transition, organizational feedback, integration into an existing business model). Therefore, a business process iteration needs a significant soak period before it starts to perform as intended.

So... how do we reconcile this?...

More to come :-)

Process Re-design, Challenge #01

Re-design From a Blank Slate

A relentless barrage of "why’s" is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo.  Use it often.  
~Shigeo Shingo

When you hire BPM consultants to help you redesign your processes, they will usually start with a presentation of the implementation methodology, a recommendation of the software package to use for modelling and a timesheet estimate for the blueprint project (AS-IS, TO-BE and gap analysis)

As a result, many organizations start a process re-design by having a look at their current process, the AS-IS situation.

My challenge: this AS-IS approach is a waste!

When starting from the current situation, you are basically throwing resources back at yourself, ending up either:
1/ being convinced that you were right to start a re-design project or
2/ getting comfortable with the current status quo.

So, get over your legacy mindset and take a completely fresh view of what you do - you might be surprised about how many bright ideas are lurking in your -apparently dormant- organizational layers.

I would even argue whether a proper methodology is needed! Of course you need clear steps on how you execute the re-design (as in: how do you manage transition?), but business process design does not work best with a methodical approach.

More on this next week :-)