Digital Transformation Success: Achieving Alignment and Delivering Results with the Process Inventory Framework
Michael Schank
Apress Media (December 2023)
A brilliant combination of macro perspectives with micro analysis
Soon after I began to read this book, I was again reminded of Saint Paul’s discussion of “many parts, one body” in one of his first letters to Corinth. More recently, thirteen colonies affirmed they were “e pluribus unum: Out of many, one.” Whatever their size and nature may be, all high-impact organizations are in proper alignment — and coordination — at all levels ands in all areas of the given enterprise.
As Michael Schank explains in the Introduction, “the Process Inventory framework is the key to transformational success and how to deliver transformational value from it.” It is a framework for capturing every process within an organization and a methodology for managing this information sustainably over time. “One of the guiding principles for Process Inventory is that it must be a complete representation of processes for the organization in scope. To accomplish this, interviews must be conducted following the organizational chart since that represents a complete inventory of the people in the organization.”
The material in this book is organized and presented within three separate but interdependent Parts: “Foundations for Success” (Chapters 1-3), “Applying Process Inventory to Transform Ways of Thinking” (4-7), and “Implementing the Process Inventory Framework” (8-10).
Schank makes brilliant use of several reader-friendly devices, notably Figures (e.g. 2.1 “Organizational Ontology”), Tables (6.1 Intelligent Process Automation Tools and Their Uses), checklist bullet points, sets of “best practices” (e.g. “Maintain Process Modeling Estimation Model” in Chapter 9), and “Key Takeaways” at the conclusion of Chapters 2-10.
These are among the passages in Digital Transformation Success of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Schank’s coverage:
o The Process Inventory Framework (Pages 18-22)
o Customer Personas and Customer Journeys (41-43)
o Defining the Digital Program (54-56)
o Driving Operational Excellence: The Impact of the Toyota Way (65-67)
o Keys to Operational Excellence (68-70)
o Seven Lean Six Sigma Principles (71-77)
o Challenges in Executing Change, and, A Vision for Change Fueled by Process Inventory (90-95)
o Top Challenges in Creating High-Quality Requirements (100-103)
o Organizational Change Management (105-107)
o Enably Enterprise Architecture Design (129-133)
NOTE: I also highly recommend Enterprise Architecture as Strategy, co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weilland , and David Robertson. If anything, the material it provides is more relevant — and more valuable — than it was when the book was first published.
o Opportunities in Enterprise Risk Management (142-146)
o The Future of ERM Fueled by Process Inventory (154-158)
o Defining the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (159-170)
o Control Tower (186-192)
o Guiding Principles for Success (196-207)
No brief commentary such as mine can do full justice to the quality of the material provided in Digital Transformation Success. However, I hope I have at least indicated why I think so highly of Michael Schank’s contributions to knowledge leadership in so many dimensions of digital transformation. Bravo!
* * *
In school, college, and then graduate school, I learned more and learned it faster when I discussed material in a group with 3-5 others taking the same course. I also recorded key Q&As on 3×5 file cards (based on course material, whatever the subject) with a Q on one side and the A on the other, held together by a thick rubber band. I carried them with me and reviewed the content whenever I could.
Here are two other suggestions while reading Digital Transformation Success: First, highlight key passages Also, perhaps in a lined notebook kept near at hand, record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines), page references, and lessons you have learned as well as your responses to key points posed within the narrative. Also record your responses to specific or major issues or questions addressed, especially to the “Key Takeaways” at the conclusion of Chapters 2-10.
These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of key material later.