First published November 2015
Paul McGowan writes:
There appears to be an increasing customer frustration level in all sectors of business towards errors in products and services, reported through customer feedback, and the company’s response time to fix those errors. Customer expectation levels for faster error correction, perhaps even elimination of errors, appear to be rising exponentially. Here’s the interesting thing: all feedback systems require an error to occur before a correction can be applied. An audio amplifier first commits an error, then a correction is applied, and it waits for the next error to occur. So, short term, errors are made and tolerated.
Consider the significance of what that statement means; errors are not only acceptable and inevitable, they are required for the system to function. An example might be the speed control in your car, which is also a feedback loop. The car accelerates or decelerates above or below the desired speed first, the corrective action happens second. Run, make error, correct error, run.
So if errors are inevitable and acceptable in a system, what has changed to cause increased expectations for quick responses? I think people are getting comfortable with the idea of instant access to information on a 24/7 basis because of the internet. It’s fundamentally changing our expectations as a society.
If I have a question or need an answer, I jump on the net and Google or email till I get an answer. The process takes minutes (sometimes seconds) where even a couple of years ago, we were talking days. We’ve designed in a faster device and are having trouble compensating and keeping up with it.
In a circuit we would be required to shorten the loop and response time to meet the increased speed demands of the circuit. Failure to do so results in an unstable situation, possibly fatal.
I am not sure companies are any different than the circuit. We must shorten our loops and response time or risk instability in the marketplace.
Ain’t life challenging sometimes?
