A Simple Way To Learn From The Success Of Others

One of the most overlooked ways to improve is by studying the success of others. While many people might readily read a book on how Warren Buffet made his millions or the approach Steve Jobs took to improving quality, most ignore the very real successes of others in your own organization or competitors.

One way to learn from the success of others is to go on a Resource Raid.

A Resource Raid is a structured approach to acquiring learning by studying what others have done about the same problem you are facing. In a Resource Raid, you visit another department or another office or a even another organization and find out how they solved the problem you have. You interview the leader of the team and other members of the team to understand their approach to solving the problem.

Resource Raids are very effective when you have a process, such as how you handle a customer enquiry, that is not delivering. Internal processes build up over time in response to individual needs. Unfortunately, eventually these can become unwieldy and inefficient.

A Resource Raid is a simple way to find out how others handle the same process. You study what they do then make changes in your own process. At a very simple level, you simply copy what the other team is doing. But sometimes, what you see prompts other thoughts and the result is a new much-improved process.

The most important thing to do before running a Resource Raid is to write specific questions on the process or other issue you want to observe. 

The more specific your questions are, the more effective the Resource Raid will be. For example, questions for a process should cover:

Obviously, the kind of questions that you will write will depend on the process or other area that you are focussing on. You can not though have too many questions. The biggest mistake that people make with a resource raid is not having enough questions. Less than 12 is too few. Make sure they are answerable with a specific set of information.

Send the questions to the team leader before you visit so that they know what you are looking for. A good resource raid should benefit bother the raider and the team being raided. Your questions may help them think about their process too.

Before going on the Resource Raid, answer your questions for your own process or issue. Be completely honest and don't fall into the trap of improving the process as you observe it. Answer the questions exactly as it is.

Three simple words: observe, question, note. 

During the Resource Raid, you are the learner. Resist the temptation to make any judgement calls on what you are told or what you see. Also don't put in any judgements - such as comments about what you have seen or heard. Keep to the facts. The better your questions, the easier it is to keep to the facts. If you are writing a lot of opinion then the chances are your questions are too general.

When you get back to the office, you need to compare what you learnt in the Resource Raid with what you currently do. Ask yourself what you could change in your current process. Look for improvements in the following areas:

Talk through the results with your team. Then make the changes necessary. Always evaluate impact of the changes.