| Are You Using The Performance Improvement Pyramid? |
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| Written by Les Silver |
| Wednesday, 06 August 2008 10:55 |
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In the quest for performance improvement, we often seek guidance from “common wisdom.” This wisdom is sometimes expressed in oft repeated quotations. Here are two particularly common examples: “The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results,” and “practice makes perfect.” At first, these quotations appear contradictory. If it is insane to do the same thing over and over and expect different results, what is the point of practicing? Can both of these statements be true? The answer lies in what I will call the Performance Improvement Pyramid.
Here are the four levels: 1. Develop and document process objectives and steps. There is no successful team in sports that operates without a playbook. It is no different in business, except the “plays” are called processes. The starting point in any performance improvement effort is to step back, develop a list of key processes, and for each process determine what it is designed to accomplish (its objectives) and the steps that will be used to accomplish it. 2. Convey understanding of process objectives and steps. One of the most difficult challenges in a performance improvement effort is making sure all of the staff required to execute the improvements understand the objectives and steps in the process. In most businesses, the staff have become comfortable with their individual routines and view any attempt to change this as an unwanted and unneeded disruption. Unless the staff understands the reason for the change and what is now expected from them, nothing is likely to change. 3. Do it. The next level in the pyramid is having the team run the new plays. A higher degree of early success will be achieved if the second level was well received, however, it is often the case that “doing it” is helpful for achieving the real understanding being sought in level two. The managers should be using the documented process as the “playbook” and observing and comparing the execution to the process. This often leads to tweaking the processes to apply to real life scenarios. 4. Do it well. The fourth and final level in the Performance Improvement Pyramid is “doing it well.” This is where you receive the real payback, however, it requires a significant additional level of commitment from managers and staff to move from the third to the fourth level. It is also often the place where everything falls apart. It is at this transition point when staff may say “Well, we tried the new way and it did not work, let’s go back to the old ‘tried and true’ method.” This temptation must be resisted or all the effort in first three levels will be for naught. With this pyramid in mind, I propose the following changes to our earlier quotes: “The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, at the same level of execution, and expect different results.” “Practice makes permanent; perfect practice makes perfect.” These changes reinforce the fact that quality execution is paramount and that considerable effort and practice will be necessary to build a championship team. Les Silver is chairman and CEO of Mobile Productivity Inc. (MPi), a leading provider of profitability tools for auto dealer service departments. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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