USM and Management System Success

The evolving landscape of social capital, social networking, and AI presents both challenges and opportunities for stable management systems[i]. The success of a management system depends on a delicate balance between process discipline and human engineering.

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of social capital, as I blogged about in February of 2007:

“When people lack connection to others, they are unable to test the veracity of their own views, whether in the give or take of casual conversation or in more formal deliberation. Without such an opportunity, people are more likely to be swayed by their worse impulses….” - Robert Putnam (2000) Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community, New York: Simon and Schuster: 288-290

And while I made statements like the one below at that time, it’s clear now that only social capital or only social circuitry[ii] will not carry the day:

“It’s the social networks that really make things happen in most companies, not those dusty old policies and procedures. It is the network of people-to-people commitments that are often what make things go (or not go).” -?????? Implementing a CMDB is Like Blogging Alone: Why Products & Process won’t be enough to reconnect with the business, MyServiceMonitor, Feb 2007

Of course, you need both social capital[iii] and social circuitry. In fact, each one contributes to the other.

What’s most interesting (and challenging!) is the age[iv] we live in. An age of continued dwindling social capital, a legacy of transactional leadership[v], rapid proliferation of social networking, and the emergence of artificial intelligence.

A savage journey if ever there was one...

Modern Management Challenges

Erosion of social capital can lead to a breakdown in interpersonal relationships and trust within an organization. Effective management relies on a foundation of trust and cooperation among team members. When social capital is eroded, communication may suffer, and employees may become less engaged and less likely to collaborate effectively.

While social networking can enhance communication and collaboration, it can also introduce challenges. Information can spread rapidly, sometimes leading to misinformation or misinterpretation. Additionally, the blurring of lines between personal and professional communication on social platforms can complicate workplace dynamics.

AI can automate routine tasks, streamline processes, and provide valuable insights through data analysis. While this can improve efficiency, it may also lead to job displacement and require the reevaluation of traditional management roles. Managers need to adapt to working alongside AI systems and leverage technology to enhance decision-making rather than being replaced by it.

Social circuitry, through the cultivation of social capital, acts as the connective tissue that binds together the formal structures of processes with the dynamic and adaptive capabilities of the human workforce.

I’m more convinced than ever that the USM method fits perfectly into these conditions and will be providing a series of videos to help explain:

• ~20 min: Where we are now (and how we got here) from a service management and USM perspective. Talks about the nature of the improvement beast, processes versus services, USM’s long journey, digital disruption, thinking differently and maturity in the age of the customer.
• ?~16 min: What EXACTLY are Services? Services as supported facilities, the customer-provider interaction model, Understanding USM’s facility and JTBD, specifying services with USM, the forest and the (service) trees and how a great CX becomes routine
• ~16 min: The anatomy of a service provider Service providers as systems, systems thinking and service management, service provider routines – understanding the process river, processes and practices, standardization & localization, USM profiles, USM and automation
• ~17 min: The USM process model Getting out of the MUDA, management systems and standardization, the USM processes, the USM workflows, adapting practices to USM
• ~10 min: USM and governance Governance and management, service management and separation of duties, USM and transformative change
• ~ 5 min: I Continuous improvement with USM, where to get more information

The USM method is a very good compliment to both Open Management and Wiring the Winning Organization and is something I believe more people should really get to understand. It's not just another process framework!

If you’d like to be notified when this self-driven workshop is ready just add a comment below...

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[i] See the related Rolling Uphill posts, Work the Problem and (out of my) Mindful Monday for more on management systems.

[ii] Social circuitry as defined in Wiring the Winning Organization is the overlay of processes, procedures, norms, and routines, the means by which individual efforts are expressed and integrated through collaboration toward a common purpose.

[iii] The work Rob England’s doing at Teal Unicorn around open management ?is worth exploring.

[iv] “It’s no longer simply about ubiquitous computing. Now the real aim is ubiquitous intervention, action, and control. The real power is that now you can modify real-time actions in the real world. ... This phase represents the completion of the new means of behavior modification, a decisive and necessary evolution of the surveillance capitalist “means of production” toward a more complex, iterative, and muscular operational system. It is a critical achievement in the race to guaranteed outcomes.” - The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2019 by Shoshana Zuboff

[v] Transactional leaders (excerpted from Wired the Winning Organization) are “constantly doing cost-benefit analysis... their only relief is to add more resources...”