Busy Fixing Errors

I was reading an interesting entry on Gemba’s blog about attempts to find a failure in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The article points out that there is little merit in quality checks which reveal mistakes we have to “rollback” in order to prevent a disaster (which is a costly process). A more efficient solution would be to implement and maintain a systemic approach in production — to avoid or solve errors instantly, preferably on the spot. This is what Toyota does.

Stepping out of production… We have processes everywhere. Many a times, on the level of an individual, we plunge into corrective activities which are, in principle, a direct result of a problem we’ve created ourselves, i.e. by a faulty process. The worst case scenario is a process which is so error-prone that we feel we haven’t got time to redesign it and implement self-corrective mechanisms (we are busy fixing the results). In other words, we are like Stephen Covey’s proverbial woodcutter sawing mindlessly instead of taking the time to sharpen the saw.

This reminded me of Bob Parson’s (CEO of Godaddy) “16 Rules”:

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.

Is the Cake Limitless or Not?

Robotized factories (e.g. Dell), eastern constant improvements (e.g. Toyota) or the endless chase after lower labour costs (e.g. shifts to China), generally — any sort of optimization, at the end of the day, results in even thinner margins and an even fiercer competition. What’s the end result? Is it altogether a side effect of a cake that doesn’t increase in size as fast as the global entrepreneurial appetite? Is the cake really limitless? Or perhaps it has a relative limit (i.e. resulting from competition or slower increase in consumption)? If so — what will production look like, say, in 10 years time?

Message to a Brave Firefighter

We have a natural tendency to do FIFO (First In, First Out) when managing our tasks. Whatever reaches our attention, gets more of this attention than in should. At first.

David Allen popularized the two-minute rule. While I agree with the concept (i.e. if you can tackle a task within two minutes, you ought to do it without deferring), I think there’s potential risk from what lies in our nature. We aren’t particularly good “hubs“.
When one receives an issue, it very often is “hot” – you read between the lines of an e-mail, your friend says something is important (his “important” or your “important”?), you get the wrong impression of the potential workload… When you hop in, it often is to late to step back.

Note for myself: forget the two-minute rule. Put everything down – in your time-management software or on a sheet of paper / calendar. Let it cool down a bit. Writing the task down costs time, but you might get an interest in the longer run.

Above all, respect your right to think.

Attention @work

“We have focused on managing our time. Our opportunity is to focus on how we manage our attention.” —Linda Stone

Source: http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/

After having reached a fair level of personal organization (I’m still open to new ideas), my productivity focus is now set on attention. Attention itself, prolonged attention, undivided attention, preventing unjustified multitasking are currently on my top 10 list of topics. At some moment, your efficiency (not effectiveness, mind you *wink*) depends on how well you manage to concentrate, avoid distractions and return to your previous work should they occur.

Some proposals:

The most obvious – maintain an uncluttered environment (i.e. desk)
Avoid using Instant Messaging (if not blocked by the corp firewall, I usually ban myself from using it)
Don’t leave your e-mail software online (i.e. download e-mail at regular intervals instead of “Instant Messaging mode”)
Minimize efficiency barriers – have all the necessary tools at hand (e.g. a good search engine, decent / standardized folder structure and file naming convention etc.)
Always have your current action/task displayed (I use a floating Stickies’ window with the task name in the upper part of my screen)
Have the deliverable in mind instead of the action itself – it helps (perhaps adding info on deliverable in parenthesis would suit you?)
If you need to write a longer text, use… Darkroom
Make appointments with yourself (use a calendar to create “virtual” appointments – this works especially well during hectic periods)
If you work in an open space, keep your earphones (music) at hand
Track your time spent (it fosters better time usage)

Here’s an interesting note from someone I’d call “an inspiring radical” 🙂

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“I apologize for refusing invitations to conferences. I travel rarely and only to vacation destinations. Otherwise I am entirely stationary. I attended my last conference here in Poznan in April 1999, and the last business meeting in Poznan in Summer 1999. I had my last business teleconference in Fall 1999. Today, I use only e-mail communication (see: E-mail vs. creativity and time-management), where I can apply incremental mail processing (see also: incremental reading). Freedom from meetings and deadlines makes it easier to use tasklists, proportional schedule, and adjust the timing of mental effort to the body clock.

Please do not see my refusal to attend important business meetings even in my home town of Poznan as unkind or a sign of not attaching sufficient importance to an issue in question.

For exactly same reasons as above, I do not have a mobile phone; not even for private purposes. Nor do I use Internet telephony. If I do not provide contact information, it is not of ill will. It is solely the question of time management. If I happen not to answer mail personally for a longer time, it comes from the fact that I frequently take “creative vacations” that may last a few months. In those periods, I intensely focus on one vital problem and work cut off from major distractions. I believe this attitude will be increasingly prevalent in creative professions. It is not dictated by lack of concern for others. It is dictated by efficiency! I apologize to anyone who feels offended.”

Source: http://www.supermemo.com/english/company/wozniak.htm

Another related article:

http://www.supermemo.com/articles/tasklists.htm

What’s Your Recommendation?

One of the many good things I have learned while interacting with sponsors and generally –- managing projects, is…

Always provide a recommendation.

In projects, when there’s an issue most likely to go beyond the set tolerances, you ask for steering. You do this by providing options, adding necessary support data and… your recommendation. Mind you, it’s always a good lesson on communication. If we don’t provide a recommendation, this is most likely due to laziness, no understanding for the VP’s / CEO’s / etc. lack of time or simply an unjustified belief in the SteCo’s omniscience.

These days, when provided with options by my spouse or colleague, I often catch myself saying: “What’s your recommendation?”

Change

When people change, it’s different to when people “adapt”. Adapting is ongoing – the staff continues to work according to old patterns and ideas. People try to get used to the new situation.
A real change is a metamorphosis. The situation is different and your staff feels better because of it.

“Adapting” uses energy, “changing” provides energy.

This a paraphrase of a text I had read a while ago. I’d rather not provide a reference, so… forgive me. Still, it’s food for thought.

My thoughts on the topic aren’t mature. I have yet to build my on change management toolbox. As of now, I have one sentence rooted deep in my mind – every system put out balance is prone to return to its previous state (I don’t remember who wrote that first, but I guess it was one them management gurus from the past). I heartily agree. Managing change is a necessity in program / project management, so… basics, I’m aware of. But obviously, there’s much more to it. And I suppose it can be an art.

BTW, revolution or evolution?

Why Outsourcing Customer Support Sucks?

I’ve wrote a word or two on outsourcing customer support in my previous entry. Since I’ve been involved in that type of business (call centers, to be precise), I’ve got some strong feelings on the issue.

To me, it boils down to one sentence:

“Your customer is 1) why you exist and 2) what makes your existence possible.”

Your customer is your asset. The question is – do you really believe passing your customer over to some other company is the best way to go?

That’s part of the story.

Let’s say, that for some unknown reason, you decide to get rid of that “problem” (i.e. supporting your customer), and call center or contact center XYZ is now doing customer service for you.

Practice:
You get a bunch of poorly payed students with < 2 years remaining work span, zero experience and no idea about who your customer is and why he or she is… important? Why should he/she be important in the first place? “Hey, I’m just working here!” And it’s a tough job. They ask you to “paint grass” on a daily basis, they shift you from one location to the other, because there’s “yet another >>inspection<<.”

Hopefully, standards have changed during the years and you could expect more. To me, however, the philosophy is just not right.