Worry about Security in Cloud?

A Thursday podcast this week is with Thomas Koulopoulos, author of Cloud Surfing: A New Way to Think About Risk, Innovation, Scale and Success (Social Century). Tom is an engaging speaker, (you can find some samples at http://tkspeaks.com), and you will find the podcast very entertaining. He left me thinking about the cloud and the possibilities in a totally different way. It’s not about technology. It’s about how we collaborate, work, influence and experience the world!

Joe: How does the cloud address security? Is it just as comfortable to have it out there somewhere as it is on your own server?

Tom: Well, the first thing that we should talk about, because it's really important, is the perception around security. Let's write that down. One of the concern's people have is, when my information moves from my local hard disk, or from my local server that's housed somewhere where I can lock it up, whether it be in my home or in my office or in some facility, there is this sense that only I control access to it. That's just not true.

If you look at what's happened recently with the alleged hacking of Iranian nuclear-power facilities that are generating potentially material for nuclear weapons, those were devices that were not hooked up to the Internet, by the way. Yet, supposedly, now we don't know this for a fact. From what we've been told, the US government was able to hack into those machines and create some enormous damage to the centrifuges that actually create the nuclear material.

All this happened without anyone being aware until the centrifuges spun out of control. We have this sense that, because we have locked it up, it's not on the Internet; it's not attached to the cloud; it's safe. That's just not the case. Any system can be hacked. Security is a fundamental challenge in any computer‑based system.

I'll give you another example. At Los Angeles International Airport, which I often fly in and out of, in a single week, there are over 1,000 laptops that are lost, stolen or misplaced. That's an astronomical number. I can't get my mind around that, over 1000. It's actually 1200 at last count. Where's the security there? There is none.

As we move to the cloud, we actually create a high level of security and here's why. This is the part that most folks don't often understand. The reason the cloud has the potential to be more secure is because the cloud is constantly on the offensive, constantly looking for patterns and trends that indicate that someone is hacking it or attempting to hack it.

You've got a tremendous ability, because of the resources being applied to the cloud, to be more protective and more diligent around intruders and possible corruption of data than you ever would have on your personal computer or as a small business, what you would be able to bring to bear on that problem would be so small in comparison.

Half of all small businesses don't even back up their local hard drives. Again, where's the security? If the hard drive crashes or a server crashes, where's that information? Half of all businesses don't even back up what they have today. We've got to be very careful here because we can't hold the cloud to some arbitrary 100 percent secure standard, because that standard does not exist.

What does exist in the cloud that is a much more sophisticated ability to constantly be on the watch for security threats. That to me is what we should be talking about. How do we invest in that security in such a way that all of us, small businesses, individuals, large businesses; nations have the ability to protect what needs to be protected? That only happens through a concerted, coordinated effort, which is what you have in the cloud.

Related Information:
Process Control Thoughts from the Poppendiecks
Uncommon Thoughts about Service
Time Based Thinking limits Lean Sales and Marketing
Why is ‘x’ the unknown?

Is the first Lean Step in Sales and Marketing; Standard Work?

Many Lean Consultants or internal Lean Champions deal with the supply side of the equation. Sales and Marketing work on the demand side. So, you have to find common ground to introduce Lean. I think the first step is developing a consensus on Standard Work. It will meet resistance, but it is the one thing that will can have a significant impact.almost immediately. I am not talking about developing call scripts, checklist, etc. I am talking about characterizing how we do things or in other words, provide clarity. At that point, best practices will surface and a few bad ones will be obvious even to the naysayers.

Many people will want to jump into Lean Practices of Value Stream Mapping, Process Mapping and even Customer Journey Mapping as the first step, start improving a process. I think that is too cumbersome. If there is something easy to do and that has a high payoff by all means do, My First PDCA for Sales and Marketing. However, make sure you take that project outside of your Whirlwind, see Standard Work as your Whirlwind–Manage it!.

Taiichi Ohno: "Without a Standard there can be no Kaizen."

Dr. Balle: "Lean is not a revolution; it is solve one thing and prove one thing."

