Don’t be delayed by the ‘high priests’.

Don’t be delayed by the ‘high priests’.

Darrell Velegol, PhD

2024may10

Recently I had a visit to the local hospital. My discharge depended on getting an interpretation of a test I had taken, and it was taking many hours. Another patient (a roommate in the hospital) was held up, and after a few hours, just LEFT. Did a full jailbreak! And as I started to get frustrated, I realized that I as a professor probably do the same thing at times. A student needs a quick email sent, and I’m the bottleneck.

How do we avoid having the “high priests” -- e.g., the law partners, surgeons, full professors, owners -- be the bottleneck for our processes? Here are a few ideas:

1. Technology. Is there a reliable technology that can do the work that the high priest does? For some of the people listed above, this might include AI.

2. Processes. By standardizing certain processes, can you clarify how to do certain jobs, making them do-able by others, especially after …

3. Training. Can you enable more people to do certain tasks? While some tasks are critical to get right, many tasks are such that rare mistakes are less costly than frequent inaction.

4. Feedback. Nobody asked ME about the delays at the hospital. This might have put it on their radar. Make sure you know what is the bottleneck in your processes.