Process Amnesia or (That's the way we do It because that's the way we do it)

"Sorry Sir, that's our process". How many times have you heard this said? And how many times have you thought "Well, your process is DUMB!" And how many times would you be right about that? A lot.

What I call process amnesia is when an organisation puts a process in place which over time becomes "the norm" or "just the way we do things". The danger in this is that over time organisations forget why they put the process in place in the first place and just blindly follow it. It remains unchallenged and starts to cripple the organisation. It's like having termites eat the wood that holds up your house.

I experienced an organisation's process amnesia only yesterday. Having realised that my train ticket was faulty I went to the counter at the train station to have it checked. Yes it was faulty they said. Could I have it replaced then, said I. No said they, but if I could bring my receipt in they would replace it. In the meatime they suggested I write a number 19 in a circle on the back of the ticket as this was apparently the secret code which would allow me to bypass the station guards never mind the fact that legally it was a receipt for taxation purposes. Luckily I did have my receipt so I brought the ticket back the next day. I took my receipt and ticket to the counter and was passed an A4 sized form (double sided no less) to which I had to complete and give back to them. So I filled in the form and handed back all the details. At the end of much filling in of forms, stapling and abstract fussying around I was handed a "General Purpose Ticket" - a piece of paper. "What's this for?" I said. "Oh you have to keep that until your new ticket arrives" she explained. "Can't I just have a new ticket now?" I asked. "Oh no" she said, "We have to send all this paperwork off to the audit department in the city who will check the ticket, process the form and send the new ticket back to us within 14 days. If you don't want to do that you can keep your faulty ticket and if you write a number 19 on the back..."

So now I have a piece of paper and a wait of up to 14 days to receive a new ticket. Somewhere back in the deep, dark mists of time there was a reason for this process, but it has been unchallenged for so long it costs cityrail, time and money and enless customer frustration. In any other retail business in the land you'd take your product back with your receipt and get a replacement. Not here.

Cityrail has forgotten why this process exists and until they overcome their process amnesia the customer and the organisation will continue to suffer. 

- TPN