At a higher level, and in workshops, I use the Business Model Canvas developed by Alex Osterwalder and discussed in his book, Business Model Generation. This platform is used in many circles for Business Model Innovation, but I have found it to be challenging for many companies to document their current process using it. The nine blocks that make up this canvas provides the organization the necessary structure needed. It provides a one page document that highlights the entire Value Stream of your Sales and Marketing Process. You can find more about this in past blogs:

Do You Know the Right Job For Your Products?

What’s new in Business Model Generation? Customer Value Canvas and more

Steve Blank on the Lean Startup at Ann Arbor

Join the conversation at the Lean Marketing Lab.

Lean Service Design Trilogy

What is the Lean Service Design Trilogy?  Wikipedia defines a trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. Lean, Service and Design are certainly works of their own and separate fields of practice. However, when connected, they can be extraordinarily powerful but more importantly simple to understand and implement. In the post, The Marriage in Lean Service Design, I discuss my thoughts of the three disciplines together. I also encourage viewing the introduction presentation a the top of the page. 

I have introduced an eLearning program, Lean Service Design Trilogy that is much different than the  Lean Service Design Workshop.  The Lean Service Design Workshop is part of the Lean Marketing Lab (you must be a member) and is not an eLearning program, rather a 90 day social learning program with live chat option and discussion available.

The Lean Service Design Trilogy program is outlined below.

Program Outline:

1. Week 1: The 5 Lean Principles are discussed not in your typical Lean point of view of reducing waste. We view this as knowledge building exercise with continuous improvement through iterative cycles of learning.
2. Week 2: Services are discussed in the concepts of gaps and how to recognize, measure and improve them as part of everyday work.
3. Week 3: How do you innovative within the confines of every day work? Design Thinking concepts are introduced and blended with the other components.
4. Week 4: Team Engagement and empowering people to put these concepts into practice. You’re the teacher now. How can you engage, implement and spread these ideas? 

Time is spent on application and ways to apply Lean tools in a new context. We will not be attempting to teach you individual tools rather expose you to the use of tools through SDCA, PDCA, and EDCA and give you resources to dig deeper into a tool if needed. If you are not familiar with Lean as a discipline, I encourage membership in the Lean Marketing Lab to expose you to additional sources of information that you may need. If you are looking at how to apply Lean directly to Services or Design this is not the course for you. There are many excellent programs available. I will gladly recommend one for you. This is a course that is highly influenced by Service Design Thinking and Lean as the business process. We will use the Lean methods of SDCA, PDCA and EDCA as they relate to each discipline and the path between Service through SD-Logic (The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing) to Design.

Sign up Now for Lean Service Design Trilogy

How will you measure the success? Dr. James Womack (Jim is not an endorser of this program), originator of Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together and founder of the Lean Enterprise sums it up very well in this short clip.

Sign up Now for Lean Service Design Trilogy. We encourage membership in the Lean Marketing Lab to expose you to additional sources of information but it is not required. Program starts on the following Monday after sign-up. If you sign up on weekend, program will start Monday of the following week (7 days later). Introductory workshop price is $149. Training is immediately applicable to your business.

Related Information: 90 Day Program: Lean Service Design Workshop

Using Desired Effects to find Root Cause

Since being introduced to Appreciative Inquiry by Ankit Patel principal partner with The Lean Way Consulting, I have used it quite extensively. Starting with visioning positive outcomes and working backwards to find a way to achieve these many times uncovers root causes of existing problems. I find conflicting viewpoints of this process with many Lean and Six Sigma practitioners but I could safely say the majority are very skeptical.

In a recent podcast with Matt Wrye, Developing a Learning A3 I uncovered that he was a a certified Shainin Red X Journeyman. If you are not familiar with Shainan, don’t feel alone.  Shainin is probably one of the least known structured problem solving methodology. It has always intrigued me because of its approach of focusing on the Effect to find the Cause (Y to X) versus the traditional X to Y. The traditional way of problem solving (X to Y) list potential causes or variables (Xs or CTQs) through brainstorming and engineering judgment then test to see if the Xs have an effect on the Y. 

