It was an early Tuesday morning when the CEO of Tech Innovations, Alexandra, sat down in front of the computer. She turned on the screen and opened up the infamous Excel sheet that showed in detail how things are going for the whole company. She felt her brow wrinkle when she saw that despite a strong sales week, margins were still not where they should be.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, staring at the numbers that seemed to mockingly flash back. Her thoughts began to wander against the constant stream of bug reports, dissatisfied customers, lack of quality and why the company's staff did not take their responsibility to just grab things and make things better without complaining so much or blaming themselves all the time.
It felt like her team was constantly stuck in a reactive cycle, where they were constantly trying to repair existing problems instead of focusing on creating new solutions and products.
She decided to raise this with her management team at their next meeting. When the day came, she opened the meeting by saying: “I think we need to re-evaluate our approach to how we deal with problems. I think it takes too much time away from our work on new products and our focus should be on new sales.”
It became quiet in the room, everyone seemed surprised by her statement. But after a brief silence, Emelie, the head of the customer service department, took the floor:
“But Alexandra, you understand that quality is part of our product, right? Can't we just ignore problems and hope for them to solve themselves?”
Alexandra was silent for a moment before answering. “I understand what you're saying, Emily. But I just see how much time we spend dealing with all these details as leaders all the time. I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be more effective if we instead focused on creating new products and expanding our sales and giving managers a clearer responsibility to actually fix their departments so that instead we can work on increasing margins and creating more sales.”
Emelie nodded slowly, but it was clear that she disagreed. “Quality is what should set us apart from our competitors,” she said firmly. “If we start slacking on it even more by just putting the lid on, we risk losing even more customers.”
After the meeting, Alexandra felt frustrated. She knew Emelie had a point and began to consider whether there might be a more effective way to deal with the company's problems instead of just pushing the problem downwards in the organisation. She decided to seek advice from outside the company and booked an appointment with a business consultant, Eva to whom one of her previously more problematic suppliers had talked plenty.
They met for a cup of coffee near the airport, it was the only way Eva could get Alexandra into her calendar. When Alexandra explained her worries to Eva, she nodded and said: “It sounds like you're stuck in what we call 'fire brigade management'. You are constantly busy putting out fires instead of focusing on strategic work and development of the company.”
“Yes, that's exactly how it is!” exclaimed Alexandra. “I feel like I don't have time to do anything else. I can't understand why the others in the management team don't take their responsibility and just stop creating a lot of trouble!”
Eva thought for a moment and then started talking. “I once had a client with the same problem as you”
Eva continued: 'My client was the CEO of a manufacturing firm. Like you, he felt his time was being wasted solving problem after problem, and he couldn't understand why his team or co-workers couldn't just take care of them.”
“So I sent him on a course in woodwork.” Eve noticed Alexandra's surprised expression and laughed to herself.
“Eva, can you explain more?” Alexandra asked.
Eva shook her head and looked at the clock, “Sorry not now, Alexandra. I have to take a flight to another consultation and they just called up my flight. But, I ask you to think about what I said about fire department management and woodwork. Try to apply it to your business. Good luck!”
With these cryptic words, Eva left Alexandra, confused and not at all closer to any progress.
In the weeks after the strange encounter with Eva, Alexandra reflected on Eva's words over and over again. She didn't really understand how a course in woodwork would help her corporate strategy, but she couldn't let go of the thought. She began to reflect on how she handled problems within the company, agreeing that she was actually behaving like a firefighter - always ready to put out fires but never with time to investigate why they arose in the first place. But this was nothing new - everyone in the management team already knew that this was how they solved problems at the company.
Alexandra eventually decided, in an act of desperation, to take Eva's advice literally and signed up for a course in woodwork. The course was intense and demanded her full attention.
During the course, Alexandra quickly realized that no matter how skillfully she polished at the end of the process, she could not make up for a bad piece of wood early in the process. It was a lesson in quality management that she hadn't thought of before.
She began to see parallels between her company's problem management and the woodwork. Just as in woodwork, it was important to choose the right “piece of wood” to ensure a successful outcome. In a corporate context, this meant she had to start identifying and managing the root cause of problems instead of just treating the symptoms.
This insightful moment changed Alexandra's view of her company's problem management. She realized that it was probably not about avoiding problems or applying them to the staff, but about establishing clear procedures throughout the company and being extremely detailed and meticulous that they are followed to the letter in order to avoid problems in the future.
A few weeks later, Alexandra had a second meeting with Eva. She eagerly explained her insight into the parallels between the woodwork and the company's problem-management. Eva smiled and nodded encouragingly.
“Congratulations Alexandra, you have made great progress,” she said. “But dealing with the root cause of problems and defining extremely clear routines may not be exactly how I had defined the solution. Have you thought about the other parts?”
Alexandra suddenly felt insecure again. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Eva laid her head on askew and looked out the window for a moment before answering. “In woodwork, once you've done your drawing and have chosen your piece of wood, what do you do next?”
