Wednesday in the Woods · episode 016
Bushwacking the Bureaucracy
3:55youtube · Licensio, LLC
description
You know that feeling in your hip flexors after hours hiking through mud or high snow? Or can you remember the frustration that comes with a slow, winding bushwack through dense brush?
Nobody likes unnecessary friction or a lack of visibility. So, why would you want people in your organization to feel this same exhaustion and frustration at work? Or, possibly even worse, what if your customers fall victim to these same experiences…
PS: You may be familiar with the tradition of power clashing ties, pocket squares, or socks. But are you familiar with pastoral power clashing? I’m a big fan of layering buffalo plaid and digital camo like a Mondrian meets Rothko. Stay tuned for a special episode, Farm Fashion: Folly or Jolly?
Anyway, back to business - if you know that clearly marked and maintained trails make a world of difference in the real world, why would you settle for anything less in your organization?
Clear processes make for clear trails. Whether the path is written down in old-school procedures or implemented as a workflow in software, the difference is like night and day. People and partners know where to go to get things done. They know who - or what - to ask. They know what information they need to ask for or provide.
As a leader, you’d be crazy to think that delegation and initiative can happen at scale without them.
When the processes are documented, we can also evaluate whether they’re appropriate. For example, many organizations go through phases of maturity when it comes to procurement. At first, procurement is ad hoc and chaotic. Eventually, most organizations move towards formal procurement processes for the internal stakeholders and external counterparties.
When these procurement processes are documented, it’s much easier for organizations to be honest about when the process is overkill. For example, does a catering company really need to carry the same types of insurance as a data retention provider?
This may seem like a simple idea, but the reality is that these things add up, both explicitly and implicitly. Every minute wasted looking for the trail is a minute that your peers aren’t doing something useful. And, even worse, every frustrating experience that your employees and customers suffer through only erodes their motivation and goodwill.
So, if you’re looking for ways to lead your organization more effectively, start by taking a hike in their shoes. Think about whether the path is clear, comfortable, and clean. And if it’s not, get your map and machete out.
PPS: I managed to get through this whole video and accompanying text without a single reference to muda or kaizen. Do I get a prize?
transcript
~324 words · showhide
from the human-edited captions published with the video. timestamps jump to that point in the video.
- 1:20
Well, hello, I didn't see you there. I was just clearing some trails, which I think is a good metaphor for what we can do as leaders in the new year to help our organizations. You see, sometimes things that should be easy, like walking from point A to point B - for example, hiring or contracting - don't feel so easy to the people in your organization. Either the path may not be clearly marked and they have to stumble around looking for it, or the path may have some friction on it - whether it's snow or mud or quicksand.
- 1:58
And so, as a leader, one of the things that I think we can do that's simplest for organizations is to simply make sure that our paths are clearly marked; in other words, make sure that documentation and processes exist, and that those paths aren't unnecessarily burdensome or full of frictions. So, for example, we're trying to contract with an organization, a counterparty, and it's a small organization, right? It's a quick walk from A to B.
- 2:25
We probably don't need there to be a lot of friction, a lot of weight along the way that you have to carry. We might want to have some kind of threshold under which for example, contracting is much easier. This is a good example of a simple, easy to walk path, right? And it's a little basic of an idea, but it really adds up in organizations, just like walking a mile in six inches of snow is a lot different than wandering an unmarked trail, bushwhacking without any idea where you're going.
- 2:58
Clearly documented, well-thought-out, low-friction processes can make all the world a difference for your staff and your counterparties that you work with. So, nice little message for the new year as we have some snow. I hope everybody's having a good time and staying warm, and we will see you later.