From Wikipedia:

Dorian Shainin's development of the “Red X” concept originated from his association with Joseph Juran. In the 1940s Juran coined and popularized the notion of “the vital few and trivial many,” also known as “The Pareto Principle. Shainin recognized that the Pareto principle could be applied effectively to the solving of variation problems. Shainin concluded that, amongst the thousands of variables that could cause a change in the value of an output, one cause-effect relationship had to be stronger than the others. Shainin called this primary cause the “Big Red X”.

Shainin asserted that his application of statistical methods was more cost-effective and simpler than Taguchi methods. In order to determine the "Red X," Shainin would swap pairs of parts between functional and faulty equipment until the one part responsible for the failure is discovered. Shainin would claim that he could often find the primary defective part within a dozen paired swaps.

Shainin's policy of "talking to the parts" was the primary distinguishing factor that set his methods apart from Taguchi's. In classical or Taguchi DOE (Design of Experiments), engineers would brainstorm to form hypotheses regarding possible causes of a problem. Shainin's methods postpone this theoretical step, requiring first the diagnosis of causes via one or more of four clue generation techniques designed to determine, through the empirical testing of the actual parts in question, the root cause, or "Red X".

Matt offered me a brief overview of Shainin in this interview;

 

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here  or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

Matt Wrye can be found at his blog Beyond Lean.

I find the Shainin approach very closely resembling an Appreciative Inquiry approach. However, it is backed with a much stronger statistical analysis that may be better suited for some. Shainin’s approach offers the bridge needed in the rapid changing world we live in. Shainin's policy of "talking to the parts” could be the statistical alternative needed for Lean Sales and Marketing. “playing in the customer’s playground.”

P.S. In Shainin DOE, it is said: “We talk to the parts. The parts and process are smarter than the engineers.” In Lean Sales and Marketing via SD-Logic (The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing by Stephen Vargo and Robert Lusch); we must co-create value with a customer through use. There is no value from our product or service till they are used.

Related Information:
The Starting Point for Lean Sales and Marketing
Lean Marketers concentrate on SOAR vs. SWOT
If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts!
Root Cause Analysis of Success

The Show Business side of Service Design

Business901 podcast guest, Adam St. John (aka Adam Lawrence) of Work-Play-Experience discusses the theatrical aspect of service design and how theater can play a vital role in developing your customer experience. Adam is a professional comedian, business consultant and writer with a background in psychology and the automotive industry. For years he has been using expertise gained in the world of theatre and film to help companies influence their customers.

An excerpt from the podcast:

Joe:  Theater seems to be the convenient analogy. Is there a deeper relationship between service design and theater?

Adam:  Very much. I always say it's not a metaphor, it's the same thing. I really do fervently believe that. That's my first point, again, really with the comedy. Let's widen up comedy and talk about all kinds of show business whether it's theater or film or music or dance or any of these things. What are they all about? They're all about setting up a process, if you like, or a set of stimuli or a story, whatever you want to call it, setting up a sequence of events which influences somebody's emotion and makes them feel the way you hope they will feel. It always interacts with their own experience, of course, but you're trying to guide them along a certain emotional path. I think service design is the same thing. The experience end of it is a very clear parallel. What do I see, what do I feel, how is it presented to me? That's very clear.

You've got to understand, also, theater is not just performance. Theater is a development tool. Theater is a tool which you can use to model any kind of human interaction very, very quickly, very, very cheaply, and actually quite effectively. It's not just the performance side of theater which interests us; in fact in our work we hardly ever use performance techniques.

What we use are rehearsal techniques which is how a theater goes out there and uses the resources it has on a limited time frame asks itself a question. We have a process here. It's a play in this case but it could be a service design, of course. It says how might this be, how might this turn out in the end, and looks at all the options of doing that in a very fast, very iterative, very full bodied ‑‑ they use their whole body, you don't sit down and think and rehearse, you get up and do.

That brings in much bigger emotional level as well. I think that really is a very big overlap there. We took these tools out of theater, like the rehearsal and other things we can talk about, and said let's apply these to business processes. How can we rehearse a business process?

I just want to point out there rehearsal is not practicing something but it's always the same. Rehearsal, again, is developmental, how might it be. Then you start getting these really, really great insights into the emotionality of things and also the options that you have open to you.

