Shipulski On Design

Archive for December, 2023

There are many tools to improve processes.  The difficult part is not understanding the tools.  The difficult part is choosing which tool to use.  And to do that, you’ve got to understand the process as it is and let that inform which tool to use first. You’d think it an easy thing to understand an existing process that your company has been using for a long time, but it’s not.  First, it’s difficult to get the group to agree on the format to use to define the process, then it’s difficult to get agreement on the steps of the formal process, and then it’s almost impossible to characterize the if-thens of the branching process steps and the informal elements known only by the people who do the work.

Here’s a rule: If you don’t agree on the process as it is, you can’t improve it.

Here’s another rule: Process improvement is 90% definition and 10% improvement.

There are many processes to improve systems.  Understanding how to follow the processes is not the difficult part.  In my opinion, the most difficult part is choosing which process to use first. And, in my opinion, the secret to choosing the right process is to understand the system as it is. Systems can be large with many elements and can have many possible improvement trajectories.  And if people are part of the system, it’s likely a complex system that can be understood only by probing the system.  That means running small experiments in parallel and observing how the system responds.

Here’s a rule: It’s difficult to understand large systems where people and their judgment are involved.

And another rule: Probing systems like these can be an effective way to see their propensities.

Before there can be improvement, there must be a common understanding of how things are. And before that, there must be a desire to develop that common understanding.

Image credit – Andy

How do you spend your time?

How much time do you spend on things you want to do?

How much time do you spend on things you don’t want to do?

How much time do you have left to change that?

If you’re spending time on things you don’t like, maybe it’s because you don’t have any better options.  Sometimes life is like that.

But maybe there’s another reason you’re spending time on things you don’t like.

If you’re afraid to work on things you like, create the smallest possible project and try it in private.

If that doesn’t work, try a smaller project.

If you don’t know the ins and outs of the thing you like, give it a try on a small scale.  Learn through trying.

If you don’t have a lot of money to do the thing you like, define the narrowest slice and give it a go.

If you could stop on one thing so you could start another, what are those two things?  Write them down.

And start small. And start now.

Image credit — Pablo Monteagudo

What happens when you bring your whole self to work?  Are you embraced, rejected, or ignored?

If you’re not invited to meetings because you ask difficult questions, what does that say?

When you call someone on their behavior, does that get you closer to a promotion?

When you’ve done the work before but no one asks for your guidance, what does that say?

When you say the quiet part out loud, is the good for your career?

When you solve a difficult problem but the solution is rejected due to NIH, what does that say?

When you bring up the inconvenient truth when everyone else is afraid to, what do people think of you?

When you can ask anyone in the company for help and they help you, it’s because they know you helped a lot of other people over your career.

When someone gets promoted out of your team but still wants to meet regularly with you, it’s because they value you.  And they value you because you valued them.

When a senior leader is out of ideas and they come to you for help privately, it’s because you earned their trust over the years.

When someone you helped fifteen years ago tells the story publicly of how you “saved their career” it’s because you made a difference.

When you bring your whole self to work, you know some won’t like it, some won’t care, and some will love it.

And everyone will know you care enough to give it your all.

Image credit — Tambaco the Jaguar

When your friend is having a bad time of it, you don’t criticize, you empathize.

When you think of your friend, you check in.

When your friend is happy, you are happy with them.

When your friend is lonely, you don’t ignore, you are right there with them.

When your friend is struggling, you check in more frequently.

When your friend is in a rut, you jump in with them and give them what you can.

When your friend makes a mistake, you don’t judge, you seek to understand.

When your friend achieves their goal, you celebrate with them.

When your friend is angry, you ask of their heart’s best intention.

When your friend is confused, you tell them they seem confused and ask what’s going on.

When your friend judges themself, you tell them they are worthy of better treatment.

It’s easy to treat our friends well because we care about them.

May we learn to see ourselves as friends and make it easier to care for ourselves and treat ourselves well.

Image credit — Fuschia Foot