Process Entitlement

We are all entitled to something, aren't we?  How about some peace and time to think before the fire-fighting begins?  Probably not.  That is unless we have thoughtfully designed our processes to perform at a specific level.  Short cycle time, high quality, just a few people touching the product, and we do not leave the day with a backlog larger than we can emotionally handle.  How often does this happen in your operations?

Profitable and Customer Satisfying processes do not happen accidentally or magically appear just because someone has the specials letters on their resume (MBA, MBB, SSBB, CQE, PMP, ETC).  These processes also do not "just work" because the right people are in the right place at the right time (Process Heroes).  It does not matter if we are using manufacturing or business processes, we should be able to receive predictable and profitable performance no matter which well trained and qualified person is sitting in that chair at that time.

Our Process Hero Saves the Day!

When you start measuring your processes you will probably find that the performance is not what you expected and you will have that sinking sensation.  Stop and breathe, this is normal to feel some level of anxiety once you have swallowed the red pill and it will pass as soon as you start to think about how to begin analyzing for root causes and implement solutions to address those root causes. So logically, if your process just happens because you throw a contract or database at the team then you will have the performance (good or bad) that just happens by chance.  If you have your Process Heroes in place you may have decent on time delivery or quality with rework and inspection, but performance will not be predictable.

Our Process Heroes can only go for so long, and remember what Dr. Tyrell told us, "The light that burns twice as bright can only burn for half as long" (Yes!  It's that important!).  When we burn out our Process Heroes we have to rely on people to inspect quality into our products, and Dr. Deming had something important to say about that too.

This change begins like most others, measure the results of the things going though your system.  This could be airplanes, circuit boards, decisions, grades, reports, or sales of widgets.  Are you receiving the results of your process that you are Entitled to receive?