I've seen a ton of bad systems in place. I've also put together a few bad systems myself. The bad systems I've seen or put into place are due solely to one thing.
Timing.
Why timing?
Everyone is too busy to collaborate on the system, so it gets built in a silo and there's no real check and balance. Systems have to be built as a team.
It's not the right time for the system, or the time has passed for its need. It has to exactly fit what's needed at the time.
I had a mistake at a client a few years back, one of those public mistakes where you kinda just want to die, on camera, but still keep your face relatively in place. In hindsight, it wasn’t the biggest mistake, but I take every mistake as if it’s the nail in my career coffin, especially as a consultant. It was a simple mistake - I forgot a name on a slide. My system was totally off, I'd told myself THAT MORNING to have someone check my work.
I heard W. Edwards Deming's words in my head as it hit the desk when the call ended, "A bad system will beat a good person every time".
I was too busy prepping everything else that had to happen around this work for a meeting.
What this means is I need to listen to myself. Those voices that get me up in the morning I need to act on immediately, not let them go. I was upset for days later.
Ah, time heals all wounds, but timing can be the thing that makes the cuts in the first place.
How does one deal with this? Well I started racking my brain when it happened, and took notes. It was one of those times where you just ask yourself what you were thinking to miss something so 'easy'.
Well, I'm going back to my roots. Administrative efforts.
Checklists, a sprinkle of doubt, and backup plans. Don't get cocky about details because you've done something a thousand times before. I'm known for being detail-oriented, that’s why the sting of even a small mistake hurts so much. I know better.
At the time it happened, I’m sure Shayne got tired of hearing about how I was going to reformat my existence around this mistake. He thinks I'm too hard on myself. Perhaps. But, I don't make mistakes often, and there's a reason why. I usually have a series of backup plans.
So here we go. This is what I should have done.
To set up a good system:
Doubt yourself. Not in that horrid way where you are afraid to do things, but doubt in the way you still do but set up a plan. Always doubt your own ability to remember a simple process, particularly in times of stress. It's human to think you can remember, it's human to forget. You are human. If you start with the idea you might forget something and own it, you are halfway there.
Make a list. There are manuals and checklists for most things in life, we just don't see the pilot go through his before take off, or know about the ones that happen at the nuclear power plant at shift change. There is no shame in a checklist. It doesn't mean you can't handle details. It means you respect details and you want to make sure they are addressed. It means you have a number of things going on in this grand world so you want to remember the pita bread at the store this time, or maybe not buy more of the thing you already have. Be the change you want to see in the world, be bold, be daring. But make a list.
Keep it simple. Keep the system as simple as possible to deliver the work. Make sure it's something someone else can check you on. No checklist or process is worth anything if others can’t understand it. Simple is always better, complexity breeds confusion and risk of the system not being followed.
In my case, I was moving so fast, I should have deprioritized anything else. I knew better. I should have highlighted all the data I needed consistently, in a manner that's uniform. Make it simple to deliver the work and double check one's self.
Then...look at the process and ask myself if it makes the most sense, if I want to repeat all those same steps again or if there is one that I can take out or make easier for someone else stepping in.
I've studied agile methodology for years, and live with an enterprise level agile coach, so there's no getting away from breaking work down. We Kanban everything, we have little family retros. I'm surprised this even happened given how much we talk about these things, but I'm human.
No one is above a simple list, a simple process, or check and balance. These things don't make us weaker, they make us stronger.
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