Kotter's Principle - Head to Heart Originally Published on April 5, 2010 The other day I was researching John P. Kotter’s Eight Steps for Transforming your Organization. This approach for organizational change is discussed in Chapter 8 of the Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book. While I was exploring his website: http://www.kotterinternational.com , I came across one of his principles which discusses how to present your vision for strategic change. Communicating the corporate vision for change out to an organization is a critical success factor for the adoption of IT Service Management. I agree with Kotter’s principle that not only do you have to speak to the “Head” but you have to speak to the “Heart”. I am extremely passionate about ITSM and the benefits of CSI. The following quote from his website really spoke to me: “People change because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings, not because they were given endless amounts of logical data. When changing...

Creating a Metrics Program Originally Published on November 30, 2010 Every organization should create a metrics program to ensure that business and process improvement goals are being achieved. We need to have the ability to show that processes achieve results and we must review and schedule process audits. A metrics program describes the measurements needed to achieve business goals. It also identifies how to collect the data and how to use the information to continually improve performance. An effective program focuses on what you should measure to achieve business goals, individual process performance and process interfaces. Each of the best practice frameworks stress metrics as a way of assuring continual improvement. ITIL defines the "7 Step Process" for identifying, collecting, analyzing and using data.  The Deming Cycle's "Check" stage requires that we have methods for monitoring and measuring processes.  The Balanced Scoreboard looks at performa...

Sustainment Originally Published on August 21, 2012 Performance (noun): The capabilities of a person, process or system, esp. when observed under particular conditions How long can you hold your breath? How fast can you run? How long can you go without food and water? Each of these questions is tied to an understanding of your personal ability to perform. The same holds true of processes and systems. Ultimately a person, process or system can only perform to a peak or optimal level for so long. Energy wanes, process steps get skipped and system elements and components wear down or break. So how do we improve our ability to sustain peak performance? The key is to understand how the person, process or system functions, and understand its limitations and “breaking point”. Once we understand the limits and boundaries of peak performance we can implement Continual Service Improvement approaches to help improve the individual performance of a person, process or system within th...

  We conclude our "Best of" blog series with Continual Service Improvement.   CSI and the 7 Step Improvement Process Originally Published on January 24, 2012 I would like to revisit the 7 step improvement process from the perspective of CSI, since there has been a slight (logical) modification to it.   The concept of measurement, what we measure, gathering the data , processing it into understandable formats and then being able to analyze it, is fundamental in our ability to perform (CSI)   Continual Service   Improvement as an overall vision and in support of the business need and the underpinning of tactical and operational goals. 1. Identify the strategy for improvement: (Plan) Talk to the business, to your customers and to IT management.   Utilize your service catalog and the associated service level requirements to define a starting point.   The question “What is important to the business?” must be answered.   Look to the corp...