Cut Down Your Options

A couple of years ago, I was asked to comment on the implementation approach of a large client. They wanted to know why "everything took so long" and, more importantly, what to do about it.

The problem - too many decisions. The answer? Constraints.

After a few conversations with leadership, specialists, project managers and business experts, it was clear that no one really agreed on the root cause. IT thought that the business didn't spend enough time on the projects, the business thought that IT didn't make changes quickly enough, and leadership just knew that stuff needed to happen faster.

So when I brought the players together for a day to work through the feedback, I led the group through an exercise to whiteboard solutions to two problems. As pre-work, I asked the business leaders to bring two real-world problems to the session.

We picked the first problem and the teams worked together to figure out a solution. We did this quickly, but it took three hours.

For the second go around I added one step. After picking the challenge, I asked the group to spend 15 minutes identifying constraints that they could impose on the solution. Simplifying assumptions, budget and timeline limitations, and team size. Remarkably, the second solution was designed in one hour.

When we debriefed, the team reflected on the past couple of years. Their conclusion was that decision-making accounted for over 50% of the time taken to complete projects. These were delays when work was on hold waiting for the right folks to find time in their busy schedules to make the decisions. Too many choices, it turns out, slowed things down dramatically.

Over the next six months, every project included a constraints discussion. Always a workshop, with all the right players in the room for as long as it took.

The result? Limiting their choices improved project delivery by 25%. IT was happy that the business spent enough time ( although it was less time than before), and the business was happy that IT turned around their feedback more quickly ( because they could get on with the job with fewer interludes).

Leveraging Constraints

Think of the last major decision your organization made, did it take too long? If so, ask yourself if considering the constraints would have expedited the process.

Think about a decision you’re working on right now. How could you make this easier by applying some simple constraints?

Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order you copy here . This articleThis article is also available in hardcopy as part of my 10-minute Reflections series of exercises—order volume 1 here and volume 2 here.