Written by Atul Gawande, this book outlines the power that a lowly checklist brings to “get things right”. The book is certainly an interesting read, but it goes beyond that; if you study how people work, or are tasked to try to improve the effectiveness of workers, then reading this book is an imperative. Continue reading
Received an invitation to attend “COCOA 2010: Workshop on Coordination, Collaboration and Ad-hoc Processes” which will be held on Dec 6th in Palo Alto by a another silicon valley group studying how to support unpredictable processes. Continue reading
It has been a busy week in the process blogspace, and I am just trying to keep up. Here are some important articles, Continue reading
When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less. – Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass
When we set out to write Mastering the Unpredictable, we faced a challenge familiar to all groups of people with strong opinions. We had very very specific points to make, but often said the same thing different ways, Continue reading
I have had a number of discussions with Jean-Jacques Dubray about the nature of work, and particularly whether unpredictable work exists. Jean-Jacques is a luminary in the field, so I figured he has probably a well considered opinion on the subject, and I really wanted to understand what he meant. So I invited him to discuss this. Continue reading
Just links today
All of these reflect strongly on the idea that “Adaptive Case Management” is a strong trend for the future. We are getting closer to the release of “Mastering the Unpredictable“, and new book on this subject.
Next Wednesday, March 3rd, we will be giving a webinar on Adaptive Case Management. I have mentioned this subject a couple of times in recent posts, as new technology area. Advancements have provided ways to support increasingly sophisticated types of work. Initially, very simple work tasks with productivity software, advancing to more sophisticated work processes with workflow and BPM, but never before has there been wide adoption of of technology to support Knowledge Work. Continue reading
The Industrial Revolution brought about mass production of parts and products. The concept behind mass production is: break the job into a series of well defined components (interchangeable parts), and set up to produce those parts in large quantities to get economy of scale. Millions of identical parts can bring the price down of a completed product. The cost of setting up a factory is high, but is recouped through small savings multiplied by many instances.
Fredrick Winslow Taylor applied these mass production ideas to work and called it “Scientific Management“. Continue reading
So much buzz about a new emerging category of process technology. Analysts and vendors alike are talking about it, using a variety of different names: Case Management, Unstructured Processes, Human Coordination Technology, Human Interaction Management, Smart Case Management, Dynamic Process, etc. I helped lead a Thought Leader Summit meeting on this topic in November Continue reading
I decided to change the title of this blog, and I figured it worth a small note to explain why.
I started the blog three years ago as an experiment. I had a few things to say, but no idea if I would take the time to put them down, and even less of an idea whether anyone would care. Upon reflection, I am satisfied with that step. The blog has been more rewarding than I expected. Continue reading
Thinking Matters 