Recently, I traveled via Cologne’s central train station. I forgot to calculate that November 11 is a special day in Cologne. And whether you like carnival or not, it will be memorable. I had to catch my connection train, but everything was different this November 11 evening.
Thousands of people were in this train station, and almost everyone was in a costume. Squeezed between hundreds of people on a platform, waiting for a train, it felt like I was the only sober person there. This is what chaos must feel like. So many people laugh, argue, fight, sing, hug, celebrate, and have fun. There was a band about 10m away on the platform, tirelessly performing in the middle of the crowd. Right next to me was a person sleeping on the ground dressed like a bee. Right next to this sleeping bee, a puking princess and a pirate arguing with heavy gestures with Robin Hood. And people everywhere. I wasn’t aware that so many people could fit on a single train platform; bizarre and impressive at the same time.
The situation became even more traumatic when the announcement was made that the train would arrive at a different platform. Then, the entire crowd got active and moved. But there was no real space to move, but somehow, everyone found their way nonetheless, running, pushing, cursing.
Most of the trains had been delayed since the trains had been heavily overloaded, and drunk people tried to squeeze in or hold the door open for a friend. The trains had been so packed you could not move nor fall in any direction. This is how a fish in a can might feel if still alive. On the plus side, you meet many people and get involved in funny conversations. Here and there, an elbow in your stomach if the person next to you tries to move. This was socializing at its best. I made many new friends, even if I will not meet those people again or might even recognize them without a costume. Interestingly, it was horrible and annoying and fun at the same time.
However, from a quality management perspective, the train station management was prepared for this event. Security guards were on the stairs and the platforms and at the most critical bottleneck points. At first, I thought those yellow high-visibility vests were just a common workaround if you forgot your costume, but those people had been placed there for a reason. They tried to regulate and control the constant flow of drunk people. They stopped people from entering an already overcrowded platform. They tried to get the train doors free from people so that they could close. They ensured nobody was too close to the platform’s edge when a train arrived or departed.
This means there was a process in place for precisely this kind of event. And that’s good! The process had been initiated, and the security guards appeared in the right places. But now, it was observable that those guards did their jobs differently. Some ran around screaming angrily, yelling at people if they didn’t follow their instructions. Others had difficulty getting heard, and it appeared they had given up and just stood there. Again, others did their best but didn’t find a way to influence the crowd. As a result, the customer experience went down. Consider the people on the platforms to be railway customers. Nobody likes to be yelled at or treated without respect, not even the Prince of Persia or Bumble Bee, nor that nun with the strange face tattoo. Other security guards acted in an assertive but understanding, friendly, humorous, and funny way. But probably not because they had been told so, but because it was their way of doing things anyway.
What does this mean? There was a process in place, but it probably wasn’t detailed or precise enough so that the players in that process knew how to execute it. In addition, they were not enabled to perform the process either. It appeared like: “Here is a yellow vest. Show up at this place and ensure nobody gets hurt or delays a train.” But how to do that wasn’t specified, nor were the people enabled to define the ‘how’ themselves.
As a result, the process didn’t work as expected. It failed in significant parts. Sometimes, good intentions, a good start, and a good idea aren’t enough if the implementation has flaws and fails.
And isn’t that the case in many companies? There are processes in place, but people either are unaware of them, essential pieces are missing, people are not enabled or empowered, or the organization is not mature enough to execute the processes. The good intentions got halfway stuck here.
Hence, if you do quality, do it right. There is no half-assing when it comes to quality.