Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [91]
CORE should be used to build and retain trust. We set realistic expectations, take actions to achieve those expectations, and visibly confirm that we have met or fallen below expectations. Either way, we continue learning. This works from an important principle: The easiest way to regain broken trust is never to lose it in the first place. If you make a habit of setting unrealistic expectations, you will often be disappointed. But even more important, you will build a culture of mistrust.
Before beginning any initiative, think through the realistic expectations that you are going to set with different stakeholders. The expectations should be adequate to address the vision and associated urgency. Communicate them broadly, with a Communication Plan and marketing campaign, so that expectations are not at the mercy of the grapevine. Then, when the initiative is underway, communicate how it is going and why.
Tip: Set realistic expectations and communicate progress frequently.
What is “Done”?
Very often, during the Critical Chain scheduling process, we find that people don’t know what “done” means for certain tasks or projects. Often someone will understand a task in general terms, but be unable to say at what point it should be handed off. That can lead to quality problems when work is handed off before it is ready, or excess time and effort when work continues beyond what is needed. Team members should always try to clarify the meaning of “done.”
During implementation planning, the reverse problem occurs. We create various plans and tools that have implementation work defined as discrete tasks. That may be extremely valuable, but if we are not careful—if we focus too much on things that can be declared “done”—we can lose track of the “level-of-effort” work that needs to be performed steadily into the future, such as:
Communication planning
Measurements of quality and performance
Mentoring for behavioral changes, such as prioritization and reduced multitasking
Transfer of methodology elements to the people doing the work
Process ownership and improvement
These represent work for which it is difficult and often dangerous to declare “done.” Still, we have often seen exactly this occur: people assume that these kinds of activities are discrete tasks. They decide, for example, that implementation planning or measurements are no longer necessary once the implementation seems to be going well. They declare “done” and eventually experience the problems described in Fig. 5-3.
Not all implementation work fits neatly into a project plan. Put another way: If all your implementation work fits neatly into a project plan, you are missing something. This should not be surprising, because the Project Management Institute describes a project as a “temporary endeavor” (2008, 434), and we want an implementation to be an ongoing process.
We can apply this principle immediately to the root causes as we are tempted to convert them to tasks. Do we create a sense of urgency and then declare “done,” or do we continue to communicate and reinforce the vision and urgency? Do we plan how to overcome the initial obstacles, or continue to evaluate new ones? Do we declare “done” for an implementation, or assume that it is part of a process that will never be “done”? We cannot answer these questions by adding tasks to an implementation plan. We need measurements of value and measurements of