You know that old saying,“If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well”? Why don’t we apply the same sage advice in business? While being world’s best would be fantastic, I am not talking about that. Just doing stuff well is all I am asking.

My Blog last week gave you the stat that 74% of respondents to a Knowledge@Wharton survey believed that business process and decision-making complexity have inhibited their business’ ability to meet goals. And you know what one of the worst sources of complexity is? All those tick-the-box exercises you do. The forms you have to fill out that seem to be for someone else’s benefit only. Usually to protect someone’s backside.

What if you turned this around in your business? What if you said I only want business processes designed for success. What would happen?

You would start doing things better. That is, you would design processes fit for purpose. Processes that have the success of the organisation in mind, not cover-your-backside exercises.

The secret to a well-designed process is one that facilitates agile decision making. Where boundaries are defined, and the process itself is minimalistic, while creating an appropriate level of thinking by decision makers.

It really isn’t that hard. You just need to change the attitude from “do it because” to “do it well” because as your Mum and Dad used to say, “If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well”.