"Too many organizations have too many people who are too busy solving too many problems that no longer exist!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Have you ever noticed you are surrounded by people who are solving a problem that doesn't need to be solved? Doing work that doesn't need to be done? Following routines that are no longer necessary? A situation where everyone is doing something but no one remembers why?
This often happens to organizations and teams that have lost their sense of purpose, aren't clear on their direction, and have fuzzy goals and objectives. The machine of ingenuity and the engine of innovation that was created for some long past challenge still exists, undertaking the same old functions as before, but lacking a reason for doing so.
You'll know this is happening if you have these common situations:
- overengineering within your product design team: your engineers are busy adding unnecessary features to a product that make it complicated to use, more expensive, or load it down with features that no longer make sense.
- workplace micromanagement: you know, the situation where you've got a manager who insists on overseeing every small task of each employee, even when it's unnecessary, resulting in MED - "massive efficiency destruction"
- redundant or irrelevant policies: over time, the organization has allowed a flood of overly complex procedures and policies to creep into place, all addressing issues that either never happen, are extremely rare, or are covered by other guidelines.
- unnecessary meetings: people are busy scheduling meetings to discuss trivial issues that could be resolved through a quick email or a simple chat, wasting time and resources without any clear benefit or purpose. (You KNOW this happens!)
- an excessive number of customer surveys: people are busy sending out detailed surveys to customers to gather feedback on other minor aspects of their product experience, even when the general satisfaction level is already clear - annoying customers with "survey fatigue"
- technology fixes for problems that don't exist: the organization is busy implementing advanced technological solutions for issues that don’t exist or that could be easily solved with simpler methods. For instance, creating an app to solve a problem that could be handled with a basic checklist or phone call!
There are many other examples of redundant, unnecessary work focused on non-existent problems. Overanalyzing data. Rebranding efforts that involve a perfectly good brand image. Automating tasks that don't need cost-cutting. Forms that are due in duplicate and triplicate and more. An overreliance on legal risk management to try to minimize even the smallest of risks.
Remember my phrase - "Companies that do not yet exist will build products not yet conceived using material not yet invented using methodologies not yet in existence with ideas yet to be imagined."
The corollary is that "companies will undertake work that is entirely unnecessary and redundant, based on policies and procedures that are highly irrelevant, using workforce skills that are out of date or obsolete, to solve problems and issues that no longer exist."
You know it's true!
So stop doing it!
Futurist Jim Carroll has seen organizations undertaking all of these useless procedures and activities. He has never understood how they let it persist.