Alexandra thought about it. “I follow the drawing, use the right tools, take my time and correct any mistakes.”
Eva nodded slowly. “Very good Alexandra, but so far you have only solved the surface of the problem. You need to go deeper to get to the root”
Alexandra felt frustrated. “But what do you mean by going deeper? After all, I have already realized that we need to deal with the root cause of the problems and solve it there by clearly defining and updating our procedures in detail to avoid mistakes.”
Eva smiled and pointed to a wall in the conference room where there hung a large painting of a landscape painting. “Do you see that painting Alexandra? What do you see?”
Alexandra looked at the board. It was a beautiful landscape painting with blue sky, green fields and a calm flowing river. “I see a landscape painting,” she replied.
Eva nodded. “Yes, but do you really see everything? Do you see all the details, all the shades of the colors, all the shadows and lights that make the picture come alive?”
Alexandra looked more carefully at the painting and began to notice small details she had not seen before; how the light was reflected on the water, how the wind seemed to touch the green leaves of the trees, how the shadows gave depth to the scene.
“What's the difference between that painting that costs god knows how much versus something you can buy for 5kr down at the second-hand store,” she asked?
“It's the quality,” replied Eva. “The quality of the workmanship, of the detail and of the skill of the artist. But so is the quality of the work itself - its significance, its message and its emotional impact.”
“A work of art is not just a product of following a strict routine,” she continued. “It's a product of all the choices and adjustments in the moment that the creator has made throughout the creation process — from the choice of subject and medium to the specific brushstrokes and color combinations.”
“It's just like with your company, Alexandra,” Eva continued. “We can't just follow a strict routine like robots and expect everything to be perfect. We must be flexible, adaptable and constantly strive to learn and improve. We must constantly evaluate and adjust our strategy based on the changes we see in our world around us. We need to define processes that are at the right level for our particular company”
Alexandra nodded, she began to understand what Eva meant. “So you mean we need to have a process for identifying, analyzing, managing, following up, and feedback on problems, but we also need to be flexible enough to adapt to new situations and lessons learned?”
“Exactly,” replied Eva. “And this is where the anomaly management process plays an important role. By constantly monitoring, analysing and acting on anomalies, we can quickly identify problems, solve them effectively and avoid them in the future.”
“But,” said Eva, “you are still stuck in thinking in terms of the individual problems. What do you think the role of the management team in this factually should be?” , Eva wondered.
Alexandra thought for a moment. “The role of the management team should be to set up systems and structures that make it easier for the entire organization to identify and manage problems, and to follow up on how these systems and structures work.”
“Correct,” said Eve. “And how do you think you can do that in your management team?” she asked.
Alexandra thought deeply. “We could implement a common system to report and follow up on problems. We would also need to set up regular meetings where we evaluate how the system works and make the necessary adjustments. We should also find processes that allow us to take our eyes off the individual anomalies and look at trends and act on them accordingly!”
Eva smiled and nodded encouragingly. “And that's exactly what you should do, Alexandra. You should start by defining what a discrepancy is for your business, how it should be reported, and who should be responsible for resolving it.”
“Don't just deal with the symptoms, find the root cause of the problem,” Eva continued. “Include everyone in your organization in the process. Everyone should feel a responsibility to report anomalies when they discover them.”
“And most importantly,” she added, “ensure that the management team is actively working to analyze trends and patterns in the anomalies to identify any systematic deficiencies and make the necessary adjustments.”
“By the way,” said Eva, looking up. “Have you come to any new insights around why you can't just require your staff or individual leaders in your organization to go out and just fix the problems, as you said before, yet?” , she asked.
Alexandra paused to ponder Eve's question. “I guess it's about leadership,” she finally replied. “We in the management team are the ones who set the tone and create the culture within the company. If we don't take anomaly management seriously, how can we expect the rest of the organization to do it?”
“Exactly,” said Eva with a satisfied smile. “And this is the most important insight of all. Deviation management is not just a process or system, it is part of company culture. But it's also about looking at the big picture, do you know what I'm after?” Eva asked.
Alexandra thought about it. “You mean we need to look at our business as a whole? That we should look not only at individual problems, but how everything is connected?”
“Yes, exactly,” Eve replied.
“But it's not just that,” she continued. “Looking at the business as a whole also means understanding how each part of the organization contributes to the whole. For example, how does the performance of the sales department affect product development work? How does the work of customer service contribute to the marketing efforts?”
“And most importantly,” Eva continued, “it's about understanding that all these elements must work together to achieve the overall goals of the company.”
Alexandra went haywire. “Deviations are linked to the processes in several different ways. Problems may have been detected in processes they didn't actually arise in, but we haven't thought that way. We've tried to solve the problems in the wrong places. If we ask a process owner to fix their process, they will not automatically go and fix another process!” , she exclaimed.
