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BUSINESS PROCESS ORIENTATION FOR EVERYONE

BUSINESS PROCESS ORIENTATION FOR EVERYONE Anders Ljungberg & Everth Larsson

LEARN FROM EMMA´S KITCHEN

Anders Ljungberg & Everth Larsson

Copying prohibited This book is protected by the Swedish Copyright Act. Apart from the restricted rights for teachers and students to copy material for educational purposes, as regulated by the Bonus Copyright Access agreement, any copying is prohibited. For information about this agreement, please contact your course coordinator or Bonus Copyright Access.

Should this book be published as an e-book, the e-book is protected against copying.

Anyone who violates the Copyright Act may be prosecuted by a public prosecutor and sentenced either to a fine or to imprisonment for up to 2 years and may be liable to pay compensation to the author or to the rightsholder.

Studentlitteratur publishes digitally as well as in print formats.

Studentlitteratur’s printed matter is sustainably produced, both as regards paper and the printing process.

Art. No 40376 ISBN 978-91-44-13340-9 First edition 1:1 © The authors and Studentlitteratur 2020 studentlitteratur.se Studentlitteratur AB, Lund Translation: Ida Stefansson Cover design: Magnus Bergström Cover illustration: Rubberball/Erik Isakson/Getty images Design: Jesper Sjöstrand/Metamorf Design Group Drawings: Ingemar Edman (p. 32, 56, 64, 88, 116, 140), Björn Wallin (p. 29, 31, 33, 37, 110) Printed by Interak, Poland 2020

PREFACE AND READER’S GUIDE This book is unique in, above all, two aspects. It is designed for all employees – a somewhat neglected target group when it comes to business development.

We have attempted to write to and for members of staff rather than about them. In order to make the book as educational as possible, it has two separate but complementary parts. The first part can be found on the left-hand pages in the form of a comprehensive practical case – Emma’s Kitchen – which describes how a business comes about and develops. On the right-hand pages, we provide comments and delve deeper into the topic for those who are interested in knowing more about business development and business process orientation (from here on simply referred to as process orientation).

The left-hand pages constitute the main part of the book. They tell the story about the start and development of the restaurant Emma’s Kitchen. It is a fictional but realistic story based on the authors’ experiences in a wide range of businesses. Emma’s Kitchen goes from being a small emerging and well-functioning business to becoming a substantially bigger yet traditional function-oriented organisation with a number of large problems. Analysis of the problems results in development measures to move towards a processoriented organisation and thereby making it successful again. The business type has been selected so that anyone will be able to understand and identify with the organisation as well as its development.

The story of Emma’s Kitchen is presented in three parts. The first part is about the startup and early success, followed by a number of challenges as the business begins to grow. The challenges lead to a discussion about problems, possible solutions and the advantages of these. This is where process orientation is introduced. The second part provides more knowledge about the changes which they decide to implement and an overview of how they could be realised. Finally, the third part gives the reader an insight into how the changes are implemented. However, there are no sharp distinctions between the three parts; just like in real life, the division into different parts, or development steps, is fluid.

The pages on the right-hand side offer comments, explanations and more in-depth information connected to the story of Emma’s Kitchen. Here, you will learn more about what happens in the story as well as about process orientation and change management. The more in-depth information © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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Preface and reader’s guide

clarifies what is going on from a more general perspective, briefly explaining questions such as why?, what? and how? We try to provide an overall picture as well as knowledge on a more detailed level. One of the purposes of the book is to combine theory and practice in an easy and accessible way.

The left- and right-hand pages can be read separately or in parallel. There is, in other words, more than one way in which you can read the book. On the right-hand pages there are sometimes references to an event which is described on the left-hand pages; they can be read as explanations but in most cases, this is not necessary.

After each main part of the description of Emma’s Kitchen, we have added discussion questions to encourage the reader to stop and reflect on the way the content and ideas of the book can be applied in one’s own organisation.

The purpose is, thus, not at all to control the reader’s knowledge. The questions can also be used for group discussions.

The book is aimed at all members of staff within an organisation, i.e. those who work in the processes and are affected by change management but who hopefully are also participating in these activities. In other words, the target group is primarily employees whose core competence does not relate at all to the management and development of the organisation, or knowledge of processes and process orientation. Of course, the book can still be ‘read on the sly’ and be of use also to managers at different levels, process developers, process owners, students and others who wish to increase their understanding of, or improve their knowledge and competence within, the process field.

