Getting "stuff" done in an efficient and orderly manner has always been my way ... even as a kid. I've always been "Lean8020", but just didn't know it!
Growing up, I thought everyone did things efficiently and organized. As a toddler I insisted on taking naps wearing my shoes so after waking up I would not have to wait on my Mom. In middle school, I had a morning routine to arrive at school just-in-time to finish watching 3-Stooges re-runs. And, in college, I outlined fraternity events to hand it off to the next person. Basically, I've always liked creating routines that made things repeatable and predictable. It was true for lots of things.
Yep, I was that kid.
Over my professional career, I have always worked in project areas while building organizations. First in multiple software solution start-ups where I built the implementation process and grew our teams until the companies were acquired. Later, I joined a Lean Process Improvement group at a Fortune-5 company where we built multiple teams, trained, led, & mentored project leaders. Building organizations means defining your work and I was always developing my now "infamous" 1-pager Frameworks. These forced us to define our key processes, align with the organization, and set expectations.
Over these years, as I built and improved processes across multiple organizations, one question always came to mind -- "What does a good process look like?" So, after seeing so many different processes, I developed a practical Process Maturity framework. The framework outlines the key traits of a process and how those traits evolve from an Ad-hoc process to an Optimized process.
And, with my experience leading multiple solution deployment organizations, as well as observing other vendor deployment methodologies, another thought came to mind -- "What do all solution deployments have in common?" So, I developed my Solution Deployment framework. It outlines the key workstreams & tasks to consider in any solution deployment regardless of solution size.
So, Frameworks have been a common theme throughout my entire career. I strongly believe well developed Frameworks provided so many benefits:
Forced us to think, define, & improve our process.
Summarized it concisely for sharing, aligning, & setting expectations.
Empowered our team to focus on higher-level value-add work.
Delivered consistent high-quality results to our customers.
So, what's your Framework?
Honestly, I was blessed to work with great leaders and great people that challenged me. I loved it when people said "Give it to Snell and he'll figure it out". And, only by collaborating with a great team, we'd figure it out together ... and of course build a Framework for the long-term.
With Lean8020, my plan is to share various Frameworks I've learned, developed, and used that have worked for me. And, I plan to keep it brief, following the ole 80/20 rule, so you can take the info and modify it to fit your particular unique needs.
Building a strong business begins & ends with Leadership. You own the processes and are the leaders responsible for maturing your processes every day. Yes, there are process improvement experts with specialized tools that can help in specific short-term bigger-project situations. But, over the long term, leaders must work every day to mature their processes and their organization ... every day.
It's your job to mature your organization.
I hope you both enjoy and find something helpful!
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