Symptom: The infrastructure that Operations runs is changing too frequently to be stable.
While Engineers want to innovate, it is Operations' job to ensure a reliable services. They do this by being relatively conservative, only accepting innovations when they are needed and well proven. This is because they know that any significant innovation risks disrupting smooth operations. In other words, Operations groups should be a damper on the pace of innovation.
If Engineers are in a position to force innovations on Operations groups, the proper balance will not be achieve. In this circumstance, Operations is disempowered and there is little it can do to insure stability.
The answer is found in better documenting the customer-supplier relationship between Engineering and Operations. In a healthy organization, Operations "buys" infrastructure from Engineers. As a customer, Operations has the right to choose what it buys. (Of course, Operations must be held accountable for having the right infrastructure available to clients.) This customer-supplier relationship ensures a dialectic between the innovators and the operators that leads to a balance between change and stability.
Root cause:Structure, work flows (customer-supplier relationships) copyright 2024 N. Dean Meyer and Associates Inc. All rights reserved.
