By George Taninecz, VP of Research
Every day somebody somewhere irritates someone — me included — and the knee-jerk response is to finger the “bad” individual for an incompetence that led to our aggravation. But, as lean experts have been telling us for years, most bad experiences have nothing to do with bad people. These are simply “good people in bad processes.” I’m no lean consultant or practitioner, but I don’t think that’s quite right, either.
Leave the labeling of “good” or “bad” to a higher power. I think what we’re really talking about are normal people (aka a typical person) in the wrong process.
First, consider a normal person trying to perform a job or task where no process exists. When we’re stuck in this kind of process-less situation or subjected to it, it’s pure chaos. Sort of like when you help a friend or relative move. No question that a lack of process is wrong.
There’s also a normal person caught in a process that simply doesn’t work as it should. It might even be a good process in some situations, but in others it’s the wrong process. Many would call current TSA airport-screening procedures a wrong process. It occasionally works well, under optimal conditions (low volumes of travelers), but it frequently fails — and no amount of effort seems to make it better.
Lastly, there’s a normal person in a well-designed, standardized process, but one that calls for skills that the individual doesn’t possess. It’s probably a good process, but is still the wrong process given the talents of those working in it. The standard in a standardized process is supposed to be one that everyone can perform: no heroic efforts required, just normal work. Amid the drive to improve — everything — we increasingly see people in this situation: struggling to keep up, clearly in over their heads, and frustrated by their own seeming incompetence. They never had a chance.
The next time you and I encounter normal people in wrong processes, let’s step back and take a breath. Most of us are normal people (or at least trying to be); empathize with other normal people. And if you’re in position to design or redesign processes, consider the normal people who will work within them.