The most important purpose of the book is to increase the understanding of process orientation for members of staff in an organisation and of the goaloriented and fairly comprehensive change management which is required to transform a traditional function-oriented organisation to a corresponding process-oriented and, hopefully, more successful organisation. Another important aim is to contribute towards the creation of a common understanding which facilitates joint change management.

Apart from the fact that the book can be read in different ways, the reading can also take place at different times: before a change is about to take place, to facilitate prerequisites for process orientation, continuously during the entire implementation of a new process, as support in the daily work, and as a tool when evaluating the result or as inspiration for the future.

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The limited scope and special design of the book have been chosen so that the effort required to absorb the content will not deter anyone or infringe on anyone’s development. The idea is that you cannot reach success without paying a price in one shape or another Dare! Win! wants to convey a similar message: Reaching success with the use of process orientation requires both the courage to take the step and dedicated work and effort. This will pay off for both the individual employee as well as the organisation as a whole.

The book is designed to be read as a stand-alone, but it has been developed in close conjunction with our other and considerably more comprehensive book, Processbaserad verksamhetsutveckling (Process-based business development, unfortunately not available in english), which looks at the work and development of process orientation but also the entire conceptual basis for this type of work.

It has been both fun and rewarding for us to write the book (mostly!).

Our hope now is that it will be useful to you and many others. You are welcome to contact us with questions and opinions about the book and, above all, how you and your colleagues have used it. You can reach us at anders.ljungberg@trivector.se.

September 2019 Anders Ljungberg

Everth Larsson

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CONTENTS Preface and reader’s guide 3 Why is there a dancer on the cover? 9 LEF T PAGES

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1 Emma’s Kitchen – from newcomer to a traditional business 10 A dream comes true 10 The guests start arriving 14 Who? The answer is always us! 16 Every dish counts! 18 Listen to and try to understand the Lemon! 22 Processes here and processes there – what does it have to do with us? 26 Whose fault is it? Yours! 30 Organisation chart and job descriptions – could that be the solution? 36 Perhaps 1 can turn into 2? 40 Food for thought about process orientation 42 Four steps towards a better functioning organisation 44 Three types of processes 48 Small gets big 52 How did we end up with an egg-cracking unit? 52 What went wrong and how do we get on the right track? 58 We are going to use process orientation! 60 Questions for reflection and discussion 62

1 The establishment and challenges of successful businesses 11 The foundation of a successful business 11 The employees are the organisation 15 Every organisation has customers 19 Everyone benefits from being customer-oriented 21 Customer feedback is a resource 23 Process – a lot of noise over something which has always existed 25 The use of agreed work procedures 27 The characteristics of processes 29 The idea of division of labour has shaped our organisations 35 Functional orientation brings a number of problems 39 Process orientation – medicine for function-oriented organisations 41 Process orientation has several different effects 45 Services are processes 47 How do lean and process orientation relate? 49 Every organisation has three types of processes 53 The emergence of ‘egg-cracking units’ 53 From separate parts to a whole 59 Process orientation – improving the conditions for well-functioning work 61

2 Reaching success – working together towards common goals 64 What have we lost and would like to regain? 64 Back to the future – a clearer visionary goal 68 But what do I get out of this? 72 A group leading the change 80 What is process orientation to us and what does the plan look like? 82 This is process orientation to us! 92 Questions for reflection and discussion 94

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2 Developing an organisation 65 Organisations can be compared to large teams 65 Nothing is ‘ingrained in the walls’ 67 Organisations need to change with the surrounding world 69 The mission statement describes why the organisation exists 71 Do you have to constantly get better? 73

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3 Change for success – dare, act and win 96 Start of the project Dare! Win! 96 The Dare! Win! rocket takes off 100 The most important processes at Emma’s Kitchen 104 Mapping and presenting processes 110 New and improved processes 116 How do we share the responsibility for the processes? 120 Time to do what we have planned and follow the work procedures 128 The phase without end – removing obstacles to functioning processes 136 Everything works and we know why! 146 We’re never going to arrive – might as well celebrate now! 148 What did we learn? 152 Questions for reflection and discussion 154

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And now even more will be demanded of me… 75 When is the best time to change? 81 Projects to initiate and drive change 83 The beauty of an idea 83 Four steps to process orientation 87 From a process-obstructing to a process-supporting organisation 91 3 Dare! Win! – from start to finish 97 Running projects for process orientation and change 97 Good enough is almost always good enough 99 ‘Wanting to move towards something’ is a good start for change 103 The importance of speed when running change in a changeable world 105 Organisations have to be able to understand their most important processes 107 Process maps are important – if they are good and applied 113 How to read a process map 115 Naming processes and activities 117 Qualities that improve a process 117 The process owner creates the basis for well-functioning work 123 The process manager contributes to the functioning of everyday operations 127 Everyone affects the result – everyone should be included 129 The value of a common way of working 131 The challenging role of the leader to implement a process-oriented approach 137 Typical obstacles to functioning processes and flows 143 How do we know whether the organisation is process-oriented? 153

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WHY IS THERE A DANCER ON THE COVER? There are different ways to interpret the image on the cover.

