Purpose Precedes Process
If process is a vehicle, purpose is the compass. Purpose gives a definite direction to processes. People (and their expertise) are the drivers. Technology acts as an accelerator.
Most system implementation or change initiatives focus enough on the P-P-T – People, process and technology and somewhere along the lines, the focus on purpose blurs. I have seen improvement experts who are always on the quest to find the next new thing, a fancy template or a complex matrix document that they can include in their ‘kitty’ of best practices. Being “process oriented” is definitely an asset, unless that is the only thing you are focusing on.
If you constantly teach/propagate processes to your people, they would comply at the least. But if you sell them a compelling purpose, a powerful “why” and then show them “how” a particular process element would help them meet that purpose, process buy-in comes naturally.
Focus on purpose is also a great tool to identify waste in your system. Constant alignment with a purpose helps you focus on what is absolutely essential, what can be simplified and what is not needed at all. In a constantly changing external environment, businesses can stay on top of their game with a strong commitment to purpose.
People first respond to purpose, and then need tools to achieve that purpose.
Bottom line? Sell the purpose and process will take care of itself.
Right on the bull’s eyes, Mr. Tanmay Vora – I am not talking of Dalal Street Bulls 🙂
There is always a reason behind every thing happening in the world. The response to what we see or hear or feel happening has to be processed through a reflection of ‘why’ it is happening the way it does.
If this ‘why’ – may be 5 WHYs- is understood , the ‘how’ response would certainly take care of itself. I think it was Peter Drucker who said that structure follows the strategy.
@Ashok Vaishnav Wikipedia tells me that it was Alfred Chandler who put forward the thesis of “Structure follows Strategy”.
Unfortunately, a lot of managers are so obsessed with the process, that they forget the larger purpose. One way to find this is to listen how managers describe their roles and responsibilities. A lot of managers I have seen end up describing themselves through a set of activities (tasks/process) they execute, rather than describing the problem they solve and purpose they achieve.
Best,
Tanmay
Thanks for correcting the records…
In fact, when working on a problem , we tend to easily associate the problem with the person, thus missing the tracjk of both the ‘problem’ as well as its ‘symptom’.
All of us , the managers, who are trained and expected to think rationally, act objectively and reflect deeply behave quite the opposite on th eoccasions where such a behaviour can have grave implications.
But that is life!
One needs to fall down a few times to get an opportunity to get up.
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