Customer Reviews

Human Interactions: The Heart And Soul Of Business Process Management: How People Reallly Work And How They Can Be Helped To Work Better

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With the current business climate asking if IT really matters anymore (as a differentiator) and reduced spending on new systems while trying to get the most from existing ones, Harrison-Broninski steps into the breech with some truly original analysis. His book essentially forces us to consider the question: "What should we change if people really are the most valuable asset in business?"

The author's answer is both profound and feasible. While he does not discard the current generation of workflow and BPM systems, he finds their value only in a limited range of processes that can be described mechanistically. Today's systems force workers to be in lockstep with machines and the timing those machines (software) assume. As an alternative, Harrison-Broninski offers us an in depth look at how people actually work (based upon over a decade of his research and that of other experts) and proposes a new type of BPM solution he calls a Human Interaction Management System (HIMS). In fact, he has built a HIMS called RADRunner, which you can download, and use, free of charge. There is a technical section in chapter six, which briefly explains the main considerations for building or including a HIMS in commercial solutions, which the author fully expects in the future. RADRunner is the author's attempt to prove his theory with something that can be implemented with users today - and it has been. This book is not about his trying to sell software, but rather to give rise to a new breed of more effective BPM solutions. Harrison-Broninski seems to be more of a researcher than an entrepreneur, though he has qualities from both.

A HIMS is a combination of existing, proven technologies and the author's careful thinking about how people really function as knowledge workers. With many economies shifting to collaborative knowledge workers (interaction worker) and away from heads-down assembly line type workers (independent worker), the need for systems that make the most of human efficiencies seems natural. But this is easier said than done; this book takes a big step in the right direction. Harrison-Broninski's analysis observes human work occurring in five main stages - Research, Evaluate, Analyze, Constrain and Task (REACT). Most systems today only account for the Task portion of this overall process, but a HIMS tries to facilitate (or at least not interfere) with all of them.

REACT, as described in the book, can be readily observed in all sorts of human activity - whether ordering food in the drive-through, building a back deck, hunting or implementing a new system in the office. One interesting point is that when humans work, we literally decide how to work first. Then as the work proceeds, new information arrives that transforms the process a team or individual will follow. The "process" of human projects is not a static entity defined up front and a HIMS is perfectly aware of this and even encourages the change to happen naturally. This kind of dynamic process change is not easily facilitated in today's workflow or groupware. The author relies upon Role Activity Diagrams (RAD) to describe processes accounting for human factors. The notion of a role(s) for each user is taken to a new level with HIMS.

I could go on and on about how much I like the book, its topic and the writing of its author. But, like many great ideas, HIMS probably face an uphill battle against tradition. This is not to fault the idea itself, but just to note that even less ambitious BPM solutions run into cultural trouble (perhaps because they don't take a HIMS approach, it could be argued). The following points are some specifics on this overall concern. First, the Role Activity Diagrams are somewhat intuitive but also challenge long-standing training about how diagrams are interpreted (timing is not prescribed). The thinking behind HIMS RAD is great, but for now, as the author concedes, it cuts against the grain of training. Second, as with all BPM, a HIMS requires extensive integration, especially to realize the human benefits it aims for. The author does not stress this point, but it is clear from the books' goals and looking at the documentation/features of RADRunner that integration costs can run deep with a HIMS (both good and bad). Third, there may be an issue related to a gradual rollout (small pilot) of a HIMS. A HIMS delivers value only to the extent it is in sync with real-life work of people in the organization, but the less it is deployed, the less in sync it will be. Because the HIMS seeks to model human patterns so accurately (more so than other types of systems) it would seem to be an acute problem to not get a complete population of workers involved at once. Fourth, on a technical note, the HIMS transaction model seems to require ACID behavior (specifically rollback) for any enterprise interface since a large rollback may be required when a task finishes in a state that contradicts business rules (postconditions). Databases and queuing systems typically have rollback, but many other enterprise interfaces like ad-hoc web services, file transfers and e-mail do not provide this behavior, yet these may well be systems the user is affecting during their work.

All new ideas have unanswered questions and I offer mine in the spirit of advancement more than criticism. I love this book. It has caused me to think and learn about processes in a healthy way. The author is a hard-working genius and I truly hope his ideas see the fruition they deserve. It seems inevitable to me, just a question of time. Buy this brilliant book if you are deeply interested in the interaction of people and computers, especially in the not too distant future.

