At our last staff meeting, I shared some insights with our team about how we can improve our business. For some background information, we've been fortunate to keep the same team together over the past two years. We've had a chance to work together -- establishing the internal communication pathways and processes that is our business today. This stability has been one of the best things for Pop Art. That said, within the past couple of months, we've added new people that add fresh perspectives to the team. The newbies don't have the historical understanding to know why things have evolved to the processes that we have today. I love these perspectives because they quickly see the differenece between helpful and dysfunctional processes.
When a new team member comes into the organization, all of the mistuned, inefficient processes become apparent because you see you world through new eyes. For me, this has reinvigorated the internal process improvement (aka "doing things better") at Pop Art. I challenged the rest of the company give themselves Institutional Amnesia, giving ourselves a chance to reinvent how we do things on a daily basis.
Anyone who is reading this is probably saying: "I've heard this song and dance before with no observable change. What's the difference?" I have to say that I've asked myself the same question and came up the following rules to create Institutional Amnesia to foster change:
- Everything (and everyone) is Suspect. Every process and those folks that perform them are subject to review. This isn't like the Bobs from Office Space coming in, it is, however; everyone in the organization looking for way to improve efficiency in the business.
- Use Automation Wisely. Where can we invest in tools? Where have we overinvested? We have talented developers that can do just about anything…that doesn't mean that they should. For example, you wouldn't build a dishwasher if you only had a couple dishes to wash each day. Find those areas that will save the most time with least development time first.
- No Nay Saying. We have to throw the excuses "because that is the way we've always done it" and the other like comments that people naturally throw to keep themselves in a comfort zone. We need to be conscience of this and break through it.
-
Make the Business a Client: We have an impeccable track record of making process improvements for clients by creating pragmatic solutions that balance needs and constraints. We need to treat ourselves as a client - wisely investing in our own services.
I look forward to how these rules can help us forget the inneficient, remember the good, and invent the future.