For now, I will stick with the reality TV genre. If you watch The Apprentice on NBC, the one thing that I notice is there is always a chaotic team versus a well executed team. Much of this could be attributed to leadership, but a lot of it can be tied to process. I think this gives all of us an important voyeurism opportunity.
Imagine if you could take any of your tasks at work and put two teams on each task. One you gave little direction and a basic objective. The other you gave clear directions, assigned roles, developed some rules, and executed against a process map. Of course, the second would win. The first might get lucky occasionally (a true management pitfall). This is exactly where BPM as a management theory plays. And, this is an insight you can get from the show. You see how much better one team is with some process. Imagine where you get with a fully documented and optimized process.
BPM helps you to capture the process. It forces you to articulate what sits in your head and the head of your team. You translate qualitative decisions into decision trees. You allocate tasks to people which begins to define roles. You select and articulate metrics which become reports and shared objectives.
Surprisingly, each episode offers a good nugget of business advice along with some quick lessons in management challenges. These include:
- Being faithful to your team
- Focus on delivery
- Getting organized
- Being respected
- Know your customers; know your market
- Be decisive
- Know yourself
- Listen to your team
- Be quick but careful
- Winning is everything
- Keep your eyes on the prize
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