Fail Fast, Fail Cheap and Other Great Ideas for Success in Business

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Find Time to Work ON the Business

Keeping customers happy through regular operations is working IN the business and is important for an organization's survival. However, it's like treading water- you're doing the same things in the same way with no changes on the horizon. Make time every week to work ON the business, preferably with others.

Make sure your time working ON the business is not just update meetings or brainstorming sessions with no outcomes. Write down action items in the form of "Who does What by When" and maintain tension on the topic of outcomes.

Remember, "It’s just conversation until someone writes it down and then does something about it."

Examine all of your activities, forms and approvals. Ask: "Does this approach still make sense? Is there a better/faster/easier way to achieve the same goal?" Try something new - if it doesn't work as expected, then make adjustments and try again.

Why does the department manager have to approve all purchase requisitions for standard items used regularly in the department? Can we create an "EZ-Pass" lane for commonly repurchased items to save time? Or, set up an office replenishment system for those items?

Use Video for Training and Better Communication

You have a 4K powerhouse in your pocket that is great for communicating EXACTLY what something looks or sounds like. Using it saves a LOT of time if you can take a take a picture of an error message screen or show the problem with a machine and what it sounds like. If you learn to edit video on your phone, your capabilities are that much stronger. Check out this article on how to record clips people want to watch

Take screenshots using the "Win+S+Shift" key combination for Windows (Command+Shift+4 for Mac) to show a job screen in ERP and the problem with the entry. It's much easier than trying to describe a problem, "... when I go to the bottom of the screen and then click the 'More Info' button...." For more innovative ways to use the Windows Key, check out my 5 minute video here.

Private Data Prevention

"Private data" is what people maintain in spreadsheets located only on their own desktop. When that person is out of the office then the data is inaccessible, which is unacceptable.

Avoid private spreadsheets and information.? Standardize file names and folder structures on the network. "Data for Manny" doesn't tell us much about the contents.

"Q3 Variance Report for Milling" lets us know what to expect if we open the file, at least while Q3 is still relevant. Adding a date format like "20240605" to the front or the back of the filename lets us see the latest file version easily.

I practice what I call "Keyword Stuffing" when naming files. I'll name a working file something like, "The Hot Wheels Classroom Exercise Workbook and Quick Start Guide 20240807." This way if I have to search my folders for this file it's easier to find.

Fail Fast, Fail Cheap

Of course nobody wants to fail. However, if you are going to fail, then why spend a lot of time and money finding out? How can you trial the new method before committing to it?

10 minutes of trialing a new method beats 10 hours of planning meetings in terms of learning what works and what does not

Identify the tricky part of your process and test the feasibility of your ideas. Make adjustments to the plan and retest your assumptions.

On Theory vs Practice

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice we often find a huge difference between the two.

Practice a little 'fail fast-fail cheap' as insurance to make sure you didn't overlook anything in your planning. Try the new way as much as possible and anticipate issues before they affect you.

Thanks to Rosa Melton for her assistance with this article.

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For more content, subscribe to our newsletter, "Lean Where You Least Expect It" today!

Learn how we build practitioners with our hands-on coaching approach. Check out the CICS advantage today!

Join the conversation on August 29 at noon CDT and learn how other practitioners are using The Red Bead Experiment and other LSS classroom kits for learning. This free online webinar event is open to all.

Registration link for the Red Bead Webinar: https://calendar.app.google/cGxjW72HeXXdrHN883

Visit the CICS LSS learning kits webstore to browse the coaching services we offer. See why our products, like Magic Ball or Red Bead and Blue Bead Experiment Kits are "Designed by Trainers for Trainers."