Solutions create new problems
Mary Youngblood quickly made a name for herself. Whatever the problem, she was able to solve it quickly. Therefore it was obvious she was climbing up the corporate ladder. Just when she believed she became invincible, a lesson had to be learnt that you need to anticipate that solutions always create new problems.
Mary was closely watched by her management while she was working at the order desk. On a daily basis she had to deal with the consequences of working with an unreliable but highly sophisticated stand alone replenishment, stock control and distribution systems. There was a unreliable complex structure of interfaces to keep all individual systems up to date.
Customers did suffer with uncertainty whether the ordered good will be delivered on time and in full. Therefore it was decided to allow loyal customers to receive an invoice only after the receipt of the delivery was confirmed, also referred to as proof of delivery. Mary did spend a lot of her time to expedite these loyal customers for their delivery receipt confirmations.
Mary’s dedication to her job did pay out. She got offered a significant promotion as the Order to Cash key user for the SAP ECC implementation. Immediately she took the opportunity to make her mark as her reputation allowed to have a huge influence on the system design.
She continuously emphasised that SAP is a highly integrated and very efficient computer system. Therefore it must be able to inform customers in advance when a specific quantity of goods will be delivered. This would make the need for a proof of delivery construction for customers obsolete. Billing could be initiated on the day that the goods have left the distribution centre. This increased efficiency did impress the steering committee.
So Mary thought she offered the perfect solution for a problem. But she had failed to realise that a superior business solution can also be perceived as a loss of service. This resulted in a flood of complaints from loyal customers at the customer service department from all over the country.
Poor Mary, if only she’d talked to Isard Haasakker, the Common Sense Implementor™. Because he emphasises that each solution will always create new problems.
It is important to understand which solution potentially cause which problems.
The management needs to be willing to be responsible for the identified problems associated for a solution. This triggers discussions and consultations. When this process is also documented, then it prevents that persuasive convincing indivduals have too much influence on the decision making process.
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