Compound The Interest In Process Improvement
Thomas M. Cagley Jr.
Audion version can be found on SPaMCast 43 (www.spamcast.net)
Sometime near the beginning of process improvement time W. Edward Deming documented his 14 Points for Management. One of those points struck me as I reviewed the course of software development and process improvement. The principle in question was constancy of purpose. Controlled changes are hard for many reasons but not staying the course once you begin a change is tops on my list of mistakes. Change usually begins with great fanfare and acclaim. Over time, events intervene (the famous stuff happens) which diverts attention and resources. Deming suggested that for change to have a positive impact, management needs to have constancy of purpose. Stated another way management must stay the course. This is not stay that once started a change program can never be modified, changed or abandoned. They all must evolve to meet changing needs but generally needs change slowly (unless financial derivatives are involved).
A time comes in every process improvement program or new development methodology deployment when interest wanes and the perceived value begins wane to a degree that something new begins to be planned. The point at which planning for the next big thing starts is a tipping point that marks the half-life of the process change. Every change has a half life. Your job as a leader is to extend the time it takes to get to the tipping point in order to maximize the value derived from any individual change. Keeping your customers interested in your program is a crucial tactic to delay the investable tipping point.
So who is responsible for stoking the fire of interest? Simply put the person or persons that are managing the change program. The role of maintaining interest is a blend of cheerleading, sales and guru-dom. Many process improvement leaders believe these tasks are beneath them therefore assign a staff member or decide that the purity of their vision should be enough to ensure movement toward the bright light of the future. That bright light in reality may well be the light to be an oncoming train. Quoting Colin Powell, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” Interest is your problem, your roles is to lead.
One of the reasons interest wanes is that other events overtake the initial burst of energy and rational. Without someone to act as a town crier, memory fades. You must refresh both managers and practitioners’ memory as to why the change is important, what the change is, what is in it for them and what pain the change seeks to solve. A coherent story requires that you have a good handle on why you are doing the project.
You must understand the pain you are trying to solve not just what you are going to deliver (one tends to be a reflection of the other). I suggest that to effectively communicate, begin by crafting a message around how you are solving your client’s pain. Then measure the results you are delivering to prove you are actually delivering on the promise of your solutions. Finally, talk to your clients (management and practitioners) about how you are solving their pain (at the same time validate that the bar has not changed). I also suggest soliciting testimonials from your clients. Testimonials coupled with your message are excellent tool support continued change.
Why is interest important? A lack of focused interest is a risk because the IT landscape can be described as needs chasing resources while the resources get squeezed putting process improvement personnel and process improvement budgets are at risk. Salespersonship and marketing are critical roles when managing a process improvement project. These talents and roles support both the initial process of making a change and also when you are sustaining a change. Recognize that like skin moisturizer, sales and marketing can extend the life of change program only if applied early and often. Further the program you are trying to focus interest on must deliver value. Your mission is not only to be a leader but a cheerleader, salesperson and a communicator.
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