Simple Engineering
To lessen frustration and lower stress levels in organizations, leader should be skilled in an art I refer to as simple engineering. This is a situation where we see and listen to the needs of the organization and develop tools and procedures to make the job less cumbersome and people more efficient. With the advent of new technologies, innovations, and initiatives we seem to get inundated with more information than we can decipher. Sometimes instead of people being better informed, they become more confused. In these instances simple engineering is most effective. Instead of providing volumes of information to people and expecting them figure it out, we either highlight the key points or create pictorials for easier comprehension. This can come in the form of summaries, charts, and pictures making it dummy proof so all an individual have to do is take a snapshot to capture the pertinent details. Keeping up with the massive flow of information that we receive and disseminate everyday is very daunting. Think about how much more challenging it is for the folks in the trenches who spend most of their time in the field rather than behind a computer. After being out in the elements combating temperature swings, physical exertion, and the frustration of being shuffled from one priority to the other all day, the last thing these folks want to do is having to dig through stacks of information to figure out what relates to them. Simple engineering is a technique we can use to make things easier for our folks. This may requires us to invest some effort initially building the template but pays off big later, folks feeling satisfied that they are receiving the essential data they need with the option of inquiring further if necessary. Bottomline by applying simple engineering we give people the confidence they need to make life changing decisions and protect themselves while remaining focus on carrying out the mission. We should create processes that are simple to comprehend, consistent, repeatable and efficient. Rather than having people waste time individually developing their own procedures for something that is common amongst the group, we step in and create a standardize model everyone can use. Simple engineering is very important in today's ever complex and changing environment. As leaders, advancing mission success demand that we ward off difficulties, eliminate obstacles, and decrease confusion in our organizations. In turn our efforts put people at ease and go a long way in reducing interferences, distractions, and nuisances so folks can spend more time focusing on doing their jobs.