One interpretation, which of course is close to our hearts, is that once you have studied the book and assimilated the knowledge which it is aiming to convey and the understanding to which it contributes, you will find that the implementation of process orientation in an organisation is much like dancing and that you as an employee will be able to handle the most advanced tasks.

Another interpretation is based on what characterises dancing and processes. If we begin with dancing, it follows a certain pattern. It could be a general and internationally known pattern, such as a waltz, tango or quick-step, or something more individual, like hip-hop. Each dance has its own specific pattern, even though there are similarities. Within the pattern and the ‘set of rules’ which apply, a number of big or small improvisations can be made. But at all times, you need to follow the beat and listen to the music. Normally you dance in pairs, but there are also a number of dances which involve more people, e.g. square dance, line dance and certain types of traditional folk dances. The people who are dancing find it fun and enjoyable, a nice way to socialise. Provided that the dancers are talented, the spectators probably also find the dance enjoyable and even aesthetically pleasing (picture an Argentinian couple dancing tango). The ability to dance is not something inherent. You can be more or less naturally suited for dancing, but it requires a lot of effort as well as plenty of practice to become a good dancer. You need good body control, a certain amount of strength and good posture. The rhythm and the music (normally) allow you to dance for a long time without feeling tired.

Now, let us have a look at the characteristics of processes. They also follow a certain pattern, specific to each process. However, there are common traits, which means that if you have been working in one process you can usually make use of those experiences in the next process (teamwork, customer focus, etc.). Within the framework of the pattern, improvisations may be required.

The main characteristic of processes is teamwork. The pace of work is often of great importance. Knowledge, understanding and ability to co-operate are essential qualities. Customers, colleagues, process owners, etc., probably find it easy to appreciate the beauty of well-executed process work.

In other words: PROCESSES ARE A FORM OF DANCING and DANCING IS A FORM OF PROCESS. Š T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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REACHING SUCCESS – WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS COMMON GOALS What have we lost and would like to regain?

Emma sat in the small office thinking. She was still convinced that process orientation was the solution, but she had to develop her ideas further and make them more concrete. And the staff had to be both informed and involved, otherwise it would simply be impossible to succeed.

Emma came to think about when the business was fairly new and the problems were smaller and easier to solve. It always put a smile on her face when she thought about their small team, but what had actually been so

‘What made Emma’s Kitchen so successful the first year?’

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CHAPTER 2

Developing an organisation

Organisations can be compared to large teams In the beginning, Emma’s Kitchen was a small organisation and it was easy to achieve many good qualities. The organisation was a small limited team which, without problems, could create good teamwork, and the visionary goal was simple and shared by everyone. In a large organisation, you often have to struggle to achieve the good qualities that arise almost by themselves in a small organisation.

Even though organisations have always, to a large extent, consisted of people, they have throughout history mainly been compared to machines.

The approach originates from workers predominantly being employed because they had muscles and the ability to carry out ordered and welldefined work tasks. Comparing an organisation to a machine means, for example, that you assume that improving the parts of the organisation will contribute to a more well-functioning whole. If the organisation at large is seen as a machine, you also expect to gain economies of scale (i.e. size advantages) as the organisation grows. Economies of scale are fundamentally based on a large ‘machine’ being able to produce comparatively more in relation to the cost, resulting in lower unit cost of each produced unit than you would with a small ‘machine’.

Modern organisations often involve advanced technology, now more than ever. At the same time, the employee and the joint ability to adapt to the surrounding world are more important than ever. Despite the heavy influence of technology today, organisations are best compared to teams, that is, a number of individuals who succeed in achieving their common © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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great about it? What were the qualities which had made Emma’s Kitchen so successful and efficient the first year? Emma thought about it and started to write things down in an attempt to both explain and summarise. She arrived at the following strengths for the small restaurant that Emma’s Kitchen had been at the start: • Customer focus. Everyone understood the customer and the

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customer’s needs. Everyone met the customers daily. The customer was visible and everyone could hear the customer talking. Everyone also understood what the customer valued. They would talk a lot both about and with the customers.

