Process Superpowers

“One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.” -Jeff Bezos

Which superhero would be considered to be more innovative: Superman or Batman? The answer is Batman. The justification for this selection is, because he has to be. After all, Batman does not have any actual superpowers. He has a great team, and he has great funding. This is an amazing combination, but he relies on innovation to fight crime. On the other hand, Superman can fly, and he has super strength. He doesn’t need innovation to fight crime. If Superman hits a wall, he can just run through it with no issues. However, Batman (and the rest of us) will be building something to remove the wall. This can be a good thing, because the opportunity to resolve an issue is motivating. It gives teams a clear goal, and it increases employee engagement. This is important, because it translates to real results. In 2017 Gallup found, “Highly engaged business units realize a 17% increase in productivity.”

However, innovative ideas are sometimes not well received, because they typically involve a process change. Even in the most supportive corporate cultures, innovation can be met with resistance. New processes create an initial increase to work in progress, and this equates to a need for the replanning and reprioritization of the current workload. In other words, it creates more work. Also, it puts more pressure on a system that may already be stressed. For example, in order to keep up with the current workload, teams may be working a heroic amount of overtime. Unfortunately, their efforts are being rewarded with an increase in technical debt, and a decrease in work-life balance. This cycle can be demotivating.

The solution is to improve the process, because it will optimize the value stream. After the initial increase in workload, the team will see a benefit from the process change. They will be able to increase their impact with reduced effort, and the progress is measurable. In other words, the time investment will create a return, and it will break the cycle.

The most challenging part of the process innovation can be the initial stages, because that is where there is the most resistance. 

A few things to remember while removing the wall: 

1. Know there is a wall 
2. Gain feedback from the team and customers
3. Celebrate the victories  

First, it is helpful to know that there is a wall. The process innovation will bring a benefit to the team, but it still creates additional work during the initial stages. Also, the process works in a non-optimized state. Over the long run, the current state of the process is not sustainable, but it is still working today. Processes and technology evolve over time, and the original process worked well with the dependencies that existed. For that reason, the focus of the discussion needs to relate back to the quantifiable business value that the process improvement will create. After everyone on the team is aligned to the overall goal of the process improvement, then the individual tasks can be mapped out. 

Second, the team’s feedback is essential to creating the plan. They are executing the process daily, and they are the experts. Also, customer interviews will help close the feedback loop, because they will be able to explain what pain points exist in the current process. The new ideas and collaboration from all stakeholders will allow the innovation to create increased value. Also, this will increase the momentum of the project. The goal is to bring benefit to the whole value stream. For example, if you do not include all process owners, then there is a risk that the solution will include shifting work from one team to a different team. It will not benefit everyone. A solution that creates business value will streamline, eliminate, or automate work for the overall value stream.

Third, increasing business value strengthens a company’s overall competitive advantage, and it is a significant victory. Celebrating the work that was put into the innovation amplifies the continuous improvement culture, and that culture creates a solid foundation for future innovation work. Also, it communicates the success and learnings across the company, and this will scale the program at a faster rate. For example, other teams could be facing a similar issue to the one that was just resolved, and the knowledge that was gained will help them expedite their success. Additionally, the celebration recognizes everyone’s contribution to the execution of the innovation, and it relates the work back to the quantifiable goal. Also, it is always a good idea to have cake at any celebration, because cake is delicious. 

In conclusion, innovation is necessary, because technology and processes evolve over time. A process may have been created in an optimized state, but it needs to be improved to maintain and increase a company’s competitive advantage. Consequently, process improvements create an initial increase to a team’s current workload, and this generates resistance to the change. Establishing quantifiable goals and breaking down the process improvement into smaller tasks are the first steps to reducing the challenge. Also, It creates a system where continuous improvements are built into the regular process, and it decreases the need for working late nights, weekends, and other heroics. In that light, creating an optimized process can be its own superpower.