Create simplicity and increase business performance with lean process

WCI's experience with Lean Process shows a clear link between simplicity and business performance.

How much time do you spend in procedures that take forever to get you to where you knew you would be all along?
 
Imagine the waste this 'distracted effort' represents across the organisation. Now imagine the benefits if you could liberate this time and effort so your people could focus on profitably delighting the customer. It can be done! One of the most direct routes to greater profitability is through tackling process and organisational complexity.

Key challenges
Complexity is endemic in organisations. We all know its bad news. And it grows with the evolving organisation. Yet it's nobody's job to reduce complexity. Why? Because first we stop questioning it, then we stop noticing it "that's how it is", we say.

Complexity is compounded by the training and support it demands large amounts of effort and money expended to no business benefit. Instead, why not enlist those resources in a campaign to simplify both the organisation and its processes?

The trouble is, simplicity is not natural! It's not easy to achieve. You really have to want it. You have to work hard on it. At every level, 'that's how it is' has to give way to 'how can we simplify it?'

Technology has been a barrier, too. Computer applications, designed to handle complexity, became rich in 'trivial functionality': seductive, addictive and time consuming. They need 'real functionality' so users get what they want with the least fuss and hassle.

Solution
Simplified processes do not guarantee your company will make money. But they do guarantee you will be more competitive. The more competitive you are, the more likely you are to be profitable.

In working with companies to achieve Lean Process, World Class International has confirmed that process competence is key to business performance. But the benefits of simplification must be quantified. So we have developed a benchmark which assesses the maturity of processes against defined World Class. It describes excellence in terms of performance and also in terms of culture, values and behaviours. Its central theme is simplification. As the scattergram below clearly shows, companies that focus on creating and using lean World Class process tend to be more profitable than those that don't.



Simplification programmes rarely deliver unless they are guided by a vision of the future which can be easily communicated to convince people they want it too, and that it's worth the effort to get there. It must be feasible and above all, simple! On one hand it must be broad, blurry and vague to encourage creativity. But it also needs to be precise enough for people to follow to create pragmatic concepts that (supported with low cost IT solutions) can be used to redesign the company's core processes.

Benefits
Today's simplification programmes offer high benefit to investment ratios. They do not require large cash investments or involve long lead times. With the mantra 'simplification supported by lean technology' your vision can swiftly become reality and that reality can mean improved profits.