5 - We Establish, Meticulously Use, and Continuously Improve our Systems of Working

~We Establish, Meticulously Use, and Continuously Improve our Systems of Working ~

Systems of working. How we get work done. We will call this our Systems of Working. We use the word Systems.

Systems are made up of different parts. How we work has many parts. Each of these parts interact with each other to achieve a common goal or perform a specific function. These parts can be anything - people, processes, tools, technologies, teams, departments, or even the entire organization.

By meticulously designing, using, continuously improving these systems, and improving how these parts work together, we can accomplish something far greater.

Without systems of work, there is waste. There is meandering. Things move slow. We run in place. We cut corners to catch up. We violate many of our principles.

Without systems of work, we are not effective at delivering value, and delivering on our purpose. How can we be effective without them? Without them we risk working on the wrong things. Even if they are the right things, we risk our success of executing them. Even if we execute on them, it’s likely that it took us more time and effort, and it’s likely that we missed on the achieving the best possible outcome. It’s likely we feel exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated. It’s likely those that work with us feel the same.

So we need Systems of Working. We have to be master architects of how we work. We must design systems that are effective and efficient.

We must design the system of how we create value. HOW WE CREATE VALUE. The people and parts involved. There must be a beauty to the way we work. It’s a Science, and its an Art. We must recognize that the way we perform our work is everything. It enables us to focus on the right things, at the right time, with little waste.

The way we work must be ingrained in the minds of our team. Everyone must know that it’s consistent, meticulously developed, efficient, and incredibly effective. We must also measure and enforce execution of the system. We must seek out waste and continuously innovate on our systems of work.

Our systems are what differentiates our capability from our competitors. It’s what keeps us on top of risks. It’s what makes us fast while not sacrificing accurate and value add outcomes.

It’s a Science and an Art. It’s a big part of our collective thinking which artistically creates it, memorializes it, and ingrains it in our professional mindsets. Our meticulous execution of it is the Science. It’s our practice and we are practitioners. Each of us as practitioners are trained to follow it. We use it to guide the activities of our days, or we fall into traps of meandering, procrastinating, and spinning our wheels. It keeps us honest, and keeps us on the road of our Ideal Day.

Our best outcomes come from it. Thus we measure it closely, both collectively and individually. Those of us who are managers measure our team against it, and coach where necessary. Most importantly, we hold ourselves accountable to following it, as our toughest critics.

We investigate bad outcomes against it to determine if it needs adjustment.

We identify opportunities to improve it. We think deliberately about changing it, while also not delaying the necessary change. Necessary change cannot be delayed.

We recognize that the greatest practitioners, in any discipline, have mastered attention, mental movement, and physical movement. All steps towards their outcomes have been meticulously thought out, tested, measured, and adjusted. A world class ballet dancer, a Cy Young pitcher, a basketball jump shooter....have broken down every movement and perfected it to meet the high quality outcomes they need to be successful. We are the same as them. We are practitioners. We are artists. We are scientists in our practice.

And our practice, and practitioners, are beautiful.