How to Make Things Happen : A Blueprint for Applying Knowledge, Solving Problems and Designing Systems That Deliver Your Service Strategy

376 Pages·2017·6.37 MB·English

by  Muǫz-seca

How to Make Things Happen
Beatriz Muñoz-Seca
How to Make Things
Happen
A blueprint for applying knowledge, solving
problems and designing systems that deliver your
service strategy
BeatrizMuñoz-Seca
IESEBusinessSchool
Madrid,Madrid,Spain
TranslatedbyMichaelMartinRoberts
ISBN978-3-319-54785-5 ISBN978-3-319-54786-2(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-54786-2
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017943364
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To my daughters, Catalina and Cristina.
The best thing I have ever done.
Preface
Writing a book always means facing a blank page. And it is daunting, very
daunting. But writing this book has been harder still. I face a great personal
challenge; to be able to convey my passion for Operations in a format that
overcomesanyinitialrejectionthatthetopicmightincite.Thewordspassionand
Operationsmaylooklikeoddbedfellows,buttheoppositehasbeentrueinmy
fi fl
life.IfellinlovewithOperationswhenI rstsetfootonafactory oor40years
ago,andIshallretirethinkingitisoneofthemostimportantthingsIhaveever
done.Now,asmyprofessionallifedrawstoacloseandasmythirdactisaboutto
begin (the last three decades of my life), I want to set out in book form the
’
compendiumofideasthathasguidedmeinmy25years experienceofteaching.
’
My biggest doubt has been what this books approach should be. I want a
lotofpeopletoreadit.Nottomakemefamous,thatdoesnotmattertome.
My challenge is to win people over, win over managers so that they under-
stand that Operations will allow them to achieve what they long for. That
Operationsareagreatenigmathat,oncediscovered,enableustounderstand
theirstrengthandbeauty.Sincerely,withoutOperationsyouhavenothing.I
shall therefore try to make the book a narrative, as with a journey. I shall try
to avoid much of the jargon and narrate. I shall go back to my family roots
and tell a story.1 According to stage manager Lluís Pasqual, who appears in
1MygrandfatherwasPedroMuñoz-Seca,aplaywrightwhoinventedthe“Astrakhan”genre.AlthoughI
neverknewmygrandfather,frompersonalanecdotesIgatherhewasabustlingcharacterwholovedlife
andcouldlaughathimself.Formehehasalwaysbeenanexampleofhowtolivelifetothefull,andlook
on the bright side of it. The final story about him, which I believe gives a good idea of what my
grandfatherwaslike,waswhathesaidtothemilitiamanwhotookhimtofacethefiringsquad:“Youcan
takeeverythingawayfromme,exceptthefearIhaveinsideme.”
vii
viii Preface
“
another book I wrote, and in what is one of my favorite expressions: You
make others do what you want them to, and make it what they want to do,
’
by telling stories and acting. Put heart and soul into it, persevere and dont
”
lose heart. Explain, give details and tell stories.
Before I begin, let me tell you that I have a literary background. Indeed, I
am a Philosophy Ph. D. talking about Operations, so I may be considered a
rare bird. But seeing how companies these days are opening up to the
humanities, or how anthropology is being interpreted for company use,
perhapsmyrenaissanceapproachisnotsoinconsistent.Furthermore,having
“ ”
worked with engineers for most of my career means that less of a soft
mental structure has brushed off on me. My Germanic2 upbringing fits in
very well with the engineering world. In lectures I always rely on my
“ ”
engineers corps when I want to objectify something, and they never let
me down!
Ihavepublishedseveralbooks,alljointlypennedwithmycolleague Josep
Riverola, a great engineer and old pro.3 In them ideas may be found that I
havebeendevelopingovermyacademiccareer.Inthisbookyouhavebefore
you,Ihavegatheredmanyofthemtogether,togetherwithnewonesthatwill
enable me to introduce a unifying approach to Operations.
I have reached the peak of my academic career by setting up a model for
’
managing Operations in services companies, and that is this books main
aim: to propose a framework for any manager to think consistently about
howto buildhisor herown Operationsmodel.Therearenosetrecipes,but
there is a scheme with components that everybody can adapt to suit their
ownneeds.Likeachef,Iprovideaframeworkforactionbutalloweverybody
to add their personal touch and their own seasoning. Every company is
ff
uniqueandeverysituationisdi erent.Setrecipesarenouse,whatisneeded
are schemes and models with which to develop a competitive individual
operating structure that adds value.
To tell this story I shall use examples of companies that I have worked
