Capacity Management: Guided Practitioner Satnav (1 of 17)

My book Capacity Management: A Practitioner Guide (ISBN 9789087535193 published by Van Haren) was written and published in 2009.  Since then, it has been bought by numerous people and read by many.  A lot of those who have read it came back with similar questions

“This is all very well, but what are the first steps I must take to implement (or improve) capacity management practice (CMP) in my organization?”  This question has been discussed with many sites and subsequent strategic consultancy assignments have followed along the lines of mentoring, masterclasses, gap analysis and process outlines.

So this postscript has emerged.  I have found the analogy of GPS (global positioning system) and satnav (satellite navigation) extremely useful in presenting this sort of analysis.  Almost everyone now accepts the use of some form of satnav rather than relying on intuition, an out-of-date book or atlas, vague memories of previous journeys or second hand information (“turn right at the new school and left where Daly’s garage used to be and then right again after the field with six cattle”).

But satnav requires the identification of precisely where you are now, where precisely you want to go and which sort of route you prefer (fastest, cheapest or via some preferred landmarks/ milestones).  This blog series extends the analogy to consider all practical aspects involved in trying to make capacity management effective.

Clearly, like any postscript, it will make more sense if you have read the book first.

Kipling wrote a poem in his Just So Stories (1902):

I KEEP six honest serving-men
  (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
  And How and Where and Who

Good advice and the sequence I’ll be following is:

WHERE am I?
WHERE do I want to go?
HOW do I get there?
WHAT has to get there?
WHO do I need to travel with?
WHAT else has to happen?
WHEN will I get there?
WHY should I go there?

Follow my blog on Friday when I’ll be starting with ‘Where am I?’

Adam Grummitt

Distinguised Engineer