Gist
This is the short version of my book Picture Your Business in 20 bullet-points!
A power hierarchy gives a partial picture of an organisation with the wrong focus – the boss!
The normal organisation chart also omits the customers who consume the outcomes.
People must come first in organisations
It is the people doing the work that can provide competitive advantage by having ideas
Quality is a fundamental property of all organisations not an optional accessory
Everyone knows what quality means to them and want to do a good job given the chance
The manager’s job is to create the atmosphere that things can happen
Much management practice is "assuming", or "guessing", or "making it up as you go along"
A little science helps a lot
So we get people-first scientific management
Outcomes or results emerge from all the parts of the system working together towards a common aim
Identifying how value is added for the consumers makes it easier to identify waste
Waste elimination is a driver of change
Eliminating waste improves the flow of work, performance and quality
Feedback is a mechanism that makes systems self-correcting and able to adapt to external changes
The Study-Act-Plan-Do (SAPDo) learning spiral, below, is at the heart of a truly effective organisation and is a feedback mechanism
SAPDo Learning and Improvement Cycle
The Flow & Feedback Diagram (2F) is a more effective way of picturing a business or organisation than a power hierarchy that is built around SAPDo
2F needs to be used at all levels of an organisation, as well as and for all processes like a Russian doll so you can ‘drill’ down, giving greater overall effectiveness.
2F includes the consumer of the outcomes, identifies the value-adding flow and a has a feedback path for learning and change
2F is a self-adapting way of describing your business or organisation that can deliver extraordinary performance and quality
Here’s what 2F looks like:
The first thing you’ll notice is that the SAPDo cycle has been flipped. That’s purely to give a left-to-right value-flow to the customers, which is a common convention.
Did I say Customers? Yes, along with the people working in your organisation it is customers, consumers, service users, clients, patients and whoever else you may serve that should be the reason your business, public sector organisation or not-for-profit exists.
A 2F Worksheet is available that enables you to picture your own organisation:
The example above shows a ficticious online marketing company to give you an idea of how you can use the 2F Worksheet.
If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment to discuss the Flow & Feedback Diagram do contact me via the button below. Please do include your email address, which I will only use to send information to you relevant to your inquiry.
PS You can also contact me to get a FREE copy of the 2F Worksheet.
PPS To understand working with 2F you can take up my offer of a FREE 45-minute Discovery Session. During this you can explore how it can be applied to you organisation. You might like me to coach you through applying 2F to your organisation.
PPPS And last but not least you can buy a copy of Picture Your Business also by contacting me.