A Lesson in Process and Patience

It was my first Christmas Eve as a parent. Among the piles of brightly colored gifts, I was most excited to give my daughter the classic Cozy Coupe – one of those red and yellow plastic cars every kid seems to love. I turned on some holiday jams and lugged that enormous box out of the garage. This shouldn’t take long. It’s just a bunch of big plastic pieces that snap together, right? That’s what I thought until I dumped those “big” plastic pieces all over my living room floor.

The Struggle

Amongst those big plastic ones, there must have been thousands of small pieces too. As I started to sift and organize, I realized one thing was missing… the instructions. There were no instructions! So, I did what any logical, first-time parent would do. Turned up the music (to a reasonable volume with a sleeping kid of course… I’m not crazy), poured a glass of holiday cheer, and got to work. Surely I could figure this out. I’m no stranger to building things. How hard could it be?

So, I began the guessing game. I matched parts by their shape, starting with the wheels, figuring I’d work my way up. As I struggled to snap pieces together, I found they weren’t quite fitting the way they should. I was spending more time prying pieces apart than actually assembling them. It felt like each move forward led to two leaps back. My melodic humming started turning into grunts, growls, and exasperated sighs. After playing this game for what seemed like an eternity, the Cozy Coupe was finally complete. Slightly dented in some spots with a few battle scars, but functional.

Did I get the job done?  YES! Did it take way more time than it should have?  … Also yes! I know what you’re thinking.  Why didn’t I just watch a YouTube video or look for a digital copy of the instructions?  Well, I thought I could handle it and I’m stubborn.

The Lesson

Does that sound familiar? Just because you get the job done doesn’t mean you did your best or there isn’t a better way to do it.  A process, by definition, is a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end. Do you have any processes that you “just handle” because that’s the way you’ve always done it?  You either don’t know a better way or have never had the time to step back and look at the big picture. Maybe you simply don’t have access to the right tools. Those seemingly insignificant details can have a big impact on overall efficiency, employee satisfaction, and customer experience.

In this case, my customer (aka my daughter) was satisfied. She didn’t even know how much I struggled. Heck, she probably didn’t even know what a Cozy Coupe was. But my Christmas spirit was hanging by a thread. What should’ve taken 30 minutes, took hours. What else could I have accomplished if I’d had a better process?

What else could you accomplish if you didn’t have to reenter data for every customer, shuffle through endless mounds of deal jackets or ROs, or spend time tracking down data to make important business decisions?  These processes are your “Cozy Coupe” story.

Instructions for Success

It can be difficult to diagnose how one small function affects the entire process. And even more difficult to understand how to change it. When it comes to technology, tools, and processes, there are a lot of options out there. And choosing the best fit is a big deal. The good news is you don’t have to do it alone or without an instruction manual. When it’s time for you to start sorting through the pieces, learn from my mistakes and leverage the instructions.

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