(2020-08-31) Conquering Failure Demand

Conquering Failure Demand. John Seddon defines Failure Demand as “demand caused by a failure to do something or to do something right for the customer”.

Failure Demand is Unnecessary Work

because the same customers are having to call back because their issue remains unresolved (failure demand) — needlessly consuming call center capacity.

Wouldn’t a better measure of success be solving the customer’s problem right first time?

Vanguard estimates Failure Demand constitutes ~50% of the total demand in most organisations.

Unfortunately this failure demand is often misunderstood by managers, and the common reaction is to add further call centre supervisors or processes. This only adds further complexity and cost, amplifying failure demand.

this misdiagnosis is not the fault of managers, it is just a reflection that they are often distanced from reality due to the design and structure of the organisation.

If managers are the ones with the authority to solve the cause of failure demand, they must be the ones who trace and understand the underlying cause. (management cybernetics)

we should create room for staff at the coal face to engage in continuous improvement: identify, diagnose and design for the reduction of failure demand. This leads to fulfilled employees, happier customers and reduced costs