This book offers a refreshingly different perspective on BPM. Instead of the thinly veiled system approach of many other books Keith reminds us that managing and controlling processes is what we are ultimately trying to achieve. He also reminds us that whatever people may say or think the fact is that most work processes (and the hardest ones to control) occur between people (rather than between computer systems). The book puts forward some very powerful ideas to support these new ways of thinking about processes and the systems that support them. These suggestions and arguments are supported by a great deal of thought and theory.

If Geary Rummler is to be remembered for "Managing the White Space" on the organization chart then surely Keith will hope to become known as the man who set forward the agenda for "Managing the White Space" in the process map!

The central idea of the book is that the issue is less to do with understanding and automating individual processes and more to do with managing and controlling the literally thousands of processes that go to make up an organisation. This of course cannot be carried out effectively without fully understanding and managing the Human Interactions of which most work is comprised. As Keith points out "Many organizations have yet to realize that they are sleepwalking into a world where we simply move from a set of legacy applications to a set of legacy processes and swap a set of functional silos for a set of process silos." In that respect this book is a must read for Process Professionals and Systems Analysts alike.

In essence the book has four elements to it - and they do not necessarily appear in order - they are;

a) That Human Interactions form the basis of most of the work in an organisation.
b) An explanation of the science and psychology behind how such interactions take place.
c) The argument that current approaches to capturing and modelling these interactions are unsuitable.
d) That there are lessons to be gained from Role Activity Theory that may help.

Items a) and b) are very well covered (although it might have been nicer if they had been specifically separated out), whilst items c) and d) are a matter of perspective.

In his arguments on modelling Keith quite rightly asserts that for most business users current notations and tools are hard to follow and onerous in use. However from a personal perspective I suspect the alternative modelling approach suggested in the book may suffer from the same fate. But, as Keith points out, the issue is not about which notation one uses to model the interactions - it is more about the fact that they need to be captured and managed in a structured way. As ever the challenge is that almost any kind of model suitable for constructing a system will be constructed by specialists using some kind of specialist notation. Whereas business people are actually quite comfortable with the concept of flow charts to describe what they do (and because they use them for illustrative purposes they are not overly concerned by rigour and detail either.)

The great thing about this book is that instead of suggesting that all previous approaches to process were wrong and offering a new panacea, it tries to borrow and build from what has gone before. In this way hopefully a larger audience should be able to engage with the ideas and theories presented. In particular he suggests that a blend of both Petri nets and pi-calculus be used in order to provide a formal underpinning to process management and permit its potential systemisation. This approach is sure to cause great debate among purists and Keith has certainly positioned himself well for debates with just about everybody!

As with many other books by technologists or vendors, this one too concludes with detailed advice on how to develop and deliver better systems for the business, which whilst it may be useful, is a shame. I say this because the book provides much good information around the theory of how people work together and if that was blended with the desire of businesses to focus on successful customer outcomes, then I think the message could be even more powerful.

In summary I would suggest that this is a great book for Process Specialists and those wishing to gain deeper insight into why in many cases the current technological approaches fail to catch the imagination of business people. It may also appeal to some Business Managers and Business Analysts, as the theory presented in the first three chapters is sure to be of interest, but the technical nature of latter parts of the book may prove to be a slight struggle for some such readers. I also hope that Keith is able to continue to build upon this initial work as I believe that the essence of what he is trying to achieve here is extremely important, and in the world of process truly new ideas are hard to come by.

My perspective on and appreciation of this book may be different from the majority of its readers because my interest is not based on expertise in BPM, RAD, UML or even systems design. My comments are based only on an interest in how to optimise organisational performance from an organisation development perspective.

I found Harrison-Broninski's book, Human Interactions, to be both challenging and thought provoking. In it, he convincingly argues that the current state and direction of business process design, implementation and management is sub-optimal because it is based on a mechanistic perspective that sees humans as components within a larger machine. He gives this the label, `machine-driven'. His view is that in doing so it not only makes work more arduous and less engaging than it could be but that it fails to tap into the most valuable aspects of how humans interact to get work done.

He believes that in order to improve productivity and performance this perspective which dominates the world of work needs to be turned on its head. In his view, business processes should be designed, implemented and managed in a way that supports and fits around how humans work best not the other way around. He gives this the label, `human-driven'.

Based on my own experiences of collaborative work both as a participant and as an HR/Learning and Development consultant, I found Harrison-Broninski's analysis of `The Problem of Work' to be intellectually sound and his proposed resolutions to be intuitively convincing. Perhaps this is because in constructing his framework of concepts he draws up the ideas of creative leadership, `The Experience Economy', complexity science and social learning, all of which I regard as essential to the future development of organisational productivity and performance.