Joe:  Are we scripting everything?

Adam:  That's a very good question because absolutely, emphatically maybe. It depends what you mean by script. I never believe in giving somebody words they have to say. As an actor, of course, I get that all the time. I have a job as acting still and then I get precise words I have to say, but it's always up to me to interpret those. I think in a service environment customers have a very, very good nose for anything which is inauthentic, anything which is not your own words in a very simple level. We believe not in scripting a process down to the word but in exploring the ways it might be, maybe setting up a palette of options that somebody in a front line situation could use with this service and then encouraging them and helping them, again through a rehearsal process, to find their own way to make it authentically theirs and bring it to life.

There's a tension in many people's lives between show business and authenticity because a lot of people think show business is fake. They think it's about a façade, about being sleek, about pretending to do something. That's not a good understanding of actually what show business is.

I love Anthony Hopkins. Sir Anthony Hopkins, one of my favorite actors. When Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lector if he were pretending it wouldn't be scary. The reason it's scary is because he shows part of himself, something that's inside all of us, to make that role possible.

Theater is really not about pretending to be something. It's about choosing which aspect of you to show. It's actually about getting better at showing who you really are and that, I think, is something service design can really use, that point of what values do we have here? How can we show those values in a controlled, conscious way to make a rock and roll experience for our customer?

Related Information:
Gamestorming for Service Design
Service Design via a Design Thinker ebook
Do you co-create value with your Customer?
A Service Design Thinking Primer

Lean Service Design Trilogy Introduction

This is a 35 minute presentation on the principles that the trilogy is based on. Lean Service Design Trilogy eLearning course is highly influenced by Service Design Thinking and Lean as the business process. We will use the Lean methods of SDCA, PDCA and EDCA as they relate to each discipline and the path between Service through SD-Logic (The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing) to Design.

Sign up Now for Lean Service Design Trilogy

This course is ideally suited for…

• Product Managers
• Value Stream Managers
• Sales and Marketing
• Small Business Owners
• Consultants
• Lean Practitioners
• Design Thinkers
• Architects
• Professional Services
• Service Designers

If you are having trouble making a profit with your services: Sign up Now for Lean Service Design Trilogy

Related Information: Lean Service Design Trilogy

Video credits:
Dan Jones, Lean Enterprise UK
What is Zappos? 
Michael Balle, The Gemba Coach at the Lean Enterprise
Tim Brown, IDEO
This is Service Design Thinking
Janet McColl-Kennedy, University of Queensland
Dr. James Womack of the Lean Enterprise

A Strength Based approach to Lean and Six Sigma

Using various strength-based approaches such as Appreciative Inquiry, David Shaked of Almond-Insight has created a radically different way to approach Lean Six Sigma. He calls this method Strength-Based Lean Six Sigma. David is a Master Black Belt formerly with a large global corporation (Johnson & Johnson) and has specific experience in transactional processes such as sales, marketing, finance, order fulfillment, customer services, distribution, demand forecasting.

Building on a recent podcast, Mastering Positive Change with Sarah Lewis, David and I take that conversation into Lean and Six Sigma thinking. 

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here  or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

Mobile Version of Business901 Podcast

I have blogged recently, An Appreciative look at the Seven Signs of Value (Waste), about some of David’s work and a workshop in Toronto the week of June 18th that  he will be conducting. 

Related Information:
Using Desired Effects to find Root Cause
The Starting Point for Lean Sales and Marketing
Lean Marketers concentrate on SOAR vs. SWOT
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving

Designing your Training

Gamification continues to be a hot subject. Gartner Group predicts Gamification will be a key trend that every CIO, IT planner and Enterprise Architect must be aware of as it relates to business. I think it goes deeper than that. A primer on Gaming with a Mindmap can be found at the Core Concepts of Gamification.

The Business901 podcast in July will center on training to include Simulations, Virtual Games, E-Learning, Gamification and a new area that is just starting to creep into our vocabulary, Transmedia Storytelling. I did not try to dissect and arrive at conclusive evidence. I followed the same approach that I have learned in Service Design; explore the possibilities first.

Does training have to be fun? Does it have to be theatrical? Can your training be a Transmedia Experience? Why not, let’s see what the experts say. 

