Don't mend what's broken

Most of the time, digital transformation will include an element of improving business processes. Well, why wouldn’t you, while you’re at it?

I’ve realised it’s enormously tempting to come at business process improvement from the wrong starting point – i.e. 25% of the way down the track. Most people's first instincts are to go and look for what’s broken and start there. Invariably “what doesn’t work” is the information that rings out loud and clear from Discovery – or, indeed, was often the very reason the organisation realised it needed transformation in the first place.

But I'd argue that What’s Broken isn’t your process-improvement starting point – in fact, it comes a quarter of the way along. To get the best benefit from your transformation, I’d recommend starting instead at Where Are We Going?

As with all other aspects of change, it’s imperative that everyone involved has clear sight of the vision and the programme’s objective at all times. A simply-stated objective - where we are going - keeps the initiative focused on priorities and maximises its benefits.

So in practical terms, that means first establishing what we’re aiming to achieve overall – you know, greater efficiency, faster to market, new channels, all that jazz – and then framing how processes can help with this. Only at that point, after 24.9% of the thinking, is it time to go exploring what’s broken. And in fact, setting a clear objective may well have redefined in what way it’s broken. It could now be even further adrift from what we need than we thought!

Process improvement isn’t about what broken – it’s about what’s brilliant.