Getting to know what you Don't Know
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Freedom from
Surprises Newsletter
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November 2007 |
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Engineering Professional,
When
I ask clients about finding the unknowns in their design process I
receive a variety of responses ranging from "What is an unknown?" to
"How do I know if I have anything to find that I might need to know?" A
phrase I came across several years back summed this concept up rather
nicely this way: "Those that know,
know they know. Those that don't know, don't know they don't know"
This newsletter will focus on finding what you don't know about your
the design process, the unknowns.
Jeff Jorvig, IC Design Process Visionary
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Is there something that you do not Know?
To
pave a productivity path that includes continuous improvement, we must
always assume there is something to be learned, something in our
process that we do not know about, something unknown. The most
important concept for a design team is a belief that there are unknown
roadblocks in your design process and that they will silently impede
the optimal productivity of your team.
 As
soon as we think we have done everything we can and have all the
answers we will stagnate. One point that's a sure thing is if your not
on a vigilant course of action trying to find out what you don't know
about your design process, there are things going on that are keeping
your team from performing to the degree that they could. We must always
be on a continuous quest to enrich our knowledge about where designers
may be having trouble on their projects.
Here's one observation I have noted after years of working with design
teams: The
majority of your project surprises are not related to design tools;
they're related to how the designers are interacting (or not).
The bulk of unknowns have to do with what designers are delivering to
each other and to the organization they support. It's as simple as
people are not getting what they need from each other, forcing a step
to be repeated to align expectations. Do you know what each member of
the product development should be receiving for each of their tasks and
why he or she may not be obtaining it? That's a good question and an
excellent place to start in finding what you do not know.
Designers
and tools are like bread and butter, making it easy to assume if you
want to make a team more productive you must invest in tools. It's not
that tools don't have a tremendous value; it's that the tools are not
the only team performance adjustment that can be made. Look beyond
design tools and get to the teams interactions and deliverables to each
other, an area where you will find the majority of what you did not
know. Knowing that you don't know what you need to know makes the
difference between only wishing for improvements or planning for and
realizing improvements.
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Is it
already as good as it gets?
In
many organizations a team is aware of some problems in execution,
however they are not deemed a significant disruption and there is a
sense that the issues are at an acceptable level. When this is the
attitude of the team I would not expect much in the way of
improvements. The team has essentially stagnated in their productivity
and has become comfortable with the status quo. Reasons for accepting
current status range from not having time to elicit change to not
having the motivation to improve.
I am aware of one highly
successful semiconductor company that makes project kickoff a point of
process renewal for each and every project. The
team gets trained together, renews their process and best practices
together, maps out their plans together and only then do they start the
project. This is an excellent exhibit of continuous improvement
in action. That organization knows that they do not know what they need
to know and believes there is always improvements to be found. It's the
culture.
 There
are three possibilities for your organizations position on the
continuous improvement spectrum. Either you are OK with your project
execution flow as it is today, you would like to see improvements in
specific areas or you believe there are improvements to be found that
include known issues and as well as challenge areas you may not be
aware of. Where you fall on that continuum will directly impact the
emphasis placed on improving.
A belief that it's as good as it
gets or that you know everything you need to know about your process
breeds a plateau in productivity and very limited improvements should
be expected. Try shaking things up and continuously look for what you
don't know and you can expect an environment of constant, incremental
improvements. Excellence will be the product of an unremitting focus on
improvement. Are you wishing for improvements or planning and taking
action for improvements?
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How we can Help
If you are ready to find what you do not know there are
several areas where we can assist.
- Discovery & Solution with
your entire NPD team.
- Virtual Design Manager to
guide you in your own discovery.
- Guide a specific design project Post Mortem
with a focus on discovery.
- Hold a project kickoff design process renewal.
- Free 30 minute discussion about unknowns and
minimizing their impact.
Email here with any questions or
for more information. We can also be reached at 480-895-0478 or
877-895-0478.
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