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Deliverology
able capacity on it. The same team pur-
suing three priorities, on the other hand,
only actually spends twenty percent of
its capacity on each of them. The more
projects attempted at the same time, the
more effort wasted in switching between
projects, administering multiple projects,
and the slower projects proceed. Further,
the busier and more overwhelmed people
become, the less they accomplish.
Solution:
Saying “No,
not yet”
In Lean Strategy Deployment, the orga-
nization uses a number of approaches
to identify the “must-do, can’t fail” goals
and secondary lists of “should do”, “could
do” and ultimately “don’t do” initiatives.
Putting these into a table, called an “X-
Matrix” and assessing the true capacity
required to execute everything, quickly
makes visible the fact that there is not
nearly enough capacity to get it all done.
Viewed in light of the available capacity, it
is much easier to say “No, not yet” to other
less-valuable initiatives, avoiding the con-
sequences of trying to do it all and then
falling short.
Challenge 3:
The Carrot and
the Stick
Deliverology’s implicit mindset is that
frequently measuring and publicizing
performance provides rewards when re-
sults improve, and punishments when
they don’t. Using measurement and vis-
ibility for rewards/punishment instead
of for experimentation-driven learning
and improvement can lead to negative
outcomes like cheating and un-sustained
performance instead of true improve-
ment.
Here is a case study: To overcome the
horror stories of patients being stored on
stretchers while they waited 12 hours or
more to be examined in the emergency
room, the UK’s National Health Service
implemented a Deliverology target of a
maximum four-hour emergency room
wait. Fear of not meeting the target led
to the equivalent of 31 ambulances being
staffed 24/7/365 while patients waited
inside them until the ER was able to con-
firm that the patient could be processed
in four hours, and only then admitted.
This reportedly incurred an additional
cost of about CDN $ 20 million per year,
not to mention the unmeasured costs to
the health of the patients who were be-
ing held in ambulances. Creating a safe
environment to experiment and innovate
without fear of repercussion for failing
gets better, sustained results.
your business in focus PUT YOUR BUSINESS IN FOCUS hrpa.ca/ infocus Only HR professionals with a CHRP , CHRL or CHRE designation have a deep understanding of how businesses work and are trained to be high-impact leaders. Let a Certified Human Resources Professional , Leader or Executive show you how their achievements set them apart.The more projects attempted at the same
time, the more effort wasted in switching
between projects, administering multiple
projects, and the slower projects proceed.