I can easily imagine that anyone who is comfortable with the conventional thinking of business processes design, implementation and management may well find Harrison-Broninski's views and proposed solutions distinctly unsettling because, in essence, he proposes a fundamental change in the power dynamic between those that design and manage business processes and those that implement or execute them. There are two elements that, in my view, are likely to be particularly challenging. Firstly, the idea of `Support for Mental Work', where he states, `A large part of what humans do has little concrete output'. Secondly, the idea that `Processes change processes', where he states, `Hence actions and interactions in human-driven processes must be able to affect continual change to the process itself.' Conversely, if one agrees with the direction Harrison-Broninski is taking, these may constitute his most valuable insights.

For those individuals convinced by the fundamentals and the workability of Harrison-Broninski's ideas, as I am, this represents a robust and much needed articulation of a perspective based on the belief that there is much human potential that goes untapped in organisations. And that the best way to tap this human potential is to start with how humans work best and to design, implement and manage business processes accordingly, using software systems to support, facilitate and empower.

I found Harrison-Broninski's book both fascinating and inspiring. I for one would be delighted to work in any organisation that took his ideas and concepts to heart.

Given the challenging nature of his ideas and the level of commitment required from senior management for their successful implementation, I suspect it will be some time before there is a critical mass in their uptake. It's the inevitable downside of thinking that proposes a sea change, no matter how valuable the potential benefits.

I wish him every once of luck and good fortune.

I got what I wanted from this book, which was a convincing account of RAD and why it is so different from "mechanistic" process languages like BPMN and BPEL. Although RAD diagrams resemble BPMN and UML activity diagrams (roles look like swim lanes, refinement looks like parallel or conditional branching, and so on), RAD runs much differently. While reading, I thought of the business rules connection, and sure enough KHB mentioned it explicitly a few pages later. As for KHB's recommended changes on Ould's classic RAD, I like them so much I think we should call this new RAD "KHB RAD."

Interesting take on Petri Nets and the Pi Calculus is too. It's different from what I had thought, but I buy it.

The more business-oriental material on how people work didn't strike me as something I would want to present in front of clients. Is everyone such a prima donna at work? How are REACT and AIM supposed to guide them? The discussion is generally long-winded, anemic, and poorly edited. As a management book, "Human Interactions" is abysmal. The RAD coverage saves the day.

For the past few years, companies have turned to Business Process Management (BPM) in pursuit of major operational improvements. Most IT vendors now have BPM offerings ... but something is missing. Most BPM systems deal quite well with system-to-system interactions, but fall short in providing support for human-to-human interactions (the way work really gets done!).This book breaks new ground by providing a complete and rigorous framework for human interactions, and is a must read for those companies considering or already deploying BPM systems.

In addtition, the concepts explained in the first part of the book will help any company, regardless of its use of technology, to better understand how people really work, and, as the authors says, how they can be helped to work better. From the technology savvy to the technology challenged, I highly recommend "Human Interactions" for anyone wanting to master the new world of work in today's extremely competitive business environment.

I am Senior Business Process Management Consultant with over 7 years of experience in the implementation of projects bpm. I bought this book hoping to find something new to resolve the problems that companies are struggling in the execution of business processes. Initially the book promises because attempts to uncover the importance of information technology in implementing business processes, trying to focus the reader that what really matters in process redesign is the way people interact with the nature of work. According to my experience, is precisely here where process performance can be improved. However after the introduction, the book fails to explain how to design and improve business processes, I think that even worse is the approach taken on the notation used - Role Activity Diagram, to analyze processes. In the book the author explains that this notation did not had the support because there were not software that could permit its use. I think that is the opposite: the notation is so complex and somewhat not intuitive thus it business users did not use it. Today, BPMN is becoming the standard represent business processes, because it gives a clear vision how activities are executed. In many books and some professionals advocate that looking to flowcharts you can find many improvement opportunities, but I believe exactly the opposite. In flowcharts you can to see gains changing tasks sequence (from series to parallel, for example), but the major changes in business processes can be obtained by observation at the place where the process is executed or by collecting and analysing data. Thus, it seems wrong that the focus of the book is also attempting to implement one more graphical representation, because BPMN is commonly used in the BPM community.
I would like to be wrong on the book review, but I can only give a low score. The type of writing also does not help much to understand the concepts (heavily focused on academics rather than for professional use). If you are looking for something new about BPM this book is not the right one.