MENU Efficiency vs. Purpose
Four tools that are better than the chain saw for cost cutting.
Those of you whose careers reaches back to the heyday of TQM (Total Quality Management) probably recall a parable that was attributed to management “guru” W. Edwards Deming: The Consulting Report to Orchestra Management.
The full story is below. The short take is that an efficiency expert analyzed an orchestra’s performance and determined there was too much repetition in the score, too much redundancy among instruments, and too much musical complexity – complexity that required highly skilled, highly paid musicians. By implementing the consultant’s recommendations, the orchestra could cut costs by more than 75% and reduce the length of the production from two hours to just 20 minutes.
Of course, the music would not be very good. The customer experience would be diminished. The orchestra would not be fulfilling its purpose but… it would be efficient!
The story came to mind because some of the cost-cutting we read about in the papers these days seems so focused on the financial outcome that the big picture purpose is lost. As a taxpayer, I am all in favor of cutting waste and eliminating programs that do not fulfill the government’s mission. But, I also want the government (and every organization) to maximize its effectiveness in fulfilling that mission/purpose.
It is not an either-or tradeoff.
As proven by Orion clients across almost every industry – including the public sector – over the last 30 years, you can shrink spending and grow productivity simultaneously.
There are times to aggressively remove non-value-added activities. There are times you should be more scalpel-like in cutting costs. There are times you can greatly improve productivity by better aligning your resources to process demands and/or customer needs. And, there are times when you can eliminate entire processes or restructure your process blueprint to dramatically enhance value creation.
Knowing which path to take begins with understanding the big picture. Four powerful BPM tools that can help you gain big-picture perspective and enhance efficiency are:
1) Strategy Map
The Strategy Map is an impactful tool that illustrates how different operational and strategic objectives interact to fulfill your organization’s #1 goal. That makes it an excellent devise to assess how a major change in one area can bolster or undermine big picture objectives. The System Map also does an excellent job of communicating to employees throughout the organization how their work influences big picture results.
Learn how to make a Strategy Map.
2) System Map
Just as the strategy map helps you see the organizational impacts of the major change, the System Map reveals the same on a process-by-process basis. By taking a systems thinking approach, it not only shows you how suppliers, inputs, processes, outputs and customers interact, it reveals upstream gaps that undermine efficiency and productivity. Closing these gaps will both reduce costs and enhance value creation.
Learn how to make a System Map.
3) Enterprise Process Model
If you want to understand operations from the biggest picture perspective, the Enterprise Process Model (or process blueprint) is your tool. It shows how your organization’s five to ten core processes interact to deliver value and fulfill the mission. Misalignments at this level are often unnoticed during day-to-day operations, but they have an enormous impact on cycle time and cost. They can also prevent improvements in one core process from having any measurable impact on the enterprise as a whole. The Enterprise Process Model reveals dramatic opportunities for improvement.
Orion can help you redesign your Enterprise Process Model.
4) The Process Map
Certainly, various types of process maps are used for “small picture” improvements. However, the cross-functional process map (or swim lane chart) helps us see the big picture problem of handoff failures. A handoff occurs whenever the workflow passes between players or departments. It is often the flashpoint for lost time or added cost. Video: Why map a process?
Orion can help you use Process Maps to transform your business results.
Learn how to make Process Maps.
These four tools will help you bring definition and clarity to your organization’s big picture. Only with this big picture perspective can you sustainably increase efficiency, reduce costs for the long haul, and enhance your organization’s ability to fulfill its purpose/mission.
When you achieve these outcomes, your business can truly “make music.”
Consulting Report to Orchestra Management:
For considerable periods of time, the four oboe players had nothing to do. The number should be reduced and the work spread more evenly over the whole of the concert, thus eliminating peaks of activity.
All 12 violins were playing identical notes; this seems unnecessary duplication. The staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a larger volume of sound is required, it could be obtained by means of electronic apparatus.
Much effort was absorbed in the playing of sixteenth, eighth and quarter notes; this seems to be an unnecessary refinement. It is recommended that all notes be rounded up to the nearest quarter. If this were done it would be possible to use trainees and lower grade operatives more extensively . . .
Obsolescence of equipment is another matter into which further investigation should be made, as it was reputed in the program that the leading violinist’s instrument was already several hundred years old. If normal depreciation schedules had been applied the value of this instrument should have been reduced to zero.
There seems to be too much repetition of some musical passages. Scores should be drastically pruned. No useful purpose is served by repeating on the horns a passage that has already been handled by the strings. It is estimated that it could be reduced to 20 minutes and there would be no need for intermission. Return to top.