Archive for August, 2008
August 21, 2008
The Brutally Honest Mission
James Gilmore, speaking on authenticity, said the following at ASAE earlier this week:
Associations today are a platform to maintain the current paradigm.
Another way of saying that: Associations are largely engines for preservation of the status quo.
I’ve seen plenty of evidence for this in my career. Despite often rather high minded and flowery missions, many groups act to preserve the interests of their members over all else. The operational behaviors of the organization reveal their true purpose.
This is not a bad thing, necessarily. However, if you are in the status quo business, why not dedicate yourself to it? Many organizations would be more effective if they were brutally honest about why they exist.
A brutally honest status quo mission would allow the organization to jettison activities that take up a lot of time and resources without any commitment to change. This would free up that energy for outcomes to which you are actually committed.
Then you can have very productive discussions, such as: what have we done to maintain the status quo today?
I am being a bit tongue in cheek with this post but I think the underlying lesson is there, related to Gilmore’s presentation. Can you “render authenticity,” accruing the benefits Gilmore says come of such an approach, if you are inauthentic about why you exist?
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August 16, 2008
Disolving Usability Problems
A lot of usability work focuses on solving interface problems, making it easier for users to achieve a certain outcome or complete a task. This can involve user observations, iterative design changes, traffic analysis and other tools in pursuit of improvement. It is often not cheap in terms of time and effort, let alone when outside help is brought in.
A solved usability problem is one where both the user and the publisher get precisely what they want from the interaction. The user has an efficient and pleasant experience and the publisher gets the user to complete a desired task. All is well in the world.
A resolved usability problem is one in which a reasonable compromise is reached that is good enough but requires that either the user or publisher (or both in some cases) give up something. For example, the user experience might still have some rough spots but the value of the transaction doesn’t warrant further investment or outside factors impose it.
However, something a lot of people fail to consider is if the interface in question can be completely eliminated instead of ‘fixed’. Instead of solving the problem, can you dissolve the need for this interface completely? Sometimes making a few changes to the larger system of which the interface is a single element can completely eliminate the need for the interface.
This isn’t an option all the time, obviously, but the only way to know is to consider the larger context of the problem at hand. Simply focusing on individual interfaces is inadequate.
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August 4, 2008
Are Your Processes Begging for Change?
Peter Drucker identified process need as one potential source of innovation in an organization. In his definition, he describes a process need as an improvement that is obvious to almost everyone involved yet no one has taken action to make it happen.
I offer the following as sample number one of a process need:
If the methods of payment you accept generate enough comments that you feel compelled to post a sign to preempt the complaints, you have yourself a mighty fine process need innovation opportunity!
The solution here is obvious and a thoroughly solved business problem. However, the short-sightedness of a small business owner unwilling to pay credit card transactions fees leaves thier cashier on the cutting edge of 1970s technology.
For sample number 2, I give you the donut drive around:
A register upgrade at this Dunkin Donuts shop eliminated the ability to take or change an order at the window. Thus, this sign directing their valued customers to please circle the building and stop at the speaker/microphone this time!
These rather silly examples prove the point: what is screaming out for improvement in your organization that you no longer even see because it has become normal? What metaphorical (or actual!) signs have you put up for your customers so they will stop complaining about your broken processes?
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