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Business processes are rarely the problem

Digitalization increases the proportion of mechanically consecutively executed steps that are performed by computers at an incredible speed. This fulfills the dream of many process designers – finally the flows can be introduced reliably. The fact that only simple operations can be determined is overseen with the amount of documents regarding inputs, outputs, KPIs and process steps. However, the VUCA reality requires the ability to react to short-term changes. And these skills are still provided by humans – albeit not as fast as computers. Despite advancing digitalization, the road blocks of recent years must still be taken into account.

It is a surprising phenomenon that the people, who work the most with business processes, are the biggest impediment to application. As Peter Drucker puts it: „Anyone who only has a hammer as a tool will see a nail in every problem“. The next few points illustrate such shortcomings.

  • Processes are not code
    Even if digitization is currently putting business flows back on the agenda, so those parts that are continuously executed by people remain the issues. The flows are not a program code that you „upload“ to employees and then everything runs smoothly. It is rather the case that everything runs DESPITE the determined operations.
    This requires the consideration of the employees when describing the activities. It only needs so much specification that the missing subtleties can be added by the employees as soon as they have understood the flow.
  • Described is only half the battle
    Since we are all driven by targets, the outcomes we produce have to be measurable. It is not a question of abolishing the description – only what is printable is valuable. It is more important that you do not stop, when the flow is documented. How useful are the best instructions, if nobody can fulfill them. Many a responsible person hides behind the flood of flowcharts, which he has created and forgets that the real work is only just beginning.
    Those affected must be introduced into process thinking, understand the business process and recognize their part in the realization – the sooner, the better.
  • Processes are a top management task
    The biggest hurdles in the realization are the decision-makers. Of course they are on fire at the beginning and announce the necessary guiding principles – from end to end. It usually does not take long for other topics to become more important – unfortunately, before the procedural measures are fully implemented. That way, managers undermine their own intentions and have to face the shambles of their wishes within a very short time – which does not prevent them from starting the next but one initiative on the shards. Over time, this leads to a multi-project portfolio, endless reprioritization, frustrated employees and a desire from above: Do the one thing, without let doing the other.
    As long as the decision-makers do not consider the flows in all their tasks and ensure that they do not get stuck in the end, business flows have no chance of create their impact.
  • People will not do, what they do not understand
    Although these actions permeate the day-to-day business and actually affect all employees and managers, the responsible people make great efforts to protect the flow descriptions in such a way that only selected people get a glimpse. Even after the sequences have been approved and released for realization, efforts are rarely made to inform employees comprehensively. There is no big picture to explain the rough interplay, or the critical issues, or the new skills that are needed, or the workflow that is actually to be executed by the employees.
    As long as the business processes are treated as secret knowledge, without explaining the notation, the documentation is not made available and the parties involved cannot join, the employees will resistively let the tsunami pass over them without changing anything – business as usual.

Bottom line: Digitization is once again crying out for new flows – for all regions, cultures and languages. Business Process Management (BPM) is an honorable discipline, so there are no more unknowns. All elements, procedures, methods and formats are available as best practices. And yet the initiatives are still unsatisfactory. This is partly due to

  • Wrong understanding: Processes are not code
  • Missing dissemination: Described is only half the battle
  • Lack of support: Processes are a top management task
  • Real resistance of those affected: People will not do, what they do not understand

As long as those affected are forgotten and leaders continue to afford this homemade chaos, the cycles of unsatisfactory BPM activities will repeat. Business processes are rarely the problem.

When doing gets false

These seasons that seem colorless and uncomfortable to some. When the clouds are hanging low in the sky and moisture is constantly exposed to gravity. The soil is no longer able to absorb the water. And artificial roads seal the ground additionally. Then shallow lakes are formed everywhere, in which the dark clouds are reflected. And then a car drives through a puddle and hurls the water into the air. Bad luck for those, who are passing by at this very moment and, in addition to the rain from above, get a gush from below. The natural reaction is to scold after the car.
But why? What the hell happened? Who did something wrong? The motorist, who was forced through the puddle involuntarily? The pedestrian who had nothing better to do than walk by the puddle right then? When gets doing false?

Let’s take a closer look at the situation.

  • The driver
    Driving with a car in pouring rain can be strenuous, even at 40 kilometers per hour. The spray of oncoming vehicles, the thick raindrops and the roads full of puddles require the full attention of the drivers. And then it happens very quickly. If it weren’t for the pedestrian besides the puddle, the driver would have done everything right. He had no reason to soak an unknown passer-by. Did he DO something false?
  • The Pedestrian
    With such weather, you don’t chase a dog outside. You can’t escape moisture with the largest umbrella. At the next corner the drops are even flying horizontally. One escapes only partially from the downpour. And then it happens very quickly. If the car hadn’t arrived exactly at the moment he passed the puddle, the pedestrian would have done everything right. I bet the passerby didn’t want to take a shower. Did he DO something false?
  • The circumstances
    It is not common for a downpour to dump so much liquid onto the road that the drains can no longer absorb the water masses. In the trenches at the roadside rushing streams evolve, which here and there expand into small lakes. It is easy to sink in these puddles of water above both ankles. And then it happens very quickly. With a sufficiently dimensioned drain, this puddle would not have formed and the car would not have sprayed the pedestrian. No one had created this general weather situation either. Or who DID something false?
  • Prior reasons
    On this day, the driver had started his journey earlier than usual in order to drive particularly carefully. The pedestrian had waited specifically long for the rain to stop. The road was built in the eighties according to the latest guidelines for drains. Many other stories could be told. And then everything happens very quickly. In the end, fate came true at this puddle. No one would search in the previous stories for the cause. Or what was DONE false here?

Nothing happened intentionally. Everything is just an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances that led to the event described. And actually, false DOING is not the right description for errors that happen. No one makes deliberately mistakes like this – except: the arch-enemy who waited to deliberately throw a giant fountain at the hated pedestrian. Whereby this action is not really a mistake, but a well-founded, deliberated act,

Bottom line: To do something wrong requires that there is an intention part of it. If mistakes happen at work or elsewhere in everyday life, then these events, whose guilt is blamed on someone, cannot be prevented, because they happen unintentionally. Ok – you could have been more careful, less negligent and more committed. And yet mistakes would still happen. To do nothing is the only way to avoid wrongdoing. And that would be the biggest mistake. To maintain momentum, it is better to develop tolerance to errors. A mistake is a learning opportunity and provides the starting point for new solutions. Then doing won’t get false – and less goes unintentionally wrong.