Black Magic Employees

Detail Scheduling: Next Week’s Production

It’s 4 pm Friday, on a winter afternoon. From Terry the Scheduler’s corner the low sun heightens the glowing atmosphere which wafts over the cubical wall, as if her overworked computer is burning oil, Terry furiously working at the keyboard. It has been a hectic day, after a hectic week, with multiple personnel delivering vital information so Terry can fix up next week’s production schedule. The final touches are coming into alignment, mentally organized from the hand written notes on stacks of paper, key information about yields, and sticky note requests that have come across Terry’s desk today.

A New Request via Instant Message

An IM bubble appears on Terry’s screen. Not Hale in Customer Service again she moans as she reads the message:

Hale: A-J had a truck accident, and critical delivery for their client is lost.

Requesting replacement to meet new product release date (in 2 weeks). How soon can I promise delivery?

Terry answers: Tell them in a few weeks. I’m going home now and will look at this next week, probably Tuesday.

The phone rings . . . and rings. Finally keystrokes stop and Terry picks up:

“Yes? . . . No . . . Sorry but it’s not that easy . . . No, no one else can do it . . . Reports won’t show demand . . . Sorry about that but it will take hours to try and figure out . . . No . . . Really? Who said that? . . . Oh, so? . . . Okay, I’ll stay and work on it . . . Yeah, ok.”

Hale: Thanks!

Terry answers: right

Ending the call, Hale is furious. Hale is only trying to support the customer! “How does Terry get away with this?” He mumbles to himself “Critical customer, critical delivery, critical situation, and Terry has the “power” to put me off like this! Really!” There is no good news that Hale can give A-J, and worse yet, there isn’t anyone else to ask for help. Frustrating!

Leaving work, Hale sees the golden glow of low winter sun back-lights the fly-away hairs around Terry’s head. Hale imagines it is either a halo, or ethers from a mysterious cauldron hidden under the desk.

Black Magic Employees

All businesses seem to have them – that employee who is mysteriously getting work done. Their boss can’t explain how they do what they do, but whatever it is, production stays busy, material shortages are few; quality is good, back orders are low, and as long as there’re no emergencies everything goes smoothly.

You know who these people are. The one and only person who has the answer. The one person who can make that tactical decision on what really needs to happen right now. When you make a decision in their absence, they will let you know that you’ve done the wrong thing and just how long it will take to recover.

AND you count on them, your department depends on them. You don’t know what you would do without them, in fact your career success seems to depend on them. You defend them to others. You are a prisoner of their know-how.

Black Magic and Business Risk

Co-workers, managers, directors, are all in awe of the Black Magic Employees, because they don’t know what they do without them. When asked, the magic-makers typically explain that their work is very complicated, and there are a lot of variables. Their processes are personal tribal knowledge learned from on-the-job experiences, or documentation that only they understand. Maybe mayhem, when they are out.

"Maybe Mayhem" is a recipe for chaos.

Tips for solving Chaos

• Look for the chemistry behind the magic Identify what information is needed, why, and who needs it.

• Look for roadblocks to eliminate.

• Seek building blocks to add

Want to know the right formula for continuous operations improvement, contact Nancy Miller direct at nancy@nancydmiller.com

#costefficiency #returns