{"id":1256,"date":"2012-01-28T13:01:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-28T13:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saasoft.com\/blog\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2012-01-28T13:01:28","modified_gmt":"2012-01-28T13:01:28","slug":"is-your-system-constipated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/?p=1256","title":{"rendered":"Is Our System Constipated?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There are some very common system ailments that we do\u00a0not\u00a0talk about\u00a0in public – they are\u00a0not socially acceptable topics of conversation.<\/p>\n

We all know they exist because we all suffer from them at sometime or other –\u00a0and some more than others.<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0problem\u00a0is “how do we<\/em>\u00a0solve sometheng\u00a0that no one wants to own up to and talk about<\/em>?”\u00a0 Grin-and-bear it?\u00a0Trial-and-error? Or\u00a0seek competent, confidential, professional assistance?<\/p>\n

One such ailment is\u00a0chronic system constipation<\/strong>. Yes – I said it!<\/p>\n

The usual symptoms are\u00a0recurrent, severe pains in the middle management\u00a0area associated with\u00a0ominous rumblings,\u00a0intermittent eruptions of unpleasant hot\u00a0“air” and accompanied by infrequent, unpredictable and often\u00a0inconsequential\u00a0output.<\/p>\n

The signs are also characterstic: bloated budgets,\u00a0capital distention and a strained and pained\u00a0appearance of the executive visage.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0commonest findings on further investigation\u00a0are\u00a0accumulation of work in progress inside the organisation that is caused by functional bottlenecks,\u00a0accumulation of undigestable red-tape, and\u00a0process paralysis.\u00a0 These findings confirm the diagnosis.<\/p>\n

The more desperate organisations may seek help from corporate quacks who confidently prescribe untested yet expensive remedies such as mangement purges and corporate restructure.\u00a0 These harsh treatments only serve to impoverish the patient and exacerbate the problem. They are also sometimes fatal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The patient who avoids or survives the quacks may seek\u00a0competent help – and reluctantly\u00a0submit themselves to a more intimate examination of their orifices.\u00a0 This\u00a0proceeds in a back-office to\u00a0front-of-house order looking for accumulations of work-in-progress (WIP)\u00a0and their associated causes.\u00a0 The usual finding is apathetic and demoralised staff burned out by over-complicated, error-prone\u00a0processes and\u00a0pushing against\u00a0turgid bureaucracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first stage of treatment is to relieve the obstruction that is closest to the\u00a0discharge orifice first.<\/p>\n

Often\u00a0the\u00a0intimate\u00a0examination itself is sufficient to stimulate spontaneous ejection of the offending obstruction; sometimes a corporate-level enema is required to facilitate\u00a0the process.\u00a0 Either way the relief is immediate, dramatic and welcomel and is usually\u00a0followed by vigorous expulsion of the\u00a0remaining offensive material and restoration of both regular flow and disspiation of the gaseous bloating.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0timid or inexperienced corporoproctologist may be tempted to try\u00a0exogenous stimulants\u00a0instead – an inspiring\u00a0podcast\u00a0or an executive\u00a0awayday perhaps.\u00a0 This well-interntioned palliative treatment may distract attention and sooth the discomfort but the effect is short-lived and the symptoms soon return; often with a vengeance.<\/p>\n

The more courageous and experienced Improvement Science practitioner knows that\u00a0“if you don’t put your finger in it you will put your foot in it<\/em>”\u00a0and they come prepared\u00a0with the\u00a0organisational equivalent\u00a0of rubber gloves and lubricating gel: flip charts and hot\u00a0coffee.<\/p>\n

So to avoid the squirming discomfort of the probing questions\u00a0it is better to seek enematic advice well before this stage. And you\u00a0may not be surprised to hear that it is all common-sense:<\/p>\n