1st Week (July 8th): I feel Service Design principles are the best way to capture, create and implement an outstanding customer experience. But, we all need Business Case for doing this, right? I start out the series with An Economist who practices Service Design, Sylvain Cottong and follow up  with Vincenzo Di Maria, who will be running the Service Design Summer Course the first two weeks of August this year.

2nd Week (July 15th): We start with professor, author and practitioner, Karl Kapp whose latest book is The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. We finish the week with Paul Myerson discussing his Lean Supply Chain & Logistics Simulation.

3rd Week (July 22nd): How do you captivate and engage today’s audiences? It’s simple use multiple platforms says award-winning transmedia writer, game designer and author, Andrea Phillips. If you cannot wait for the podcast her new book, A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling provides a fantastic introduction.  Jamie Flinchbaugh, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to Lean hardly needs an introduction on this blog, Jamie and I discuss the role of simulation games with particular attention to the Lean Learning Center’s, The Mouse Trap Experience.

4th Week (July 29th): David Veech of the Institute for Lean Systems joins me to discuss Teamwork and Education Based Lean Transformations. And finally, we discuss Gaming with a professional Gamer, who just returned from DreamHack (world’s largest LAN party) in Jonkoping, Sweden, the world’s largest digital festival.

The new generation learners are growing up with games as part of everyday life. How will this effect training in the future? Are trainers incorporating any “gaming” thoughts in their work? And, what are gamers expecting?  We will discuss these points and many more through the podcast, articles, videos, guest posts, and a few blog posts of my own. At the end, we may even draw some new insights on training. However, lets enjoy the ride for the moment. 

P.S. The latest Touchpoint 4#1 - Eat, Sleep, Play from the Service Design Network has some interesting articles surrounding services that aim to fulfill the basic human needs of eating, sleeping and playing.

An Uncommon Way of thinking about Service Design

Service Design Thinking: Anne Morriss, the best‑selling co‑author of Uncommon Service says,

We live in a world where lots of organizations want to deliver great service. We work with managers all the time, who are committed to it. Customers, as we know, are hungry for it, and yet, our service experiences are still overwhelmingly negative. In pursuing this question, what became clear is that past excellence is not necessarily intuitive. It's not about trying harder, deciding the customer is always right. It's more about making careful design choices and very deliberate trade‑offs. There are some surprising rules and pitfalls along the way. We wanted to get some of those insights out in the world because we think, basically, the world is ready for it.

This is an excerpt from the Business901 podcast with Anne. We discuss the four universal truths outlined in the book for delivering uncommon service:

1. You can’t be good at everything.
2. Someone has to pay for it.
3. It’s not your employees’ fault.
4. You must manage your customers

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here  or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

The book’s website is an excellent resource and I encourage you to take the survey and utilize the Service Design Tool located there. This is a very challenging perspective for most of us. However, I think you will find the information to be well researched and presented in a compelling fashion.

Related Information:
The Lean Business Practices of a Deli
Has Lean Thinking fallen short on the Demand Side?
Will someone pay for Intangible Value?
In love with your products more than your customers?

The Starting Point for Lean Sales and Marketing

My best approach has been to simply start with developing a culture of PDCA and teamwork through a mini - Hoshin Kanri type plan or the use of the The 4 Disciplines of Execution. I have included a step by step guide called, My First PDCA Cycle. This guide can  be used by one leader with multiple teams, multiple leaders with their own teams, etc. Following 4DExectution strategies, you want this effort to encompass only around 10% of anyone’s time. The remaining 90% should be spent on doing what they normally do. However, people must be held accountable for this 10% and it cannot be only done when there is time. A recent blog post describes the methodology,  4 Disciplines of Execution – Lean Simplified 

I caution you not to jump into the fray with immediate thoughts of waste reduction, data collections efforts and rigid procedures such as scripts and standard work. You first must bridge the gap between operations (supply side thinking) to the sales and marketing side (demand side thinking). It is not the same.

