Example Reflection – Visualization

Challenge & Selection  The business challenge that we face is automation. Automation could eliminate 20 - 30% of the  jobs by 2020. If we don’t get there first with a viable solution, it means our competitors which  most likely will result in irreversible loss of market share.     In designing a path forward, we are faced with multiple complex choices. Which technologies  should we select and which tasks should be automated in what order and how do you get all of  the legacy IT systems to talk to each other.    We are constrained by limited coding resources and are further challenged by a high number of  customized approaches to delivering our services.    The tool I chose is visualization. In the complex and noisy environment we find ourselves.  Visualization has proven to be an invaluable tool helping us navigate our way forward.     Application  There are actually two applications that I want to share. The first is a visualization of the future.  My team has developed tools for harvesting data. To date this has been an necessary and  annoying task performed by our clients and our staff. Well getting data, while important, isn’t  necessarily compelling.    We have seen some important resignations of late, and the staff is struggling to see the value of  their work. All of them have been part of client delivery teams and they know how much drudge  work goes into our product. It takes thousands and thousands of hours, to acquire the data we  need, analyze it, and issue our findings. They have either worked till 3am and been back at  work at 9am or they have a close friend who has - not once, but on a regular extended basis.     What we needed was a compelling vision of the future. One that was simple to understand and  could re-inspire our team. We created a visualization not with cartoons, but with words:                                      10,000 hrs -> 3,000 hrs    It is compelling. They all know the impact of taking a 10,000 hour job down to 3,000 hours. The  delivery teams will be able to spend time with their loved ones. They will be able to spend some  time during the weekend not working. They will be able to have a life outside of work.    The second visualization we created dealt with how we are going to attack the high degree of  customer customization. Because our IT resources are limited, we created a visualization of a  visual programming environment that would allow anyone with basic computer skills to write and  share custom applications by simply using visual programming. All the user will need to do is  wire up block diagram of their algorithm and the internal machinery of the application will turn

that into working software code. The visualization for this consisted of a mockup of the user  interface and a diagram of how the various layers of the underlying machinery would work  together.    Insight & Approach   It is surprising how much of a calming effect the visualizations have had. The image of 10,000  hours -> 3,000 hours has brought a lot of reassurance and comfort to the team. They can see it  and they can see their part in it. This is an image that is being discussed over coffee. Discussed  during conference calls, and is actively shaping our decision process.    The visual programming environment was an idea that was discussed several times in the past,  but it was only when we developed the visualization for the concept were we able to garner  leadership support. It is still surprising how much of an impact it made. Without the visualization,  there were long discussions and debates. With the visualization it was a very short presentation  to leadership. They saw the idea and said it was a great idea and we should do it. The whole  conversation took about 5 minutes. Amazing!

