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Pragmatism in the face of inflexible standardised processes

Posted on by Christian Hadorn | Article

Mass industrialisation, standardisation, computerised coding and the ubiquity of algorithms offer undeniable advantages. However, they give rise to biases that are becoming increasingly difficult to circumvent.

Many processes have become completely inflexible, even counterproductive. Guided by rigid tools, strict standards and compliance requirements, they prohibit any deviation, however slight. Should we be concerned?

In many cases — let’s estimate this at 95% — these processes prove their worth. They generate time and productivity savings, whilst providing rigour, security and transparency. However, the crucial question of the remaining 5% remains.

The most strict-minded will argue that 5% is negligible in an industrial or technical process. Yet it is often this that makes the difference, in the eyes of customers and partners, between a service deemed ‘good’ and one deemed ‘excellent’. This famous 5% is generally very costly, but it is sometimes essential to achieving excellence.

Whilst certain sectors of the economy may be satisfied with the ‘80-20’ rule, others must absolutely aim for 100%, particularly for safety reasons. We are not referring to these specific cases, which are ultimately exceptions.

The real problem arises in everyday life, when the consumer encounters a rigidity worthy of the worst bureaucracies, where inflexibility and the arrogance of a systematic power to refuse reign supreme.

In many companies, the lack of flexibility in certain processes is paradoxically seen as an advantage by staff: it allows them to hide behind the sacrosanct principle of ‘it’s the system’. Is there still a place for pragmatism in an increasingly standardised and rigid environment?

We are convinced there is. Most employees want to do the right thing and add value for their customers, partners and service providers. But the ‘systems’ must allow them to do so.

When designing workflows, processes and application programming, it is essential to build in ‘workarounds’. These must enable unforeseen situations to be resolved without bringing the entire chain to a standstill. This requires a thorough knowledge of the tools, but above all a deep understanding of the needs of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

When setting up a working group tasked with developing a new process, it is therefore essential to involve not only technical experts, but also practitioners capable of identifying potential flaws in the system. Each member has their own role, but everyone must be able to work as a team.

This is the price that must be paid to ensure processes remain workable for customers, service providers, suppliers and internal staff. Pragmatism often helps to avoid serious errors, even in today’s best systems or applications.

Pragmatism therefore still has a future, if managers demonstrate the minimum intellectual flexibility required to accept and implement it.

Enjoy reading and good luck with your preparations.

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