The idea behind the choice
In the official introduction, McKeown connects the approach to exploring possibilities, eliminating what does not contribute and executing what matters. For A1, this relates to a recurring decision: does an activity need to be automated, or does it need to stop happening?
The application below is an editorial interpretation for business processes. It is not an invitation to cut steps indiscriminately; the first task is to understand each one's purpose, dependencies and impact.
An output nobody uses
Consider a fictional example: every Friday, someone gathers data from three spreadsheets and emails a report. The first idea is to automate its preparation. During process mapping, the team discovers that the document is stored but does not guide any current decision.
The conversation changes: is there information in it that still needs to be monitored? Who uses it? When? The company might need a smaller view, available when required, instead of reproducing the entire report with a new tool.
A filter for accumulated tasks
Choose a recurring activity and investigate its usefulness with the people producing and receiving it. Avoid deciding solely on the apparent effort involved.
- Outcome
- Identify the decision or delivery the activity supports. ‘We have always done it this way’ does not describe a purpose.
- Dependencies
- Check whether other people or systems use the result, even if that is not visible to the person doing the task.
- Experiment
- Where appropriate, test a reversible simplification and observe its effect before permanently stopping the activity.
Fewer tasks are not the only goal
An additional review can prevent rework; a record can help one person continue another's work. The value of the step needs to be weighed against the effort and the consequences of removing it. Simplifying well requires understanding the process.
At A1, eliminating, simplifying, standardizing and automating are all options considered in the process assessment. Choosing after understanding the operation avoids investing in a solution that merely does a task faster after that task has lost its purpose.
