People often ask Michael and I what type of work we do – or enjoy doing – and then seem sorry they asked. How does that saying go? "Ask an engineer what time it is and he’ll tell you how to build a watch."
The truth is that we are troubleshooters sharing an area of expertise known today as Process Improvement. In the old days we were called "Efficiency Experts", "Total Quality Improvement Consultants", "Change Managers", and various derogatory terms by incompetent or lazy people who lost their jobs as a result of our research and recommendations.
Comparable to mercenaries or hired gun fighters, we are engaged to execute the difficult missions. The underlying nature of the Process Improvement Specialist is objective analysis. We’re there to propose, and sometimes are even allowed to implement, the solutions.
Michael set out for college intending to do this sort of work as he trained and successfully became a Chemical Process Engineer. Eventually he transitioned into the role of Database Administrator (so we could live in cleaner and healthier places) designing optimum database structures for clients, cleaning up jumbled data left behind by a less qualified DBA, successfully managing data migrations, data modeling and data warehousing projects.
I, on the other hand, didn’t set out on such a path. I wanted to be a happy Computer Programmer quietly working with numbers and machines in a secluded office solving the world’s problems. Fate would have it that my paying career led to an Office Manager/HR Administrator position. Boredom set in and I shifted to Manufacturing Resource Planning/Material Requirements Planning, Sales Management, Grant Writing/Admin, Community Improvement Planning/Facilitation, Web Mistress, and most recently Technical Writing and Process Analysis.
Throughout our careers we have run into "excuse" walls erected by political, incompetent or lazy people in an effort to provide themselves with job security. You know the type…
Scenario One
"I hear you’ve been with the company 12 years, that’s quite an accomplishment" compliments the consultant. "I was told you know everything about this operation and am hoping you can explain to me why [fill in the blank] is done this way."
"Because we’ve always done it that way", responds the [lazy, incompetent, or politically motivated] employee.
"Is it possible that we could work together to come up with a more efficient way to do it that would save you time and increase profits for the company?" replies the consultant.
"Change! NO! I don’t like change!" shouts the employee to himself. "Somebody got the group of us together years ago to do that, it was a waste of time", he says in an effort to discourage the consultant.
"Why do you think it failed?", asks the consultant.
"How should I know, I don’t make the decisions around here", snorts the employee.
"Do you have an idea to improve the workflow?" asks the consultant.
"Nope. I always say ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’", replies the employee. "I’ve got some things to take care of now [phone call to girlfriend, surf the net, cigarette break, nap, etc.], why don’t you go talk to [fill in the blank]? Maybe s/he knows."
Results: The consultant speaks to another employee who is much more helpful and enthusiastic about change. The manager is pleased with the consultant’s reports and recommendations and begins implementation of the plan to improve the process [purchase updated equipment/software, provide training, change paper to electronic, etc.].
The first employee is viewed as a potential morale infector and is laid off. The receptive employee receives a promotion and enthusiastically leads the remaining staff through the changes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scenario Two
"Hey, I really liked the way your organization handled [fill in the blank]", compliments the consultant. "Can I share with you a small suggestion for improving it next time around?"
"Certainly, I’m always open for new ideas. What do you have in mind?" replies the [insecure, politically motivated or lazy] manager.
"I was thinking that if you changed it slightly by [fill in the blank], your return on investment would improve, your employees would be happier, and your end-users would have a better experience."
"Interesting thought", replies the [insecure, politically motivated or lazy] manager, who thinks to himself "No thanks, that’ll expose my lack of [fill in the blank] knowledge. I have to find a way to get rid of this guy."
"Would you like me to write up a proposal for you that we can take to your [boss, board of directors, etc.]?" offers the consultant.
"Let me get back to you on that. I’ve got a stack of reports to go through and we haven’t budgeted for consulting this quarter", replies the manager.
"What if I can demonstrate for you that my proposal will net the company one hundred times the cost of my fee?" pushes the consultant.
"I’ll have to get back to you, I’ve got another meeting to rush off to", escapes the manager.
The manager makes a point of speaking negatively about this consultant in the executive break room, ensuring the consultant won’t get an appointment with a higher ranking manager.
Results: Months later the consultant runs into this manager at a job fair sponsored by the consultant’s company. The company that manager worked for didn’t have the benefit of the consultant’s solutions, lost money and was forced to lay off a group of middle managers. So much for job security! This manager could have been a hero and earned a promotion, now he’s unemployed.
The consultant seizes the opportunity and contacts a Board Member (via a mutual acquaintence recently made) offering assistance with disaster recovery. S/he wins an audience with the Board and helps the company back to financial health.
Managers in some organizations don’t want critical analysis to go beyond the confines they specify, because they have skunk works they would prefer remain unexamined.
Sometimes the owner of a failing or flawed process is in a high ranking position, in which case lower level employees fear that recommendations for corrections or improvements might be received as personal assaults.
Others foolishly don’t realize that process improvements must take place in order to secure the financial stability and future of the companies they work for – especially in today’s economy. The choice is no longer whether or not to look for and implement positive change – it’s whether to ride high on the improvement wave or drown.
Where some consultants represent a vendor, we have had no product affiliations and provide unbiased coaching. We have successfully implemented numerous process improvement projects over the years for various clients, most providing significant savings-to-investment ratios.
This article was originally published on the Almost Eden Blog
