SEMI-tool from Systemkey™
In October, 2009, legendary systems and process improvement guru Jack Ring asked four questions about the Systemkey™ scalable systems analysis framework.
Here are the answers, in dramatized narrative form for increased educational value.
What is Systemkey™?
Reginald, CTO
The Systemkey™ scalable systems analysis method is a field-tested way to sidestep the deep experience | fresh perspective dilemma: the fact witnessed by nearly every seasoned manager that by the time someone has enough experience to be valuable, many of the best are gone while most have become part of the problem.
It is a methodical nested questioning technique that brings several key benefits to the field:
- Structured formal process
- Sortable shorthand
- Traceable decision pathways
- Consistently flexible scope (scalability)
I Need Systemkey™
^topWhat facets of a business can it improve?
- The color combinations correspond to the players in Conquering Complexity, non-technical edition.
Dave, CEO
Systemkey™ offers benefits across the spectrum of the enterprise—or the startup.
Stephen, Ops
Effective, structured knowledge transfer from the most experienced to the least (new staff, intern, etc.) because the question sequence uses previously proven strategies and a common format and syntax across all projects.
Jermaine, QA
To leverage the advantage further, Quality and Safety/Risk Management can seamlessly integrate their supplies tracking all the way from acquisition through testing and end-of-life disposal. Documented capability to integrate with TipQA/AutoQuality
Matt, Safety
Common language for innovation, Holy Grail is to engineer out hazards. Innovation risk mitigation: We've documented Order-of-magnitude performance increased in multi-billion dollar, global defense contractors by delivering auditable results average four months ahead of schedule for an SSHA (System Safety Hazard Analysis) and an amazing 14 months earlier for FMEA/FMECA (Failure Mode & Effect [Criticality] Analysis).
Reginald, CTO
Just like DNA builds up from the simplicity of only four base pairs to “systems of systems” comprising staggering complexity, the Systemkey™ analysis model handles massive amounts of data (including discontinuous sets) seamlessly because it combines rigorous syntax (rules of combining) with an unlimited grammar, through a recursive (nested, repeating) structure that can data mine as deeply as needed for the situation at hand.
Janet, HR
For us, Systemkey™ addresses the very esoteric deep experience/fresh perspective issue mentioned above. The HR function feels this braindrain in more acutely financial terms than anyone, because talent out the door is pure sunk cost!
Additionally, because Systemkey™ seamlessly integrates conversations across boundaries, we find that it makes us more relevant! We've gotten so much more timely, actionable feedback on how staff feel that we are contributing to the bottom line, it's really been both a boon to our morale and the amount of cooperation we receive.
Durable behavioral change without coercion is the name of the game. With Systemkey, we're all making music from the same score and the result is a symphony.
Albert, COO
Albert, COO: I like what Matt said earlier, “Systemkey™ gives us a common language for innovation.” Not sure if there is another process out there where the level of detail can vary at will without compromising the rigor of the data collected.
I Need Systemkey™
^topHow can it be activated in the enterprise?
Reggie, CTO
Systemkey™ gives us two immediate benefits, even as people are learning to use it.
The rigor of the structured questions serves to bring focus, to reduce the randomness so prevalent in early stage analyses. Death by committee has killed more good ideas than bad cooking!
Systemkey™ saves us from an ad hoc undocumented process by breaking down decisions into categories, components, causes, types and cases, recording these incremental stages into a sortable, searchable shorthand. That intermediate product allows us to sort for the common and recognize the residual risk that either gets management sign-off or becomes the focused starting point for a more detailed iteration.
I Need Systemkey™
^topHow can the requisite spectrum of talent be applied for any one customer?
Simon, CFO
Because Systemkey™ already has a cmmi®-style formal process structure built into it, we can assign a junior analyst (or a diligent intern), without the typical process drift that entails since the heart of the 5 step nested question process, is as simple and as layered as the 5S System well proven in other industries:
- Seiri (整理 (tidiness, organization)
- Seiton (整頓) (orderliness, process flow)
- Seiso (清掃) (systematic cleanliness)
- Seiketsu (清潔) (standardized work practices)
- Shitsuke (躾) (sustaining discipline)
- [Many thanks to Zone Filters for the Kanji]
Systemkey™ also draws inspiration from the ingenuity of "ask why five times" in order to get at the real answer. There is no step in the model for "conflict resolution," if the subject-matter expert can't or won't answer, that is recorded as a fail and reported upstream.
So one of the most unsung strengths of the model in my mind, is the huge confidence boost it gives to those just starting out in their careers. Access to the brightest minds in the company, with a guided tour through the company's business process, all the while doing real work that produces tangible, actionable results? What new-hire or intern could ask for more?^top