What was the Question?
Article by Russell Cummings
"If you think you can or you think that you can't - then you're probably right" - Henry Ford
Unfortunately, many organisations fully appreciate the validity of this truism and charge down the road to inappropriate solutions - simply because they can. Why is this and how do we stop the rush towards inappropriate or incomplete solutions from occurring here?
Inappropriate Solutions
How often do you see organisations that have elected to pursue a particular course of action, or are "hell bent" in implementing a particular system, that will only address part of the problem?
This is evident in the plethora of poorly implemented CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and "Balanced Scorecard" Systems that lie under-utilised in many organisations. There is nothing wrong with the systems - the methodologies and programs are usually of very high quality - it just seems that they haven't necessarily addressed the key issues of the organisation, or the effort would have been made to embed them deep in 'business-as-usual'.
We are often looking for the "Silver Bullet". I'm sure that you see this amongst your competitors and colleagues all the time!
As change implementation consultants, we see this sort of activity only too often across a range of public and private sector organisations. There are no sectoral or industry boundaries in this.
Some of the issues arise because of our tendency to "fad-surf". In many cases, this means that we decide that we have to have a particular system or adopt a management tool as it seems like it will be the potion to solve all our ills. The drivers for implementation are often that it has been seen to work in other organisations or that it should work in theory. One organisation of our acquaintance has been through Job Evaluation, TQM, ABM and Balanced Score Card in the last ten years and has yet to fully implement anything.
In other cases, fad surfing is not an issue. We end up focused on a solution that will address only a portion of the issues because we have approached the problems from a particular perspective e.g. People, technology or systems perspectives. The old adage "if you are good with a hammer, you see everything as a nail" is especially true. In this way, if we had a technology-focused perspective on life and we encountered a customer service problem, we would leap to the view that a CRM system would fix it, and rush out to talk to a software vendor.
The Cost of Inappropriate Solutions
The cost of implementing inappropriate solutions (wrong person or wrong system/technology for the job at hand) is high.
Toyota has revolutionised the manufacturing industry through its application of Lean Production Processes, which are now applied across all industries from manufacturing to service. This was documented in the book "The Machine that changed the World" by James P. Womack, etal.
These improvement processes focus on the elimination of Waste and Inefficiency and one of the principal forms of Waste is "Inappropriate Processing" or simply applying the wrong solution to a particular problem.
From experience, changedrivers know that the hidden inefficiency and waste in most businesses is absorbing between 20% and 30% of your costs. For every $1 million you spend, $200K to $300K is due to waste and inefficiency.
Defining the Problem
Often the solutions we choose are only part of the Solution Set that is required to get on top of a range of organisational issues. This happens because we fail to define the Problem clearly. Issues within our organisations rarely stand in isolation so that they can be "fixed" with a single solution. This is because the problems we face are usually complex and inter-related with facets reflected in all parts of the business. Too often we pay lip service to the Problem Definition Phase in our zest to get to the right Solution. In most cases we fail to ask ourselves:
If <INSERT SOLUTION OF YOUR CHOICE> is "The Answer", what was "The Question"?
At changedrivers, we find that many organisations unhappy with the implementation of past solutions are now prepared to take the time to scope the problem and clearly define the Key Questions of Strategy that must be addressed if we are to deal effectively with a particular issue.
Invariably, there a number of linked, or cascading questions which need to be addressed. These questions are by nature compound questions that require a structured process to illuminate the real essence of the problem.
Complex problems invariably require a Set of Solutions to adequately address the issues. Rarely is there a single solution. Once the problem has been clearly defined then developing the appropriate Solution Sets is relatively straight forward.
Our Strategic VIA™ Process
At changedrivers, we have developed a proven process for developing these Key Questions and the appropriate Solution Sets.
Our Strategic VIA™ Process enables us to work with organisations to adequately scope the Key Questions of Strategy and determine possible Solution Sets. This is a rigorous, structured thinking process that facilitates ownership of both Problems and Solutions and leads to more effective implementation.
We have used this process across a range of public and private sector organisations to illuminate the real issues and highlight the appropriate course of action.
Click here for more information on our Strategic VIA™ process.
For more information please contact Alan Ward at alan-ward@changedrivers.com.au