Six is a common number in Nature
Yesterday, a group met in London to discuss Government Shared Service issues under the “Chatham House Rule”.
Out of that discusssion came a great “rule of six”, a number that occurs in nature in some interesting ways. The rule of six describes the main factors affecting the relative success of a Shared Service initiative, measured by its capacity to deliver anticipated savings.
The rule set out these six ideas:
- Simple: if the shared service idea is simple to explain and understand, it is more likely to deliver anticipated savings.
- Small: large ideas are complex and have an implementation overhead, that sometimes prevents savings being realised. Small ideas are not easy to identify, but often will evoke a reaction of “oh yes, obvious isn’t it”…once explained. We reflected whether it takes an insightful genius to spot a small idea that others overlook?
- Measurable: If, at the outset, all stakeholders can see how success can be measured, buy-in follows and savings delivered…or so out group thought
-
Sequential steps: medium to large ideas succeed where sequential steps are identified at the outset, or along the way. Is this an expansion on idea #2?
- Leadership: A shared service will involve multiple organisations or multiple departments. Leadership by common minded Senior Management will inspire teams to work towards the common goal
- User-obvious benefits: the “what’s in it for me” piece. If those who implement the shared service idea get something that they truly value from the shared service, they will embrace it with vigour and enthusiasm
Bees organise their energy savings into six-sided stores - honeycomb
In nature, if we wish to pack irregular soft-sided objects as close together as possible, they will form hexagons – like the honeycomb in a bee-hive. If government wishes to realise massive savings, the rule of six may happen organically; could it also be evangelised?
0 Response to “Six: the way to realise Shared Services Savings?”
Guidelines for Comments: The Confirm Blog is hosted by Pitney Bowes Inc. By using this Blog you agree that you are solely responsible for any comment you post to the Blog and you agree to abide and be bound by the Pitney Bowes TERMS OF USE.
Please stay on topic. We may redirect certain submissions if they are better handled through another channel such as customer service. With regard to the content of any submissions you make through this Blog, you agree to remain solely responsible and agree to not submit materials that are unlawful, defamatory, abusive or obscene. You also agree that you will not submit anything to this Blog that violates any right of a third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights.
Pitney Bowes reserves the right to terminate your ability to use and/or submit posts to this Blog. Pitney Bowes may not review all postings and is not responsible for comments posted on this Blog. Pitney Bowes nevertheless retains the right to not post, edit a posting or to remove any postings in its sole and absolute discretion.
Opinions expressed by authors and commenters of this blog are theirs alone, and do not represent Pitney Bowes' position, strategies and opinions. Pitney Bowes is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied in this blog.