The bigger picture. Everyone had time to talk to everyone. There were no separate functions, no solid division of responsibilities but a working flexible division of roles and efficient teamwork – everyone understood the bigger picture.

Common visionary goal. Everyone shared the same visionary goal and everyone worked towards achieving it. Everyone could explain what differentiated Emma’s Kitchen from the competitors and how to attract customers. They had common priorities, felt a sense of pride and pulled in the same direction.

Teamwork. Everyone worked together. The common task was more important than the individual one. Team before ego, always.

Simple introduction. Each new member of staff would carry out many different work tasks and was met by co-operative colleagues who shared the same basic values. It was easy to turn new employees into good and efficient team players.

Efficient improvement. Problems and opportunities were brought up immediately and analysed from different perspectives.

Improvements were implemented together, easily and swiftly.

Emma sat and studied the list. She thought that it was mostly the organisational culture and common values which had changed over time, without anyone noticing it, and which now actively had to develop into something which would work for the future. Zoran’s brisk steps could be heard close to the office. Emma stopped him as he was passing by and explained what she was doing.

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goals through good teamwork. If you then continue to view and lead an organisation as if it were a machine, you risk not getting the qualities you want. The organisation will not be flexible, receptive to changes in the surrounding world or able to engage the employees, to mention a few examples.

While you may hope to gain economies of scale by making a machine bigger, it is not as easy to gain economies of scale by making a team bigger.

A growing organisation creates a number of challenges to get the organisation to run smoothly. You need to find ways to create consensus, co-operation and co-ordination. Somehow, the different parts of the organisation have to be ‘glued’ together to form comprehensible and functioning wholes.

Nothing is ‘ingrained in the walls’ Emma’s list shows that the business has lost a number of good qualities. And several of the qualities that have been lost indicate that the organisational culture and basic values have changed. Slowly they have begun to slip, perhaps without anyone actually noticing it.

Emma’s reflections also point to a vagueness in her own role as manager.

It has not been made clear what is important or what needs to be prioritised.

The goals of the business are not clear to all employees. It would have been an advantage if the basic values of the business were clear, it would have made it easier for everyone to make the right decisions.

In every organisation there are values that direct us in our day-to-day activities without us being aware of it. These could be notions of what is right and wrong, how we should behave towards each other and the customers, how to perform a certain task, etc. The basic values of an organisation are, thus, the essential guide for decisions and actions in the everyday operations. The values and ways of acting in different situations form the organisational culture.

In organisations, you often talk of the type of basic values you have or wish to have. There is a risk that the statements made about the basic values that you have are not consistent with the values that are actually used in the day-to-day activities.

An expression sometimes used to comment on the basic values of an organisation is that ‘they are ingrained in the walls’. The expression is often © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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‘What was the key behind the customer focus, the common understanding and well-functioning work procedures which we used to have?’ Emma asked.

Zoran did not need time to think.

‘Well, it’s obvious. It was a small organisation. Every day we would discuss, evaluate and improve our activities while we sat down for lunch together, the lunch which we had just served our customers. We were attentive and quick to respond. And we did everything in a positive spirit!’

Zoran replied with certainty and walked on. Emma did not need to ask him what he meant with the last part. The discussions lately were rarely held in a positive spirit.

Emma considered Zoran’s reply. He had made a really good point, but a daily discussion where everyone would gather at the same time and share thoughts which would provide understanding and improvement would hardly be possible now. Nor was it desirable; the situation back then was based on Emma’s Kitchen being a small and new business. A daily discussion now had to take place in many different places in the organisation and as a natural part of everyday work. Common values, customer focus, an understanding of the work tasks, constant improvement and so on, had to be incorporated and supported in the daily operations in a different way: for example, by making the goals and processes of the business clear to everyone.

Back to the future – a clearer visionary goal Emma continued to ponder over her list. It would not be easy to bring back these qualities. But it would be well worth the effort. Perhaps it was also necessary if Emma’s Kitchen were to become a pleasant and successful workplace again.

Emma decided to redo the list, so that it went from describing what had been lost to what they wanted to achieve. Emma wanted to go beyond restoring what had once been; after all, the goal was not to go back in time.

