Painfree Computing

Next week, I'm starting an internal I.T. program called Painfree Computing.

It's designed to eliminate some of the causes of end user frustration. This is going to be a long journey, but in the end I know it'll be worth it.

Our eventual goal is standardization, standardization, standardization. And to accomplish that, we're going to have a LOT of conversations with our user community before we reach the promised land.

But our team needs a mindset change as well. We don't always make things as easy as we could for our users. Too often, processes which should be improved, are ignored and evolve into a "us vs. them" or "they should have known better" discussion. Unfortunately that doesn't prevent the problem from re-occurring.

Out team spends a good portion of our day looking at other business processes like quoting, order entry, field service, testing etc and while that's all good, we sometimes fail to see that we have operational improvement opportunity in our OWN backyard.

Over time, we'll take a look at the entire computing process from the time our users show up in the morning and hit the on button, to logoff at night. We're going to look for ways that boot time can be reduced, all custom applications will automatically be updated to the latest version, software suites will all be patched to the same (current) level, systems will be backed up automatically to the network, remote access will look, act and feel the same as if our users were in the office.

I.T. processes, like Bug fixes will contain workflow to automatically notify us when new bugs are reported by our user community and auto notify our users when they are fixed.

Stuff will just work.

At least that's the plan!

New Year's Resolution

It's that time of year again...

Instead of vowing to lose weight, or exercise more, I've decided to take on a real challenge - to adopt the same attitude Randy Pausch had for the last year of his life.

He's an inspiration.



And if you haven't see Randy's last lecture...

Until We Meet Again....

This week our company may have to bid farewell to a good customer of 25 years.

We don't want to. He's making us.

We believe we make some of the best products in our industry. (We're number 1, by long shot in all our markets). For one of our products, the "industry life expectancy" is about 15 years. No one services their product beyond that timeframe (except us, if we can still obtain original parts).

Our customer has been using our product for a decade longer than that.

Fact is, that it's time to replace, not to repair. The original replacement parts for the device were discontinued by our vendor almost ten years ago. There are no original replacement parts in existance.

In these trying economic times, our intrepid customer has found a third party supplier who will manufacture replacement parts (but for some strange reason won't install them). Instead he suggests that WE install 3rd party parts in OUR equipment.

For many reasons, this isn't a good idea.

1. We don't want to assume ANY liability for untested parts made by someone else.
2. We know the 3rd party vendor's quality on other parts (and they are inferior to ours).
3. They could potentially cause a cascade failure of other components.
4. We don't want to put our good reputation at risk.
5. Probably the best reason of all - we don't think the 3rd party parts will work and the customer could be throwing good money away.

It's like a patient arriving at the hospital with an artificial heart he purchased somewhere and asking YOU (the surgeon) to install it, so he can save some money.

Not very likely.

No logical argument will work. Our customer feels that he is being let down or worse yet, "forced" into making a replacement purchase - all because a third party competitor, unrealistically got his hopes up.

And so, it is with heavy heart that we say goodbye to our good customer - at least for now.

After he learns his lesson with our competition, I'm pretty sure, he'll be back.

Business Lessons from an old Sea Captain

It's now time to develop next year's business plan. For many of us whose fiscal year coincides with the calendar year, the planning process begins in October and takes many weeks of negotiation before finally being agreed to.

This year is especially challenging. With the U.S. and World Economy in the tank, you can already hear the excuses from around the company.

"Next year, we'll be lucky to match this year's sales". And, if the naysayers win the argument, it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.

Because you'll be playing defense. You'll try not to lose orders to the competition, instead of winning orders. The "poor economy" excuse will be your emotional safety net. Your team will start rationalizing results against even poorer performers. We may suck - but not as badly as (insert competitor's name here).

In trying times, business leaders need to take a lesson from Sea Captains. In rough weather, experienced Mariners turn their ships into the waves. They take adversity head on. To do otherwise could result in being broadsided by a wave and risk capsizing the vessel.

This year we aren't making plans to protect this year's sales, we're making plans to grow them.

Our captain is steering the ship into the waves.

We're focusing on our opportunities around the world. We're adding to our sales team. We're improving our sales processes. We're mining for gold within our tremendous customer database. We're finding ways to improve and cement our relationships with key customers and partners.

We have all hands on deck.

And we'll survive the storm.

Light a Fire

A friend of mine recently blogged about John Kotter's new book in which he discusses urgency in business. How do you get people to act with a sense of urgency?

I've also heard it described as "lighting a fire under someone".

That's a pretty apt description.

There are three conditions that must be present to start a fire. You need a combustible material, a source of ignition and oxygen.

In business, the combustible material is the talented employee who isn't listened to (or who doesn't speak up). The employee who knows what is wrong and knows what to do to fix the situation - but doesn't feel that they have a voice. They are frustrated that their efforts are being compromised by poor process or ineffective execution of the current process. They clearly see an opportunity to improve, but feel powerless to affect change. They are a tinderbox of great ideas.

The "spark" (ignition source) is the observant manager who identifies the employee and the opportunity - who listens to the idea and puts the wheels in motion to help bring the opportunity to life. Provide the tools to help effect change and empower the employee to get it done. The "spark" could be a small capital investment in equipment, tools or additional manpower. Give a motivated employee the tools to help effect change they believe in and watch what happens. Allow them to own the idea and to make it a success.

The final ingredient is oxygen. Think of this as providing "breathing space" to your employee to work their idea. Allow them to make some mistakes, adapt and succeed. Resist the temptation to jump in and "be a manager". Coach, mentor, encourage, suggest, but don't do. Allow your employee to succeed on their own terms.

Once your fire is lit, watch how brightly it burns.

And start looking for your next tinderbox.

Getting Things Done

Thanks to Gene Wright who led me to this Robert Scoble and David Allen interview on Getting Things Done.



We've recently had some measure of success implementing a SharePoint intranet and I recognize that without planning it, we've managed to implement several of the steps that Dave Allen espouses to Getting Things Done.

Enjoy.

Hunters and Salesmen

Fall is approaching and here in Wisconsin, that means deer hunting season isn't too far away.

I am not a hunter, so this may not make any sense to those of you who are. But to the untrained eye, it appears there are two different approaches to hunting. Some set up tree stands in (hopefully) great locations and wait for the deer to wander by.

Others trek off into the woods in search of deer - looking for signs of activity, (mating, feeding, tracks) until they find their prey.

Both approaches still require similar skill sets to be successful - a good eye, a steady hand on the trigger, in order to hit the target.

I think that salespeople have similar traits. Some set up shop (network heavily) and wait for the order referral or the new customer to call. Then, armed with great product knowledge and selling skills, they close the order.

Others "hunt" for sales. They work Trade Shows. They call leads. They cold call potential customers. They follow up on every quote. They beat the bushes for business until they find an opportunity, then they move in for the sale.

When the deer population is exploding, tree stands will be as productive a strategy as trekking through the woods in search of prey. But when the deer population starts to thin out, tree stands don't offer the same opportunities as one might get by honing our tracking skills.

In a slow economy, your salespeople better learn how to track prey, or risk going hungry.