Category Archives: Moving to Work of Higher Value

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 This weekend we were out visiting shops and interesting locations when I came across this top hat.

I’ve never actually seen a real top hot other than in Fred Astaire movies or at the hands of some magician, and since I can’t dance, the first thing I did was check the lining.

Out of necessity, as I rose up through my career I became very talented at pulling rabbits out of these things.

If your people continually have to act as magicians in order to satisfy your customers, something is wrong with the inner workings of your organization.

I think this particular hat was all used up.

The inner lining contained no rabbits, although I did find the receipt for a can of smoke, a claim ticket from a mirror repair shop, and the address of a tap dancing studio (should you need that sort of assistance in place of other more suitable tactics).

Use the comment feature to write me about what improvements you would make to improve service delivery in your environment.

When the head of Apple made his announcement to step down, the markets reacted and the media commentaries began.

The talk has focused on how pivotal Mr. Jobs has been in the creation of revolutionary products, and the predictions that the Apple innovating machine will grind to a halt. What no one is talking about is why the consumer holds Apple products in such high regard. INNOVATIVE products have a sex appeal that attract the consumer, but that’s not what makes them loyal. Apple’s loyalty comes from the USE of these products.

Here are the three things that in my opinion, have made Apple a threat to its competitors:

1. Innovative product ideas

2. Ease of use

3. Perfection in execution

Perfection in execution is THE thing that I fear will erode without Steven Jobs.

In the current Apple world, it is rare that a product is released with significant flaws that sour the user experience. When it was discovered that the IPhone 4 would not work if the user held it in their left hand, I would imagine Mr. Jobs would find this incredible that his team neglected to test in both hands. In Apple’s world, the phrase “just ship” does not seem to exist the way it does in other companies when developing a product to a deadline. In Apple’s world, they get it right or it doesn’t ship. You might disagree and someone reading this will point out some flaw somewhere, but I think we can all agree that compared to the industry norm, Apple gets high marks in this area.

When I consult with organizations that seek to reduce costs, increase quality or change their culture, this is the one common area that my clients all appear weak in. The time, money and loss of confidence that results are staggering when you look at any company that produces not just external products for its customers, but internal products used to support their customer services.

This applies to virtually every organization, not just consumer oriented electronics companies.

In many organizations, the product development team often hangs the operations folks out to dry when supporting the customer. The product team has no choice since their leaders hang them out to dry by allocating budgets and time that fail to take into account the full scale of not just building or user testing, but other less obvious aspects as well. Apple under Steve Jobs simply does not tolerate the level of mistakes, oversights or lack of perfectionism that Mr. Jobs demanded.

Somehow Jobs has been able to strike the delicate balance between getting it right, and getting it out the door without “hanging people out to dry.”

What I commonly see as I roam the halls of organizations is either a stringent adherence to perfectionism to the point where red tape and controls prevent anything from being released in a timely fashion, or, rapid development and release of what can only be called garbage? In the corporate world, this garbage may include business processes.

Here are my concerns as Apple finds its way:

• Will the internal working of Apple get bogged down trying to emulate the perfectionist ways of Mr. Jobs to the point that it grinds to a halt?

• Will Apple allow too many imperfections to slip by in order to meet their launch schedules, and lose their loyal followers?

• Or, is there an “Apple Way” that will eternally live on and continue to drive Apple forward as the legacy of Mr. Jobs?

The waitress is just the pointy end of a poorly designed service. Meanwhile, Jack is an innovator.

Search youtube for ""Five Easy Pieces Diner Scene"

Are you receiving buy-in on the home front?

Typical constraints in managing a project are Cheap/Fast/Good, pick any two.

Dr. Martin Barnes is credited with creating this simple model almost 45 years ago.
Today there are many variations that recognize that there are more than 3 constraints (Cost, risk, benefits, quality, scope…etc.) and a variety of shapes (diamonds, crosses and so on).

The beauty of his model still stands as a way of demonstrating that determining options is most likely a negotiation of trade offs and balancing priorities.

Constraints triangle

As you move to work of higher value, I’d also like you to consider this next model that I have created, which I believe to be at the root of many performance issues within organizations, even though this triangle focuses on issues outside the work environment.

Commitment triangle

Projects go off the rails when we fail to negotiate outcomes around project constraints. Similarly, careers and relationships can suffer as a result of failing to achieve buy-in on the home front. Workers that are focused on personal issues throughout the day are no more productive and happy than those who are being burnt out on a poorly planned project.

Horse shoe bay

When we arrived in Bermuda we were presented with the option of renting a scooter to get around. Having just returned safely from a 4000km motorcycle tour of the Atlantic coast of North America, I just wasn’t willing to take the risk of driving a scooter on the wrong side of the road, however, the bigger risk was the beach where I almost stepped on a Portuguese man of war that had just washed up on shore.

It’s rarely the biggest perceived risks that cause problems, but more often the unforeseen risks that we haven’t bothered to consider. Equally dangerous are the risks that hold us back that are not real. 

The beach was fantastic and so was the motorcycle trip.

Glendale

 I took this picture of the USS intrepid aircraft carrier as it seemed fitting this week amidst the chaos of the US credit rating fiasco. (The ship is just above the girl's head).

I use that word to describe what took place in the news as we set sail from New York Harbor on a cruise ship, looking back at the financial capital of the United States, and the glory of a once great aircraft carrier whose decks now contain a historical record of past "can do" attitude (as well as a period of comfort and complacency, as depicted by the concord in the foreground to the left where the concord aircraft sits).

Aboard our cruise ship one evening, the movie “Pearle Harbor” played.

What struck me was one particular scene where, in a room filled with negativity and pessimism about defeat, a crippled President Eisenhower rose from his wheel chair to tell his chiefs of staff, “don’t tell me what can’t be done!”

In my consulting work I often find organizations full of people who are more than happy to give you reasons why things cannot be done, but if you look back through history you will find more than enough evidence to support a "can do" approach.

Sometimes you need brute force, sometimes innovative ideas, and still other times you simply need a combined will to do what it takes to succeed.