The goal was to meet the demands of the future. And it had to be better to describe what you want to move towards than what you wish to move away from, Emma thought.

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used to explain that an organisation has difficulties adapting new ideas and changing. Being ‘ingrained in the walls’, then, refers to conservative values that you expect will be difficult to change and which consciously or unconsciously affect the employees in the day-to-day activities.

‘Ingrained in the walls’ is not an expression that brings a lot of clarity. It is slightly cowardly to avoid clear communication and instead blame the walls; it mostly serves as an evasive excuse. Nothing is, of course, ingrained in the walls. You might find electrical cables and insulation, but that is more or less it. What impedes the ability of an organisation to adopt new ideas and change habitual patterns is more likely ingrained in the minds of the employees.

Organisations need to change with the surrounding world It is no exaggeration to state that the external landscape and context of organisations constantly change. It is therefore reasonable that organisations sometimes need to change to better meet the expectations and conditions of the customers and surrounding world. Changing and adapting to the new expectations is the safest choice. Avoiding change in a changeable time may be the comfortable option, but it will only work for a while. In the worst-case scenario, it could jeopardise the existence of the organisation.

Even if the organisation you belong to is successful, it is risky to settle down. There will always be new competitors and old competitors will become more efficient and develop new strategies, new laws will be made that affect your work, unforeseen problems will arise, new technology will be developed, etc. Above all, the sum of all changes will lead to new demands and expectations from the customers.

We live in a time where change is the only constant. There is a figure of speech that says ‘no one can save a successful organisation’. This means that there is a risk that success breeds self-assurance. Self-assurance may lead to self-righteousness and, in the long run, unwillingness to change. Once the setbacks come, as they will sooner or later, you will not take them seriously.

You will create explanations based on the problems being ‘someone else’s fault’, that is, the organisation sees no reason to change and finally it will be too late. There is a risk that change is not seen as necessary in good times, and in bad times it is difficult to make good changes. © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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• Everyone understands the customer and what makes the customer •

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happy. Everyone can make decisions which benefit the customer.

Everyone understands the bigger picture. Even if you are not working with everything and know everything, you understand how it all connects.

Everyone shares the same visionary goal. A common visionary goal increases the understanding of one’s own role and constitutes the foundation of flexible and team-based work procedures.

Good teamwork. Work tasks are mostly performed in a group or as a seamless relay race.

Simple introduction. It is easy to turn new employees into good and efficient team players.

Efficient improvement. Problems and opportunities are noted and taken care of swiftly through teamwork.

Emma was pleased with the list; it gave a clear idea of what she wanted the day-to-day activities to be based on. But what would be required to achieve the goals? Better understanding of the customer was not really that difficult to solve.

Customers meet many of the staff every day. With the right attitude and good communication, both with the customer and internally at Emma’s Kitchen, this would not be a problem. And what about everyone understands the bigger picture? Catherine had made Emma realise that it was easier to understand the bigger picture if you could explain your processes and how they relate.

They should be able to do that at Emma’s Kitchen as well. In a similar way, Emma could see that they had the prerequisites to achieve good teamwork, a simpler introduction and efficient improvement. But sharing the same visionary goal was more difficult since their common visionary goal, looking back, had been cared for by passing it on from one member of staff to the next. Over time, this had diminished and finally faded away and vanished. For the future development of the organisation to take a positive turn, it had to be based on a clear and common visionary goal, which would demonstrate both what Emma’s Kitchen represented and the way in which they wished to develop.

The need for a common visionary goal meant that it was important to clarify the business idea, vision and overall goals of Emma’s Kitchen. Emma began by writing down suggestions for the business idea and vision. She asked Vera and Zoran to help her. To Zoran, the vision for Emma’s Kitchen 70

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Nowadays, the world is changing at such speed that it has become risky to wait for external signals that the organisation needs to change. It often takes too long to adapt to the new situation. Therefore, you need to try to discover the signs early on that the organisation and what it does for the customers need to change.

The mission statement describes why the organisation exists Every organisation – private or public – has come about and exists to fill some form of purpose. The common knowledge and sense of what this purpose is risk getting lost over time as the organisation grows and matures.

Finally, there may be a risk that the everyday operations are overshadowed by more internal issues, as with what happened at Emma’s Kitchen.

The purpose of an organisation provides an understanding of why the organisation exists, which needs need to be met and for whom, roughly how to meet these needs and so on. As described on the right-hand pages in the beginning of the book, the answer to these questions and other, closely related questions, in a professional organisation is often referred to as a mission statement. In a profitmaking organisation, the term is ‘business idea’.

