OK, here’s our saga to date: In part one we talked about definition; in part two we discussed data identification and collection, and interim containment; part three discussed identifying the root cause. Part four discussed fixing the true causes of the problem, and part five was about fixing other potential causes at the same time.
So, we’re done now, right?
We’re taking our data, verifying that our fixes work; we’re the heroes of the organization (or at least no one’s yelling at us right now), and we can go back to our other assignments… but wait!
There’s one last step (actually, it’s 1.5 more steps)…
Step 0.5: Make sure that all the work is documented and in a repository somewhere.
No, you won’t remember in eight months what you folks did to fix this.
No, you can’t rely on memory.
Yes, it would be good to have this stuff all captured somewhere.
So do it.
Corporate knowledge – good. Relying on memory – bad.
Step 1: Celebrate!
You’ve all done some incredible work – so take a moment (or two) to recognize and celebrate what you’ve done – who’s gone ‘above and beyond’ in the call of duty; whose crazy idea was the breakthrough you needed; and who remembered to bring the food to keep the team fueled (hey, brownies are the cornerstone of many a sugar-induced great idea…)
“Let’s all celebrate and have a good time”, as Kool and the Gang says…