Part four. The Turnaround
The Fivefold Turnaround
Five steps, in order, for fixing a seam while the work keeps crossing it.
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You almost never get to stop the work while you fix the process. Five steps, and the order is the load bearing part. One. Define, jointly and in writing. Both sides of the seam write what they mean by the handoff, separately, then compare. Two. Instrument before changing. Measure the current seam for two cycles without touching it. Three. Change the smallest thing that could work, at one seam, with a stated expectation of what should move. Four. Hold it under pressure once. A new rule that has never survived a bad week is not yet a rule. Five. Write it down where the work is, not where the policies are. Most failed turnarounds skip step two, because it feels like delay. It is the step that makes the other four defensible.
You almost never get to stop the work while you fix the process. Five steps, and the order is the load bearing part.
One. Define, jointly and in writing. Both sides of the seam write what they mean by the handoff, separately, then compare. Nothing else in this list works until this is done.
Two. Instrument before changing. Measure the current seam for two cycles without touching it. Without a baseline every later argument becomes a matter of opinion, and the person with the most seniority wins it.
Three. Change the smallest thing that could work. One change, at one seam, with a stated expectation of what should move. Multiple simultaneous changes make attribution impossible and you will learn nothing.
Four. Hold it under pressure once. A new rule that has never survived a bad week is not yet a rule. The first time it is inconvenient is the moment the organisation learns whether it is real.
Five. Write it down where the work is, not where the policies are. A standard nobody encounters at the moment of doing the work is decoration.
Most failed turnarounds skip step two, because it feels like delay. It is the step that makes the other four defensible.
Two things worth doing, neither of which costs anything
Read the standard in full, free and in the open, before you pay anything or give anyone an address.