A mission statement is usually short and simply formulated in a few sentences but still has to provide clear direction for how the organisation should be run. The content of the mission statement should clarify how the business differs from other similar businesses.

A mission statement is a general description, accepted by everyone, of what the operations of the organisation are aimed at and how the organisation wants to be perceived by its stakeholders. The mission statement is not isolated but should, based on a vision and overall goals, briefly express or describe what the organisation wants to do or achieve. The mission statement should be formulated in simple and clear terms, yet still be comprehensive and say a lot.

Establishing the mission statement or role of the organisation includes identifying which customers you have or would like to have, how to create value for these customers and how this value satisfies the customers’ needs.

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was ‘that we function so well that we have happy and regular customers. They might not come every day, many people want variation or bring their own lunchbox sometimes, but they come here every week. The vision is simply that these customers see us as an obvious choice.’ Vera and Emma thought that it was good description. Together they summed up the vision as: Emma’s Kitchen – your place of choice, every week. It was a simple vision but not easily achieved, just as it should be.

Some of the staff were already familiar with the business idea; it had been discussed many times before but never been written down or officially communicated. To others it was therefore completely unknown. Vera, Emma and Zoran agreed on the description of the business idea for Emma’s Kitchen: Based on organic produce, the art of cooking and devotion, Emma’s Kitchen serves modern cuisine, combining familiarity with an element of surprise to create a pleasant culinary experience every day.

They were all pleased with the result. The business idea was clear, distinctive, interesting and offered guidelines. They decided to let Catherine challenge what they had created and give her the chance to provide feedback on their vision and business idea. Catherine represented both the customer and someone with an outside perspective, so there might be things that she would like to change. To everyone’s satisfaction, Catherine thought they had done an excellent job.

But what do I get out of this?

All members of staff were invited to an information meeting which would take place in the morning before the restaurants had opened. Emma felt very enthusiastic about the meeting. She looked forward to presenting something positive to everyone and to, hopefully, move the focus away from problems and the past, to possibilities and the future. She was going to explain why the business had to change and also talk a little bit about why Emma’s Kitchen needed to work with process orientation.

The morning of the meeting arrived and Emma looked out over the room which now was just as filled with members of staff as it would be with customers in a few hours. Kevin and Mark sat closest to her, both with their arms crossed. It was eight o’clock and time to start, even though a few people were still missing.

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Subordinate to the mission statement, you usually find a number of goals and a strategy for how to achieve these. The goals may concern a number of different areas. They could, for example, be financial goals, or goals for sustainability or quality.

Do you have to constantly get better?

Yes, at least if you are an organisation or company, but there is no guarantee that it will be enough. The mere formulation ‘get better’ implies that we are already doing things right, that we only need ‘a little more of the same’.

But it is becoming more and more common for the surrounding world to not demand ‘more of the same’ but rather to require something completely new, from us as individuals and from organisations. You have to constantly become better at the specific solution in question, but also be prepared to change to another solution.

Facing change can give rise to different emotions. If the change is perceived as forced or difficult to understand, the emotions might not be only positive. Nor does it get any better by the need for change coming back again and again. Perhaps you are tired of change and wonder if it will ever end? You might even be wondering whether the organisation and you as an individual really have to constantly improve? At the risk of adding further examples to your list of perky formulations related to change, here are a few more. The need for change increases in a time when the world is constantly changing. It requires constant change even to stand still in relation to a world that is in a state of rapid development.

The situation is not entirely different from going up an escalator that is moving down. Or paddling against the stream. It takes a certain amount of effort even to stand still. We are actually quite aware of this in our private life. It requires effort to maintain the condition of your house, it requires effort to continue running 10 kilometres in under an hour and so on. Lewis Carroll captured it well, in a completely different context, in the 1865 book Alice in Wonderland. When Alice arrives in Wonderland, she is pulled into the race by the Red Queen. Alice has to do it since everyone runs in Wonderland and they run fast. Alice soon discovers that regardless how fast she runs, she is not moving forward. The Red Queen explains why: ‘Now, © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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‘How many of you have heard the expression “every dish counts”?’

Emma asked and a few hands were hesitantly raised. ‘“Every dish counts” was something that we used to say a lot to each other. It was a reminder that we cared about each and every meal that we served and each and every guest who came to eat at our restaurant. We wanted all of our guests to leave the restaurant happy, so happy that they would come back the next day.

