Recent Topics

Process Performance

A framework for:

  • Translating diagnostic insights into prescriptive remedial actions
  • Assisting the organization in assessing its capabilities of today vs. capabilities for tomorrow
  • Connecting short-term symptoms with deeper causes
  • Providing the format for a structured conversation about processes that addresses all the elements of a successful process 'recipe'

Continuous Innovation

In today's fast-paced environment, organizations need capabilities for launching a steady stream of innovative breakthroughs. Continuous (incremental) improvement activities are insufficient because they perpetuate the current business and overlook opportunities and threats of disruption. Internal innovation is insufficient because you need to engage outside resources to get access to new skills quickly and tap into innovation energy. Episodic innovation projects are insufficient because you need a portfolio of projects that can systematically generate change and growth to survive and thrive.

A framework and operating model for continuous innovation, to help examine the changes that large, established companies will need to make to adopt this model. We will build on our experience with business reengineering to address the fundamental business transformation of large, successful organizations to an operating model that enables continuous innovation.

Winning Tomorrow

A taxonomy to understand innovation moves, complete with current examples that traditional organizations could take to optimize their innovation outcomes. These included:

  • Operate an internal venture investment fund
  • Operate an internal Kickstarter
  • Create a Silicon Valley outpost
  • Focus and do less
  • Strengthen incubation
  • Aggressively de-layer

Losing Tomorrow

A set of recommendations on:

  • Best practices for taming the email dragon
  • Meeting management principles
  • Sensing process descriptions
  • Governing process designs

informal meeting

Process Initiatives

What are the alternate structures or models for leading and managing business process initiatives? What are the choices that need to be made in building a process center of excellence?

Non-transactional Processes

Explore how to conduct process design in a highly skilled knowledge-worker environment. What are the best practices for applying redesign principles to a non-transactional process that drives operational excellence?

Role of the Functional Manager

This explores how traditional roles of resource/functional managers and process owners/experts contrast with the comparable roles in a process organization. How the roles evolve/change over time in terms of responsibilities, authorities, and development and also how they change as the organization reaches higher levels of process maturity.

Selecting and Prioritizing Initiatives

How do organizations select and prioritize the initiatives to which available resources are devoted? How is the appropriate level and timing of engagement determined? Should this engagement be continuous, full-time, or intermittent?

Process Metrics

How to successful organizations design their measurement systems? This study isolated a few critical design elements including: strategic objectives and performance indicators, linkage to process metrics and personal performance, distribution of metrics to front-line teams, and a disciplined metrics review and refresh cycle.

Sustainment

How do you ensure a successful transition from a project to execution? This study found two factors are critical: Creating the right organizational structure to sustain business value and developing explicit accountability for change management to address each known barrier to sustainment.

Prior Topics

2013

Accountable for Performance

Driving Value Integration

2012

Balancing the VOC Metrics with VOB Metrics

Redesigning Non-Transactional Processes

Models for Process Initiatives

2011

Selecting and Prioritizing Initiatives

Roles of the Functional Manager in a Process Environment

Executive PEMM™

2010

Sustainment Part II

2009

Process Metrics

Leadership

2008

Process Metrics

Process Integration Handbook

Sustainment Research

2007

Governing Processes

Knowledge Work