Tako Eye...and Process Improvement

Tako Eye is seeing the process improvement innately....Calamari is asking if you even need the process in the first place!

Let me start with explaining this "tako eye" thing...I have to credit a mentor for phrasing the "tako eye".   In Hawai'i, we often use the Hawaiian and Japanese words for things we talk about in daily dialogue.  Tako is a Japanese word to refer to an octopus.  If you have ever watched one move across the ocean reef, they constantly change their colors to match their surroundings around them to blend in and better hunt their prey.

To have "Tako Eye" means that you see the tako on the reef while everyone else is marveling at the pretty fish swimming around the coral.  You see the moving creature, adapting, searching and even stalking right through the activities of the environment.  When you are looking at your business processes, what do you notice?  Do you notice things before people even consider the situation itself?  Do you see the root cause before the long-pressed symptoms discussion ever happens?  Then you my friend have "tako eye"!

But now I've had the fortunate exposure to go beyond this - let's make some calamari!  Now that you know how to spot the process improvement, are you able to step back further and not be lured in by the beauty of the movements and the awe of the colors and see that you can satisfy your own hunger with a tasty treat?  To be a helpful analyst and improve process is absolutely a needed skill set.  To go further and challenge the organization to ask how the process even fits and continues to support the organization's mission and goals is a key element of being that senior advocate for the business.

As we were improving a process, I noticed everyone was trying to fix the process.  We were talking about future status and no one was questioning the very existence of the process itself.  If we are truly talking about future state, then you don't bring the baggage of existing along with you.  But too often our stakeholders get consumed by what they do versus realizing they need to rise above existing 'business' and focus back on goals.  Asking the questions to what you are trying to accomplish - asking WHY! - becomes a key value to your role as a business analyst and process improvement support member.

So do you have "tako eye" and see the process improvement opportunity existing in the chaos of today's world?  Do you even see your next appetizer and are ready to cook calamari?  Share your thoughts on how we find and highlight these creatures of the deep that are all around us!