with,drawnmainlyfromtwosectors.UsingthemIshallshowwaystotackle
situations that help to understand the ideas I have outlined. The two sectors
fi ff
at rst sight may appear to be quite di erent, but they are not: culture and
health. After working in them for years, I have found they have much in
2Calvinist,accordingtomyfriendandcolleagueSantiagoÁlvarezdeMon.
3IwastotallybewilderedbyJosepRiverola,co-authorofallthebooksIhavewrittensofar,whenwe
beganworkingtogetheralmost30yearsago,andIwasastonishedtoseehimjotdownintegralsonthe
backofboardingpasses.Ihadneverseenthelikebefore,andmustadmitIhaveyettomeetanybodyelse
whodoeslikewise.
Preface ix
common. Furthermore, I have discovered that they are fascinated with each
other. Health professionals love me giving them examples from the world of
the performing arts, and cultural managers relish a chance to share in
“ ”
experiences from the health sector. Both sectors are based on brainpower,
both combine craftsmanship with industrial processes. Both need to provide
“ ”
a perfect service and both have close dealings with clients.
fi
This book is divided into two parts. In the rst I convey the ideas that I
deem most relevant for understanding the operations scheme that I am
ff
introducing. In the second, I o er a Manual that may be used as a guide
for applying those ideas.4
Each chapter in this book bears a message drawn from my lectures. They
“ ” ’ fi
are propaganda messages devised to stick in listeners minds. The rst part
begins, in keeping withlong family tradition,with a scenario, and endswith
a reasoned proposal: the importance of knowing what is being talked about.
The second part adopts a series of questions that must be answered very
concretely in order to serve as a guide for the implementation process.
We end with a dictionary that I call the SPDM Dictionary, as I have
coinedavocabulary,andbelieveitisworthwhileexplainingandbeingableto
refer to it.5
Normally I ought to explain the contents of each chapter, but I do not
’
want to; I would instead like to give free reign to the readers imagination.
Whatappealsmoretoyou?Thinkwhy.Possiblybecauseitsparkscuriosityor
spurs you to think of some situation that you want to work out. Those are
themessagesIgiveinmyprograms.Ifyouwanttoknowmore,startreading.
fi
But rst I must make my acknowledgments. I have been working on this
booksince2009.Ithasbeenalong,hardroadbecauseIhavehadtopublish
my technical notes, lecture both EMBA students and senior managers, and
modifyconceptstomakethemmoredigestibleandapplicabletocompanies.
’
A road 7 years long. I have had several fellow travelers along the way.
Research assistants like Rocío Arenas, who specializes in the health sector,
and Susana Llerena, who specializes in culture. Elena Calderón, who has
helped me draw up the Manual that makes up the second part of the book.
4Thisbook’sstructurehasbeendesignedattherequestofthosewhotakemylecturecourses.Theyhave
oftenaskedmeforastep-by-stepguidetoimplementingmyideas.Ihavesaidtherearenosetrecipesbut
Ihavetriedtopleasemyreadersbygivingthemamethodforimplementingthem.Ihopeitmeetswith
theirapproval!
5Mylecturesalwaysendwithwittycommentsabouthowwealltalk“incode”andnobodyunderstands
us.It’strue,andwhileveryusefulforgettingideasacross,itmakeseverydaycompanylifehard.This
code needs to be translated into normal language and I leave readers to choose how best to do that
translationfortheircompanies.
x Preface
“ ” ff
The Portuguese Unit, as I a ectionately call it, consisting of Professor
Jorge Riberinho Machado of AESE and Mónica Pimentel. With them we
’
havedevelopedaseminarthatcontainsthisbooksideas,andwithJorge,the
’
ServicescourseintheAESEsEMBAprogram.Finally,myassistantSol,who
hasshownstoicpatiencethroughoutthewritingofthisbook.Toeverybody,
many thanks indeed for your work and patience in putting up with me.6
6IknowwellwhatIamlike.IknowIamveryinsistent.Perseveranceisoneofmyvirtues,butitcomes
withoneofmydefects:beingapest!
Contents
1 A Scenario and the Fascinating World of Operations 1
2 Basic Ideas Behind SPDM: A Unifying Model for Twenty-
First-Century Operations 11
3 The Promise, Essence and Flame Red 21
4 YouHavetoWalktheStreets,ControlDoesNotAddValue 33
ffi ffi
5 Cost-Cutting Does Not Lead to E ciency, but E ciency
Does Lead to Cost-Cutting 51
6 The Main Thing Is Not Knowing What You Do Know, but
’
Knowing What You DONT 71
7 We Work with Brainpower, Not Manpower 93
8 Service Industrialization to Unlock Brainpower Capacity 109
9 Converting Blocking Factors into Value-Adding Elements:
Do Redesign the Service 123
10 Making Ideas Happen 139
11 One Thousand $1,000 Improvements 165
xi