“Right,” said Eva. “And this is where a deviation management process grounded in a process map gets its real power. By continuously monitoring and analyzing processes and using anomalies as input, you can gain a deeper understanding of how your processes really work, and how they affect each other.”
She continued: “And once you have that understanding, you can start making better decisions that not only solve individual problems, but also improve the entire organization. Have you heard of local optimization ever Alexandra?” Eva asked.
Alexandra shook her head. “No, what does that mean?” she asked.
“Local optimization means trying to improve each part of your process individually, without thinking about how it fits into the big picture,” Eva explained. “Global optimization, on the other hand, is about seeing the whole process as a unit and making decisions based on what's best for the whole system.”
“Hmm,” Alexandra reflected. “I think I'm beginning to understand. We have been so focused on solving individual problems and improving individual departments that we have missed the larger context.”
“Exactly,” Eve replied with a smile. “And when you start thinking in terms of global optimization, you'll see how important deviation management really is.”
“But how does anomaly management help us with global optimization?” Alexandra asked.
“By constantly monitoring and analyzing anomalies, you can gain a deeper understanding of how your processes work and how they affect each other,” Eva replied.
“Don't just deal with the symptom, find it Systemic the root cause of the problems and act on it,” she continued. “This will not only help you solve problems effectively, but also identify potential problems before they arise and prevent them from affecting other parts of the process.”
Alexandra felt elated. Everything was starting to clear for her now. She recognized that deviation management was not a time-consuming hurdle, but a necessary part of the company's quest for continual improvement and efficiency.
“I have one last question, Eva,” she said. “How can I get my whole organization to understand the importance of this? How do I get everyone engaged in anomaly management?”
Eva smiled. “It's about leadership, Alexandra. You must demonstrate through your own behavior that you take deviation management seriously. You need to communicate clearly why it's important and how it contributes to the overall goals of the company.”
“But just as important,” she continued, “is creating a culture where everyone feels a responsibility to report discrepancies and contribute to problem-solving. This means you need to encourage your employees to be proactive and not afraid to make mistakes.”
Alexandra felt inspired as she walked from her meeting with Eva. She had come into the room as a frustrated CEO who thought her time was being wasted on problem management, but now she saw things from a completely different perspective.
She realized that through effective anomaly management, her company could become more efficient, deliver higher quality to its customers and become more competitive. She was looking forward to starting to implement the changes she had discussed with Eva.
The next few months were challenging but rewarding for Alexandra and her team. Together with Eva, they implemented AmpliFlow as a new web-based IT system for the entire management system that included everything from anomaly management to risk management and process mapping. There was also, of course, a lot of work involved in training the staff and adapting the company's processes.
But as time went on, they began to see the results of their hard work. Problems were solved faster and more efficiently. The amount of discrepancies, customer opinions and suggestions for improvement was getting bigger and bigger, but Alexandra was just happy about that.
Efforts to solve the problems became more proactive and less reactive. They began to work more as a team and less as separate departments. And perhaps most impressively, margins began to improve.
Alexandra felt more and more pleased with the way things were progressing. But she was also aware that this was just the beginning. Deviation management was not a one-time effort, but a constantly ongoing process.
A year later, Alexandra sat in front of her computer on an early Tuesday morning, just as she had done the year it all began. But this time, she didn't feel the same frustration when she looked at anomalies in their new web-based tool AmpliFlow.
She now saw the anomalies as a valuable resource, a treasure trove full of insights and lessons learned about her company. She could see how her team had become more proactive and efficient in solving problems, and how this contributed to the company's success.
She also saw how much more engaged her co-workers were. They now understood the importance of reporting problems and finding solutions together across what had previously felt like boundaries within the company, and they all felt a greater ownership over the overall success of the company.
Most surprisingly, Alexandra realised she no longer felt frustrated with the time she was spending dealing with aberrations. Instead, she saw it as an investment - an investment in her company's continual improvement and future success.
But perhaps the most satisfying thing was the fact that margins had started to increase. Sales had not only increased, but also become more profitable. And all this thanks to the time they had put into effective anomaly management and to really work on their processes.
Alexandra learned through this journey that effective deviation management is about much more than just problem management. It's about creating a culture where everyone in the organization sees it as their responsibility to identify and solve systematic problems.
It is about looking at the organization as a whole, rather than individual parts or disconnected processes or routines. It's about understanding how everything is connected, and how to optimize the whole system rather than just individual parts.
And perhaps most importantly, it's about leadership. Alexandra recognized that it was her responsibility as CEO to set the tone and create a culture where deviation management is taken seriously.
So the next time you feel frustration about the time you spend dealing with anomalies, remember Alexandra's journey. Consider how you can turn this frustration into an opportunity - an opportunity to improve your organization and its future.
Deviation management is not a necessary evil, but an essential part of every company's success journey. And just like with Alexandra, it can become your path to greater efficiency and profitability.