Start with an isolated segment as a prototype. That segment can be a particular value stream, a geographic area or one specific goal (this may include to many people) that has been decided on from your annual Hoshin. The successful ingredient in this equation is that we address specifically one or two goals that can be addressed in the next 90 to 120 days. I recommend not addressing problems but rather aspirations; using the Appreciative Inquiry method of Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. When you are dealing with Sales and Marketing, it is important not to be problem solving initially and trying to achieve buy-in but rather taking a positive spin and looking at how to stretch goals and/or increase market share or revenue. This is the language of Sales and Marketing.

Are you ready  to get your Sales and Marketing team off and running?  

Related Information:
The Uniqueness of Hoshin Kanri
Mastering Positive Change eBook
Lean Marketers concentrate on SOAR vs. SWOT
When Standard Work and Customer Focus come together

Individual Lean Transcription

In the Business901 podcast Individual Lean, the Root Cause of Success?, Dan Markovitz, founder and owner of Time Back Management discussed applying the principle of Lean to everyday life. These principles are the basis for his new book, A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance.

This is a transcription of the podcast.

More about Dan: TimeBack Management is a consultancy specializing in improving individual and organizational performance through the application of lean concepts. He’s a faculty member of the Lean Enterprise Institute, and teaches classes at the Ohio State University’s Fisher School of Business.

Related Information:
Successful Lean teams are iTeams
Kaizen is Always Individual
4 Disciplines of Execution – Lean Simplified
Jim Benson’s Personal Kanban

Lean Sales and Marketing Workshop

Having Lean in your Sales and Marketing toolbox is the most sustainable advantage that you can have in the marketplace. This 90-day program will create a continuous improvement program for your sales and marketing. The foundational work is in Lean, but you will find a flavor of Service Design, Appreciative Inquiry and Design Thinking intertwined. This is a systems based approach to sales and marketing.

How does it work? Business901 will introduce Lean Marketing Concepts in a rather unique way. Five times a week, Monday through Friday, you will be sent a link to view a video, a presentation, interactive lesson, workbook sheets, or a pre-recorded webinar. There will be a discussion group with a live chat option often available (not 24/7). Review weeks will include subjects that are voted on by participants for further discussion.

The program is divided into three different tracts to choose from:

1. Lean Champions: the person/group that supports leads various initiatives (improvement efforts) and provides expertise in Lean principles. We challenge the thoughts of waste reduction, data collection efforts and rigid procedures such as scripts and standard work. Rather, we develop an understanding that we must bridge the gap between operations (supply side thinking) to the sales and marketing side (demand side thinking).
2. Sales and Marketing: the person/group that works in this department or area, many times a Lean organization that wants to implement Lean in this area. We clarify the value that Lean can apply to the demand side of the business. Lean allows you to understand the big picture concepts (EDCA) but also the ability to drill down into very specific areas (PDCA) and to create a repeatable process (SDCA).
3. Lean Consultant: the person will introduce and train other companies in Lean Sales and Marketing Process. We introduce Lean Sales and Marketing concepts, how to apply them within your own organization and others, and how to include them to extend your services.

• Week 1 Lean Sales and Marketing Introduction.
• Week 2 Vision
• Week 3 Customer Value
• Week 4 Identify Value
• Week 5 Map Value Stream
• Week 6 Review Week
• Week 7 Flow
• Week 8 Pull
• Week 9 Engagement
• Week 10 A3 Communication
• Week 11 Putting into Practice
• Week 12 Review Week

This is not another system approach but rather an interactive action orientated program that organizes and develops your marketing efforts into a customer-driven process. We will literally build a Lean Marketing House for a particular segment or value stream; walking you through theory and into practice. The result is a continuous improvement process to keep your marketing ahead of the competition.

You must be a member of the Lean Marketing Lab to participate.

Program starts on the following Monday after sign-up. If you sign up on weekend, program will start Monday of the following week (7 days later). Join the Lean Marketing Lab and receive immediate access to the Marketing with Lean Book Series and membership to the Lab for the remainder of the year. The workshop price is an additional $299. That is just over $3.00 a day for training that is not available anywhere else in the world! The training is immediately applicable to your business. 

You must be a member of the Lean Marketing Lab to participate.

Reason you should do this: How many companies are systematically applying Continuous Improvement to their sales and marketing process?