I came off the phone yesterday after having an in depth discussion with a colleague regarding BPM and our solution XMPro. My wife asked "What is this BPM you are always on about?". Straight to the point my wife!
I then set about explaining... but before I got involved in trotting out jargon and industry speak it occurred to me that I had to find a way to explain this concept in terms my wife would appreciate. My wife is a practice nurse at GP’s surgery and spends her life explaining complex medical conditions and treatments, to lay people who are not medically trained, and so without in any way being condescending want the explanations delivered in terms they can understand.
So I set about explaining BPM in terms of human physiology...
If we assume that the human skeleton represents the core structure of the organisation, divisions, departments, teams and individuals there are four key elements which sit inside and around this skeleton.
Individuals Organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, liver etc represent the key business/transactional systems within a business, all of which are required to do a specific and highly focused series of tasks upon which the body relies.
The nervous system acts as a connector to the rest of the human body and allows the brain to issue a ‘thought’ which the nervous system converts into an action. In terms of the business the nervous system equates to the Process Management Structure, which ensures that the enterprise strategy and planning [from the brain] is converted into operational reality across the ‘body’.
The circulatory system critically delivers oxygen and ‘food’ to the body and is representative of the IT Systems which deliver infrastructure, e-mail, desk top access and access to the business systems [organs] around the body.
The lymphatic system crucially provides the body with its ability to fight ‘foreign bodies’ and infections, and hence represents the control and compliance framework designed to manage risk and deliver control.
Just as in the human body, all elements need to work together and so in an organisation we need to see these elements; organs, nervous system [process], circulatory system [IT] and lymphatic system [Compliance and Control] all to work together, if the body/organisation is to be healthy and achieve its strategic goals and objectives...
...now my wife she gets it, because I provided her a relevant context for my explanation. I appreciate that this is an extreme example but when speaking to prospects and client’s alike making BPM relevant to them bears fruit for myself and my colleagues at Professional Advantage.
I would like to acknowledge Sourcing Shangri-La for providing me with the inspiration for the explanantion and this blog post.
