ERP Insanity
Ken Cowman
Management Educator & Coach / Continuous Improvement Advocate / ERP & BPM Selection & Implementation Leader / Veteran's Charity Executive
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” – attributed to Albert Einstein.
I’m certainly not one to argue with a genius, but when it comes to ERP implementations I think there is some paraphrasing that could be used. For instance, if the organization has not ensured that the project personnel (including the project manager and executive sponsor) have sufficient education and experience to work on the project, then it could be that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing with the same people (yours and / or your serve providers) over and over again, but expecting different results.”
Or, you have good people but the process of implementation is in error. Then it could be that “The definition of insanity is not changing your implementation process but expecting different results.”
Of course, if you have the wrong people and your implementation process is not valid, then the phase might be “The definition of insanity is not stopping and resetting the project, but expecting different results.”
After four decades of managing these projects, it amazes me that organizations will continue trying to fix a project that is completely off track without stopping and doing a root cause analysis. In one recent situation, the client’s project manager continued to take the ‘cheapest’ option in order to load the database even after that process had failed to deliver the expected results twice previously. Result: Blown budget and three months late in delivery. In another situation, the senior management didn’t want to be perceived as being out of control of the project. For some reason, they thought that the employees hadn’t already figured that out.
Sometimes, in order to find the correct path to take, you need to step back from the trees to see the entire forest.
Summary
If your ERP implementation is not tracking on time or on budget, or if your employees are showing signs of stress with the project, it’s time to bring in a third party to provide an objective assessment of all of the factors. This will lead you to understanding the changes that will need to be made in order to get yourself back on track and have a successful result.
IT Advisor at Brightwork Research
6 年The quality of people problem goes both ways. Here's an easily preventable reason why so many projects fail. This has got to be the lowest certification standard I have ever seen. This “consultant” got 2 out of every 3 questions wrong in asset accounting configuration and he passed! He got half the answers wrong in the basics of HANA, S/4HANA, and Fiori and he still passed! When people score so poorly, they should NOT pass.? Insanity can also be "vendors who use certifications as a revenue stream instead of quality control".
Management Educator & Coach / Continuous Improvement Advocate / ERP & BPM Selection & Implementation Leader / Veteran's Charity Executive
6 年Thanks for the comments, Sam and Eduardo.? Some companies do welcome the assistance...typically because senior management is getting hammered by the CEO or Board of Directors.? Others just keep their head down and never see what failure will really cost them.?? The really scary ones are those that just 'go live with what we've got'.? Spreadsheets multiply like rabbits and the cost of paper escalates. The frustrating part for me is that an organization cannot be Lean if the people executing the business processes don't have the information they need in order to take the right action to produce a quality result.? The faster they implement the ERP system and ensure that it's in properly, the faster the organization can focus on using that data to reduce waste.
GM/Strategic Change Consulting Practice Lead at The Advantage Group, Inc.
6 年Hi Ken. Good to hear from you. Happy New Year. Thinking about it is good way to start 2019. Specially when vast majority of ERP platforms are wrongly deployed and unsustainable. Certainly companies will welcome someone who can help them deploy ERP rightly and sustainably to maximize ERP utilization, ROI and Reduce TCO Thank you for sharing
Taking a break from Linkedin; but I'm an ERP observer, blogger and author. Please contact me if you think that I might have knowledge that is useful to you.
6 年Good advice again, Ken Cowman. And perhaps even worse than failure are the companies that limp along for years with inferior implementations when a ha'porth of tar would fix the problem.