When presented with a choice, choose the simplest solution: the RAID process methodology

In science there is a principle known as Occam’s razor, which basically means that when faced with two or more theories about a phenomenon, generally the simplest is the best. This principle is called a razor because it is used to “shave” complicated elements.

Albert Einstein once said that “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” As with many things that Einstein created, developed, or commented on, there is a lot of wisdom in this quote. Our goal is to make things as simple as possible, but not to the point where what we are simplifying no longer makes sense.

Both Occam’s razor and Einstein’s quote indicate that, where possible, we should choose the simplest solution when faced with a choice. The same is true when implementing business process methodologies. Keep the process as simple as possible, which, for our purposes, means it’s easy to implement, repeat, measure, and track.

For example, humans tend to remember five to ten things (eg, numbers, names, etc.) at a time in their working memory. This is one of the reasons why phone numbers in the US are for the most part ten digits, as this number of digits is generally easier for humans to remember and memorize long term. It helps that this also happens to give a large enough number of digits to support a large number of unique number combinations.

If a process methodology or workflow has many steps, we usually forget them unless we use some kind of mnemonic to help us remember them. Beginning musicians use a mnemonic such as “Every Good Boy Does Fine” to remember the notes in the bass clef. The notes are EGBDF, or “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” Here, the mnemonic helps them remember five notes and their order. Clearly, if we were to remember 30, 20, or even 15 items, the task would be a bit more difficult even if a mnemonic is used.

It is important to reduce the process to its simplest form, but not to the point where it is no longer coherent. There are various process methodologies that describe multiple steps to execute the process. The more steps there are, the more there are to remember. The more things we remember, the more likely we are to forget them and, in turn, the more likely we are not to use the process.

In my opinion, the simplest form of any process is when the process is described as input->process->output. This tends to be too simple for most people because it has unknowns. The main unknown is the word “process” in the middle. People tend to want to know what the “process” is before buying it as the simplest way. People tend to walk away from the unknown. People also think that the other two attributes “input” and “output” are unknown. This is a case where the process workflow, input->process->output, is simpler but has gone too far, making it useless as a process. If we take a look at the brief description or definition of these three components, one way to do it is:

• Input: when something is RECEIVED. Here, “something” is anything we wish to process.
• Process: This can be a two-step procedure at a high level where we ANALYZE the “something” and then IMPLEMENT it.
• Output – Where the results of our analysis and implementation are DELIVERED.

As noted, there are four components to best describe input, process, and output. The four components are Receive->Analyze->Deploy->Deliver. So the process workflow at its simplest without being too simple so it doesn’t make sense, is Receive something, Analyze it, Deploy something based on your analysis, and then Deliver the results of your deployment. I call this process Workflow RAID, which is the first letter of the four components Receive->Analyze->Deploy->Delivery.

In the early 1900s, there was an attempt to make implementation processes within organizations down to a science. Years later, this work culminated in the introduction of quality programs such as TQM, ISO, and Six Sigma. In my experience, I’ve found that implementing process improvements is more of an art than a science because it’s hard to ignore the human aspects when it comes to process improvement initiatives. I think that since the dotcom boom of the 1990s, the art of process improvement has been lost. Starting with process simplicity as the primary goal, RAID is an attempt to help organizations think of a process workflow that is not too complicated and simple enough to help organizations quantify their success with an overhead of minimal process.