Most process improvement techniques focus on only a small portion of the improvement potential in every process… the tip of the iceberg if you will. How big is the opportunity resting out of our sight, hidden below the waterline of current practices?
Recent research by the BP Group suggests that 70 to 90 percent of the work people do comes directly from process Points of Failure and Causes of Work and this work is NOT part of the “job” for which these people were hired! Instead, this is non-value add work that takes away from people’s ability to do their job.
Does this sound familiar? Can you identify places where these Points of Failure and Causes of Work are distracting you from what you really want to be doing?
Are you required to fill out this form, check up on that order, or follow-up on those activities? Do you get tasked with finding the answer, knowing the rules, fighting that fire or explaining why you did this or that?
Fixing affects (the tip of the iceberg) only gets us so far. To create real change in how efficiently we use our time requires us to focus on eliminating the Causes of Work (the rest of the iceberg).
This is the first step we must take in aligning our businesses for success in the 21st Century.
