Ironically, process standardization can undermine the very performance it’s meant to optimize. Many processes work best when treated like artistic work, rather than rigidly controlled.
To decide if a process should be more artistic than scientific, look for these conditions:
- Inputs to the process are variable (for example, no two pieces of wood used to make a Steinway piano soundboard are alike)
- Customers value variations in the process’s output (pianists appreciate the distinctive sound quality of their own pianos)
If your process is artistic, train employees in the judgment required to respond creatively to variable conditions. Ritz-Carlton recaptured its reputation for unrivaled service when it empowered employees to improvise their responses to individual guests’ needs.
The Idea in Practice
Hall and Johnson recommend these steps for managing your processes once you’ve determined which ones should be artistic:
Develop an infrastructure to support art
These practices can help:
- Create appropriate metrics. Artistic processes must rely on external measures of success. So continually expose artists to customer feedback.
Example:
At Steinway, piano voicers (who adjust completed pianos to perfect each instrument’s feel and sound) interact directly with professional pianists.
- Manage artistic and scientific processes separately. In a surgery center, repetitive work that can be standardized (such as high-volume hernia repair or Lasik corrective eye surgery) is managed separately from more complex inpatient surgery that requires individual judgment.
- Build effective training programs. Provide employee “artists” with experiences such as apprenticeship with a master, stories of outstanding customer service, and extended time with a customer. These experiences will help them develop an understanding of customers’ needs, the judgment required to act without perfect information, and the ability to learn from both good and bad outcomes.
- Tolerate failure. The variations characterizing artistic processes make it impossible to satisfy every customer on the first try. So institute extensive quality inspections to prevent failures from affecting customers. And systematically analyze failures to identify which ones could be prevented or minimized in the future.
Periodically reevaluate the division between art and science
Regularly ask yourself:
- What new technologies can help make a science of art?
- Do my customers still value variation?
- How do the costs of art stack up against the benefits?
- What opportunities does art allow that science doesn’t?
Example:
MinuteClinic has hundreds of walk-in medical offices. It has lowered costs and improved quality of basic health care by developing decision-support software that leads nurse practitioners and physician assistants through a step-by-step process for diagnosing and treating common ailments (strep throat, bladder infection, conjunctivitis). MinuteClinic continually evaluates the line between art and science: Though it keeps exploring ways to enhance its software and related processes to treat additional diseases, it also gives its clinicians enough freedom in their interactions with patients to deliver a personal customer experience.
