I don’t want to say any more. Just look at this one and ask yourself how you would examine it from each perspective below:

1. Business Process Management
2. Governance, Risk and Compliance
3. Business Rule Management
4. Intelligence Quotient
5. Free Will and Self-Determinism
6. American Pioneering Spirit
7. Hawk
8. Dove
9. Civil Liberties
10. SOA

I threw that last one in there just to be funny. I think.

We all know the “process” for opening a banana, yes? Sure. Well, that process is not optimal.  Check out this video and ask, “Who was the original process owner for ‘opening a banana’?”

I’ll give you a hint.  It wasn’t us.

Next time, find the original process owner and see how he or she does it. Then you won’t look like a monkey when you craft your own process from scratch.

P.S. Monkeys open bananas in lots of different ways.  I already know that. 

Scenario 2: At the doc’s.  You know the drill.  Fill out the paperwork and swear that you have read the copy of the HIPPA rules they gave you.  Only, they didn’t give you any.  So, you ask for the rules and get a strange look like you are from Mars.  Who asks for HIPPA rules?  What was I thinking?

Analysis:  Stop lying with processes, ok?  If you create a process to protect children, the process has to be followed from end to end. It’s no good to do the front-end “aren’t we the careful company” stuff and then skip the part that really matters.  And if you mention a process step in your documentation – “I certify I have read the provided forms” – then don’t freak out when someone actually asks you to provide the forms… the ones you said you already provided.

It’s things like this that could drive me to drink.  Only, I would probably drink too much and then have to go to the doctor’s and have to pretend to read some regulation they didn’t give me.  That would add insult to injury.  Instead, I think I’ll just go grab a pizza, get a UV stamp, and run in and out the exit door, just for fun.  No one will notice.  That’s because some people build processes without any regard for whether they actually work.

Three caveats:

1. These podcasts will be for Gartner client consumption; they will not be placed on the web as freebies.
2. Podcasts have to be 10 minutes in length.
3. Please don’t suggest: “Please interview my great company and tell the world how wonderful my product is.”

If you have some ideas, I would like to hear them. 

Past topics have included:

1. BPM market dynamics
2. BRM market dynamics
3. BPM methodologies
4. BPM certification

Stay tuned and I will confirm the opening and link to the particulars.

If you know European BPM gurus – the very best – I would like to hear from you.  You can send me a heads-up using the following:

——————————————————————————————–

TO: david.mccoy at sign gartner.com (you know how to insert “@” and so do the bots, but we pretend)

SUBJECT: Research Director for BPM (European position)

——————————————————————————————–

Caveats:  The position is based in Europe and there is no relo package.  This is not intended to be a direct solicitation, just a heads-up to a network of really smart people who have really good connections.  This entire notice is subject to change.

There. 

It’s a picture…

You click it…

That’s all.

But, once you click it? That’s when the fun starts.

No one will respect your agile moves if you are knocking down his entrenched walls as you go about your actions.  So, if you thought success with agility was mainly hinged on technical brilliance,  you are only about four percent correct. The remaining 96 percent is just plain old politics.  Just like most of life, agility is easier to talk about than it is to deliver.  Remember – agility does not excuse you from doing change management and change management is at the heart of business process excellence.  So, don’t divorce your agility efforts and your process efforts.  They are too highly intertwined.

Have you seen this too, or do I just have a jaded view of reality?  Not that those are the only two options…

Scenario 2:  Van marked “Police” races past me and runs a full red light while I stop.  This was a “work detail” van – roadside trash collection with prison labor. No burglary in progress.  No crime to prevent.  Just a red light to run.

For whom are rules, laws and processes created?

Are they only created for those of us who are ruled, governed, managed or directed?

Or, are they created for all of us?

Think of this the next time you in management create a rule, process, directive, mandate, etc.  Are you to be subjected to this same set of policies?  Are you part of the picture?  Or, are you just a glorious ruling body, passing down dictates that you don’t have to follow and won’t follow?

Never trust a disembodied ruler.  Never trust someone who pours medicine down your throat while they keep their own teeth clinched behind tight, pursed lips.

1. Do you do project-level investment analysis of any kind (payback period, ROI, IRR, etc)?
2. Do you calculate a predicted ROI or IRR for your BPM projects before they are started?
3. Is a formal, predicted ROI or IRR a requirement for approval/funding?
4. Do you measure post-implementation ROI or IRR?
5. As you calculate the present value of your net benefit stream for your investment measures, do you cap the number of future years you will project out?
6. How long (number of years) is the typical benefit stream that you feel comfortable calculating?
7. What discount-rate ranges (interest rates, cost of capital, etc) do you use for your NPV calculations?
8. What investment levels (e.g., IRR levels) do you consider borderline for project approval?
9. What investment levels make you dance with glee?

Well over a decade ago, we determined that workflow projects met or exceeded ROI expectations about 90% of the time.  A BPMS is not a workflow tool, and this is 2009 – a lot of the low-hanging fruit is gone.  Are you seeing the same level of investment performance?

Let me hear from you, and thanks!