Wave after Wave of Initiatives
by Ken Black
A lot of today's business leaders are attracted to each new initiative that comes along for improving performance. The attraction is certainly understandable. If our competitors think What Is The Right Surf Board?
An organization must find a way to escape from the corrective action mode. In order to escape, they must learn how to eliminate the forces which cause corrective actions or nonconformances.
Those forces cannot be eliminated until understood. They are subtle and, to the untrained eye, hard to see. Yet, they are amazingly powerful.
The right surf board is one that runs on clear, concise and valid requirements and conformance measurements.
How do I achieve the needed level of integrity in the requirements and the measurements? How do I fix what I have?
To fix is to change. A change process which is slow and cumbersome will never get you there. The ability to accommodate change is essential. That's where you start if you want to "get one."
The costs are relative. What are you spending on existing processes and intervention resources as you operate in a corrective action mode?
How much does it cost to improve the change process and the requirements validation process? What will the operating costs be after those processes have been improved?
The first set of costs are only a fraction of the second set of costs. Once you "get one," you can ride any wave and achieve the desired results.that it is a good idea, perhaps we should. We can't afford to be left behind.
Each initiative or new idea is said to be like a wave. As soon as one is "played out," another is there to take its place. Each "ride" starts out with the same high expectations and yet ends up in the same place. Except for the wasted resources and the high levels of frustration, nothing seems to change. Wave after wave, it is always the same.
Any initiative is likely to look attractive to an organization that is operating in a "corrective action mode." Over 90% of all organizations are in that mode to some degree; some worse than others.
Everyone has to work harder, as it gets worse, just to stay even. Forward progress, if any, is small. It is frustrating because it is usually obvious that overall results should be better, yet they are not.
An organization Riding The Wrong Surf Board that jumps on a new wave, while operating in the corrective action mode, is riding the wrong surf board. They are going to waste a lot of resources and wonder what went wrong once all energy associated with the wave has been spent.
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