Are You An Infinite Monkey?

Do you remember tackling Maths problems at school, and the teachers would always say, "Show how you worked it out!" I thought that was a pointless exercise, because if I know the answer, then I know the answer, right? If I don't know the answer, then I'll have to work it out. Showing what I already know is a waste of time. Or is it?

When one of the teachers explained it to me, it made perfect sense. They want to know how you arrived at the answer - the steps you took to get there. It's not so much about having the correct or incorrect answer, but if they can see your workings, they can help fix your process. You can then apply your thinking more effectively to future Maths problems and improve your chances of getting the correct answer.

Those same principles have a much wider application than I originally realised when I was at school. If you can show your workings, when it comes to work, hobbies, relationships, you can solve a lot of your own problems.

Well, that's how it's always been done

Very often in life, as children in school or adults at work, we are told 'what' to do without really knowing the 'why'. That's because the people in charge probably don't really know why. The answer, 'Well, that's how it's always been done', is a particular favourite! As is the case with middle-management, they don't know why you are being asked to do things a certain way, which can be very frustrating for the workers, but it can also make the job of the managers very difficult.

It's easy if you have a fixed set of steps that you must follow every day, which have fixed outcomes; but what if the instructions vary from day to day, with no clear goals or vision? It would be very hard and stressful to work in such a place.

A broken or dysfunctional process produces varied results of poor quality. As with Infinite Monkey Theorem, it is likely that they will produce something of quality at some point, but it will not be by design.

Why rely on such random odds?

When revolutionary new business practices are developed, they are often very intuitive and look like common sense. But that's because they asked 'Why'. Why have things always been done a certain way? Do those practices suit the modern tools or workforce, or are they from a different era?

Bad processes are scary because they're like a tangle of wires. You don't want to change anything because you're afraid it might break!

Continuous Improvement

Processes that have clear reasons behind them are easy to follow. They take into consideration the end goals, the tools available / needed to complete the tasks effectively, the skills of the workforce and expectations of the clients. Good processes are easy to review and change, because they are clear. You can see how everything is connected - the flow - and the impact of each stage in the process. Arguably, a good process is one that is under constant review. The thinking behind it is being improved and reviewed.

Kaizen is a very old principle, but it is one of eternal youth. A process that is continually improved for greater quality, efficiency and productivity will keep the workforce inspired, and it will certainly keep your competitors on their toes!