Why you track your life, but not your processes?
Have you ever paused to consider just how much your smartphone knows about your life? It’s like a digital diary, filled with answers to questions you didn’t even realize you were asking. Think about it:
- How much sleep did you get last night? (Health App)
- What was your last Starbucks order? (Loyalty App)
- When was your last grocery trip, and how much did you spend? (Bank App)
- Who was the last friend to go on vacation? (Instagram/Facebook)
You could even go further: Which stores did you visit six Sundays ago? How much time did you spend there? The answers are all there, at your fingertips.
The good news? This kind of visibility isn’t limited to your personal life. It’s available at work too—and it’s just as transformative.
How Processes Leave Breadcrumbs
Every action in a modern system creates a trail. From the moment someone sends an email, updates stock, pays an invoice, or approves a request, the system records a timestamp. These are the breadcrumbs of your processes, creating a story of what happened, when, and who was involved.
Much like reviewing your travel history on Google Maps, these digital footprints can be pieced together to show the end-to-end journey of a process. It’s not just data—it’s insight into how things truly work.
The Power of Process Playbacks
One of the best ways to align teams and uncover actionable insights is through a process playback—a dynamic walkthrough of the actual data behind your processes. Instead of relying on sticky notes or vague recollections, you use real, undeniable evidence.
Imagine getting all the key players in a room and seeing:
- The paths processes take, from start to finish.
- Where things slow down or go wrong.
- Who owns each step and how service levels stack up.
- How these processes connect to daily work and larger goals.
Instead of endless workshops to collect input, the playback brings the process to life right away. Stakeholders spend less time guessing and more time discussing what matters—actions and solutions.
Our Approach: Beyond Traditional Mapping
Traditional process mapping takes time, sticky notes, and guesswork. We take a different route:
- Start with a Subway Map: A clear, data-driven view of your process, including cycle times, paths, and common variations.
- Layer in Perspectives: View the process from different angles—what it looks like to a customer, or how a part flows through production.
- Highlight Conformance and ‘Unhappy Paths’: Pinpoint where standards aren’t followed and where things go off track.
- Keep it Dynamic: This isn’t a one-time snapshot. Process playbacks can be revisited regularly to track improvements and adjust strategies.
The Value of Real-Time Insight
The magic of these playbacks is how they shift the conversation from what happened to what’s next. As you make changes, you can return to the playback to see how your KPIs are evolving, whether bottlenecks are shrinking, and where to focus next. It’s a continuous feedback loop, driving improvement and alignment.
Takeaway
Processes are just like your life’s digital footprint—they leave a story behind, waiting to be uncovered. By using process playbacks, you turn those stories into opportunities for alignment, improvement, and transformation. With the right tools and mindset, you can not only see where things are stuck but also take action to make them flow better than ever. And the best part? The insights are always there, ready when you are.
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When “Transformation” Isn’t Transformation
There’s a quiet absurdity in how most organizations approach change. Every few years, a vendor announces the end of support for a version — and suddenly, an entire enterprise scrambles into “transformation mode.” Slide decks get rewritten, budgets inflate, timelines stretch, and the word strategy gets thrown around like confetti.
Utilities Billing — Don't let Watermelon Reporting fool you. Billing sees the red everyday.
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My journey to building an App I knew Utilities needed — Part 1
"For years, utilities have struggled with process inefficiencies that lead to millions in fines, regulatory scrutiny, and a complete breakdown in customer trust. But what if there was a way to cut through the chaos and truly understand what's going wrong? In this first part of my journey, I share how process mining and the Celonis platform opened my eyes to the brutal truth: most companies don't even recognize their real processes. I’m excited to share how my company, The Good Quarter, is on the verge of launching an app that will finally give utilities the insight they need to fix their meter-to-cash process—and stop the cycle of missed opportunities and massive costs.
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Move aside traditional methods.
It’s 2024. I think the continuous improvement folks could use a taste of their own medicine. I’ve outlined a few ways process mining could be used to improve the traditional process mapping methods
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In neurology, a condition called ataxia manifests as a lack of muscle control or coordination of voluntary movements, which may be an apt metaphor for this dissonance in the business organization in relation to data.
So what is the solution? What can business leaders do to turn the tide on this trend?