Lean Service Management Resolutions For 2017

Optimizing Processes and Services for Easier, Better, Faster, Cheaper! For me personally, the holiday season is always one of reflection on endings as well as new beginnings. It is the nature of life and the foundation of learning that we need to take time to pause, reflect and acknowledge that each year brings blessings and challenges, anxiety but also hope for the future. For many reading this article, I am sure that 2016 was a year filled with both of these extremes as we collectively observed major changes on a global, professional and personal scale. However, change is the nature of life and without it humanity would lose its competitive edge and desire to improve. As IT professionals, we are certainly seeing a change in the wind when it comes to the language we use and the priorities we are currently focused on. As an analyst, writer and speaker focused on topics such as IT Governance, Service Management and Continual Improvement, I have noticed a dramatic shift in the language we use to describe current and near-term objectives. Just a few years ago, the words you heard in meetings, at conferences and webinars were all focused on delivering stability, reducing risk, increasing maturity and ensuring compliance. While these words remain important, our language has shifted dramatically to focus on words such as speed, agility, velocity, flow, and fit-for-purpose. Reflecting on this dramatic shift in what we are paying attention to, it is not too difficult to determine the source of this change in focus. In summary, there are many contributing factors such as:

  • Increasing rate of business demand for IT Services
  • Growing complexity of our value systems and partner networks
  • Consumer driven expectations for on-demand, streaming and instant on
  • Reduction of human resources to deliver services
  • Inability of our current processes to keep pace or scale
  • The increased pressure of technical debt ignored for so long
  • The drive to virtualize infrastructure and network assets to increase automation
  • The growing frustration of our business customers related to our rate of delivery
  • To name just a few…

All of these items amount to what we can list on the stress and anxiety side of the scale. So where is the hope for the future? Lean Service Management The good news is that there is a growing recognition that, “What has got us this far will not take us further!” Companies, leaders and individuals are all beginning to recognize that it is time to simplify, standardize, modernize, accelerate and automate. In essence, we need to “Lean” out the way we get things done, address the complexity of process, architectures and organizational structures. In short, we need to get more high value work done faster in shorter iterations by reducing waste, improving flow and doing less!

We simply have no choice in the matter as pointed out by Jack Walsh in his quote, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” In reaction to this new reality, IT organizations are rapidly embracing the concepts of Lean, Agile and DevOps to simplify and accelerate IT Management practices such as Service Management, Project Management and Software Development. The goal being to update and accelerate the practices of the IT value chain of Plan-Build-Run to address the very real need for Better, Faster, Cheaper! Rather than think of these models and concepts as separate, it is critical to understand how each works together and collectively deliver improved business value.

At Pink Elephant, we have coined the term Lean Service Management to refer to the integrated collection and application of Lean, Agile, DevOps and IT Service Management (ITSM). To focus on only one element without understanding the relationship of each will lead you to further complexity and increased silo behavior, taking your organization further from the goal of accelerated value delivery.

So with this context in mind and looking to the bright future of 2017, my wish is that as an industry we make the following resolutions!

  1. Learn & Apply Lean Practices To IT Processes - It’s time to take a hard look at your existing processes for Service Management, Software development and Project Management with a focus on simplicity, removing waste and increasing speed. Lean and Agile principles teach how to be faster, cheaper, better!

  2. Embrace Lean Service Management Gain an understanding of how Lean, Agile, DevOps and ITSM relate and how they are more effective collectively. Increase your professional skills in these areas by considering training, conferences and webinars on how to integrate these practices for maximum effect.

  3. Establish Structures, Roles & Cross-Functional Teams Which Enable High Velocity Collaboration - Establish service and market-oriented cross-functional roles and teams who own the full lifecycle of a service including responsibility for ongoing support and improvement.

  4. Strengthen/Upgrade Your Leadership & Organizational Change Management Skills - Agile and DevOps teams require leadership skills, which enable and facilitate high performance teams. Learn what it really takes to be a highly effective Lean leader to collaborate, improve personal accountability and establish a continual improvement mindset.

  5. Attend Pink17 In February - Kick-start and fast track your personal journey of understanding and application of Lean Service Management principles by attending an event uniquely designed to give you maximum exposure to build on the knowledge you already have and increase the value of your organization’s investment in ITSM processes and tools.

The future is always uncertain but the trends are clear, for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear. Join Pink Elephant and I, by acknowledging these changes by boldly embracing Lean Service Management principles!

Troy’s Thoughts What Are Yours? ”There are four purposes of improvement: easier, better, faster and cheaper. These four goals appear in the order of priority.” ~Shigeo Shingo

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