Unfortunately, we have lost some of this spirit. But we are going find our way back to a place where everyone understands and lives by “every dish counts”!’

‘I feel like it’s mostly every mistake that counts these days,’ someone mumbled, whereupon murmurs and giggles spread around the room. Before Emma had the chance to respond, Kevin began to speak. ‘Are you saying that we don’t care anymore?’ Emma hoped that no one had quite heard Kevin’s question, and continued without responding so that she would not lose the thread.

‘Emma’s Kitchen is still a workplace with a lot of committed employees, a workplace where we make an effort. On good days we have many guests and are forced to make a great effort. I appreciate these efforts, but unfortunately hard work is no guarantee for success. That everyone meets their individual responsibility does not automatically make us a winning team.’

There was a certain level of concern in the room and one or two whispers could be heard. Emma could tell from the facial expressions of many of them that they were wondering where she was going with her line of thought.

Emma continued. ‘Emma’s Kitchen still has many strengths: commitment, competence and flexibility to mention a few, but we are not making use of our strengths in the right way. And we also have weaknesses: lack of customer orientation and low efficiency. I’m guessing we’re all aware of our problems and that is also one of the reasons why we also have low employee satisfaction.

‘We’re simply not strong enough to face the threats that are out there.

The competitors that already exist are constantly getting better and better.

More restaurants will open and that means increased competition for both customers and staff. On a more positive note though, there are also opportunities. At the moment, competition is not that tough and we have noticed that in many of the workplaces in the city, the majority of the staff bring their own lunch. If we’re good enough and if we stand out enough, we could attract new customers. Customers who are not just coming from our competitors but who represent market growth.’

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here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.’

Major and sudden changes are clear and force us or the organisation to act, much like when there is a leak in the roof that requires urgent fixing.

However, many changes take place without us noticing them from one day to the next. We wake up in the morning and see our face in the mirror. It looks the same as the day before (funnily enough, you might look even more tired than when you went to bed). But when we meet a friend whom we have not seen in a long time, there a ‘risk’ that he or she spontaneously comments that you have changed quite a lot (‘oh, you look so much like your dad’ or ‘when did you turn grey?’). In a similar way, we risk missing the many changes that are happening all around us, changes which affect both us as individuals and our workplaces. Sometimes we forget how much other organisations evolve.

Organisations and their employees have to dare and be able to challenge their habits, preferably before the surrounding world demands it.

And now even more will be demanded of me…

Many have probably had the feeling that, after all the nice words and nice PowerPoint slides about the changes that the organisation is facing, it all comes down to the fact that more will be demanded of me. And probably sometimes that is true. Just like greater demands are placed on us in our spare time and in life in general. Even if things were not better in the past, they were in many respects easier. Whether this always is a good thing or not is debatable. Regardless what you arrive at, organisations and individuals must be able to change to a sufficient extent and at a sufficient pace in order to function in the times we live in.

But where does the need to change come from? Who is driving the development? In many ways, you are! You and all of the other customers.

Our behaviour and our expectations have changed radically over time.

In the past, you would attend the school you were assigned to, get an education, find a job and never change workplace, buy a car and stay faithful to the car brand for the rest of your life and so on. You were ‘trained’ to behave this way from an early age: ‘be content with what you get’. In the 1970s, you could be sure that a movie would run on television at 8 o’clock in the evening. The only movie that night. The family would gather and © T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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REaChing suCCEss – WoRKing TogEThER ToWaRDs Common goals

Emma could sense mixed reactions among the colleagues. It had been a very long time since they had had a similar meeting, and this time there were many messages that needed to be presented. She continued by presenting the vision and business idea.

‘Stop and think, the business idea has not been written down before but this is the way we’ve tried to work all along. It’s no wonder we haven’t been doing that great lately; we haven’t been talking enough to each other and, over time, this has resulted in a lack of clarity and a number of misunderstandings. Perhaps not everyone recognises themselves in the business idea. Irrespective of whether you do or not, as of now this is our starting point for the way we’re going to turn Emma’s Kitchen into a strong alternative that differs from the rest.

‘The business idea shows how important it is for the entire organisation to function. From the way we create the menu, via purchase, preparation and cooking, to the meeting with the customer, serving, finishing and following up on the customer’s satisfaction. We need to develop our work procedures and our processes so that each of them functions according to plan and so that they work together; we need to develop our organisation. I’m going to explain the goals of this development.’

