A recent post to Business of BPM entitled BAM – Another Acroynm points out that process improvement is predicated on an understood (and by extension, understandable) data model:
Like any improvement effort (BPR, Six Sigma, Lean) you have to understand the data around the process to understand how you can improve it or manage it. Don’t forget that the “M” in BPM is intentional. It’s not just about documenting processes or creating automated solutions. You have to capture the right data and present it to the right person in a easily digestible form where it becomes actionable.
Sound familiar?
“Show me your flowchart and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won’t usually need your flowchart; it’ll be obvious.”
— Fred Brooks / The Mythical Man Month, 1975
And, since this post already consists mostly of quotes from other people, I’ll end with someone reminding us how often we should plan on having well-defined data models at our disposal:
All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.”
— Baruch Spinoza
