This week we look at what can happen when we rigorously plan ahead for problems we could encounter when starting a new project or procedure – and review what happened with something we’ve completed. The idea is to defeat Murphy’s Law – the rule that says if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.
How? By getting out front of the action when planning a project or challenging task or procedure – by imagining the things that could go wrong and developing contingency plans – in advance – rather than waiting until things have gone awry. I (and others) use the term ‘pre-mortem’ to describe this procedure, while the better known term, ‘post-mortem’ describes reviewing what happened afterward.
When we reverse engineer a new task or project before it’s launched we defeat Murphy’s Law – because Murphy doesn’t tend to go where people plan for him. He has too many soft and easy targets to tackle instead. Here’s an example of life when Murphy rules:
The client: A prefabricated home builder.
The problem: The company was plagued with issues around delivering homes to building sites that weren’t ready to receive. Their most recent debacle: One of their flatbed trucks – delivering a home to a remote destination – didn’t have enough room to deliver their load and turn around – and had to back up almost an eighth of a mile, until they found a spot wide enough to drop the load, turn around, and return to the plant.
The blowback: This set up a fire storm. The client was incensed over having to use their pickup truck to make a number of trips to retrieve the delivery – and the company owner threatened to fire everyone involved (again).
The cause: The owner and sales manager blamed “The Clowns in Shipping” for the debacle, and harangued both the production manager and shipper. ‘The Clowns in Shipping’ were blamed for not ensuring that the required truck turnaround radius was communicated and qualified with the customer. And they blamed the production manager for allowing this to happen – again.
My first question: This incident was brought up in my first meeting with the management team, and we used it as raw material to explore the topic of problem-prevention. My first question: “Has this happened before?” “Oh yeah!” someone called out, “Last week a truck got to a site, and there was no one there to receive.” Another chipped in, “Cal got to a building site this morning and there was no electricity” – and other examples followed.
Second Question: Did anyone conduct a post-mortem to reverse engineer these problems and ensure they don’t happen again? In a word, “No.” Recrimination and harangues yes, learning exercises, no. But it’s never too late to turn the opportunity of a problem into the gift of a solution – so away we went and within a few minutes of brainstorming we nailed a list of questions that must be asked and answered before a delivery truck leaves the plant, including…
- Create a site readiness checklist that must be completed and signed before trucks leave the plant.
- To eliminate guesstimating and wishful thinking, tell the customer the exact minimum turning space required and tell them how to physically measure the space.
- Convey this information in writing as well.
- Offer to use a video call to walk them through the actual measuring.
- Alert the customer when their truck is leaving the plant to ensure they will be on site when it arrives.
- Give the customer the name and cell number of the driver.
- Ask for the name and cell number of a back-up person to call in the event that the customer can’t be on site due to an emergency.
- Do pre-emptive maintenance checks prior to trucks leaving on deliveries.
- Ensure that customer has contact information for everyone involved.
- Write a standard operating procedure (SOP) to enshrine these new procedures.
- Hold a brief pre-mortem whenever new issues emerge or can be anticipated.
- Hold a brief post-mortem following each delivery.
Disposition: By acting on these protocols they quickly overturned Murphy’s Law. But I cautioned them to be forever vigilant as Old Murphy is a wily and tenacious opponent who scans continuously in search of people who don’t prepare – or don’t keep up their problem-prevention programs.
Your call to action
Pick a problem, any problem – brand new or old and repeating – and conduct either a pre-mortem if you’re planning something new – or a post-mortem if it has already happened. Key point: A post-mortem alone is too little too late. I repeat, a pre-mortem enables you to get out front and lead the action instead of following along behind. This is effective leadership in action!
A closing note: If you’re planning a dinner party be sure to set a place for Murphy. If you do he’s not likely to show – because you’re just no fun!
See you next week.
Neil