Emma continued with the list of the day-to-day goals, from customer focus to efficient improvement. She tried to meet the eyes of as many as possible to see if they were following her, which many of them seemed to do, but far from everyone.

Kevin straightened himself up and started to speak while Emma took a pause to breathe. ‘Well, you sure had a lot to say. I’m lucky to have made it 30 years in this industry without all of this wisdom. But what do I and my colleagues get out of this? I think that many are wondering specifically about that.’

Or is it just you Kevin? Emma wondered in annoyance, but quickly changed her mind. Even if Kevin did not express himself in a very nice way, it was good that he had asked, and there were probably many who had similar questions.

Emma continued by trying to explain how this would benefit them all.

‘What I’m trying to describe is basically a better workplace! For all of us.

A successful workplace with good teamwork and happy customers, as well as a safe workplace.

‘We are going to use process orientation to reach our goals. It’s a concept 76

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you began watching the movie. After ten minutes you realised that the movie was no good. And then you would watch it anyway; it was after all the only chance to watch a movie that night. In the 1980s, there were more opportunities to watch a movie as you could rent VHS tape cassettes. If you did not have a video recorder, that could be rented as well. For a sum that today would be the equivalent to about 10 EUR, you would get a movie and a video recorder. Once home, you plugged in the recorder and pressed play.

Perhaps you realised that the movie was not all that great. And then you would watch it anyway, you did not want to waste the money you had spent, better to endure and watch the movie. Today, the situation is fundamentally different for all types of media consumption. Perhaps you happen to see that a movie is showing on one of the TV channels in the evening. But to gather the family at a certain time is close to impossible. Someone has already seen the movie; another one would rather watch it at a different time. If you still decide to watch the movie, there is no guarantee that you will stay very long. Perhaps you realise that the movie is actually good – yet you still will not watch it till the end. Because on another channel, something even more interesting is showing. Or perhaps you should continue watching that series on Netflix? Or check some good movies on YouTube? Or everything at once, movie on TV, series on the tablet and a bit of YouTube on your phone during commercials?

Media consumption and the way it has changed is a good example of how all of our consumption has changed. As customers we act more, make active choices, but we also need to understand more. We change, adapt and make use of new opportunities. Or we become bitter, decide not to participate in the development and claim that it was better before.

As customers, we are more well-prepared than ever before and compare the alternatives easily. We have a good idea of what we should be able to get and we are therefore more demanding and have higher expectations than before. At the same time, we decide late even when it comes to larger decisions. We expect a close to immediate and perfect delivery which preferably should exceed our expectations. Yet even if we are satisfied, we do not stay loyal. And if we are not satisfied, we spread our dissatisfaction efficiently to other customers.

In many ways, development is driven by all of us. Many of us are aware of how demanding our own customers are, but we forget how we ourselves Š T H E AU T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

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Anders Ljungberg (right) has a PhD in process orientation from the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University.

He has founded and manages the consulting company Trivector LogiQ AB, which deals with process-based business development in all types of organisations.

Everth Larsson (left) is Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, Department of Engineering Logistics. His work has included teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students, research, and working as a consultant in logistics and business development.

Dare! Win! BUSINESS PROCESS ORIENTATION FOR EVERYONE This book is unique in that it addresses you and all other employees, in spite of the fact that it focuses on process orientation and business development. But this is, in fact, logical since although not everyone is in charge of business development, everyone is affected by it.

Dare! Win! is also unique in its form since it has two complementary parts. On the lefthand pages, you can follow how the restaurant Emma’s Kitchen starts up, struggles and develops into a well-functioning and process-oriented business. On the right-hand pages, we provide comments and delve deeper into the topic for those who are interested in knowing more about business development and process orientation.

Dare! Win! can be used in several different ways: • as inspiration and support for your own understanding of what drives businesses to become more process-oriented and how this can be done • as support for discussing opportunities in your own organisation together with colleagues to create a common visionary goal and propose changes • as concrete support for you and your colleagues to facilitate active participation in the process development of your own organisation or parts of it • to establish important common values in an already process-oriented organisation and together identify how you could make the organisation even better The book’s title – Dare! Win! – merits explanation. Dare means that you and your colleagues should dare to actively participate in, and influence, the development process in your organisation. Change needs to be run from the top as well as the bottom and here you have a key role as a co-creator. Win does not only refer to the profits and success of the business but also how these are both based on, and contribute to, everyone’s motivation, competence and participation. If you want to succeed with process orientation, it is important that everyone is on board.

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