Culture vs. Workflow: Uncovering Hidden Causes of Tension with Kirsten Butzow

“I am pleading for everybody, working in any job, at the start of every one of your projects to say, ‘are we date-driven or are we scope-driven?’ Then, when something unforeseen comes our way, we will gleefully and joyfully make the adjustments and celebrate and move forward.

 

And we will take the human nature desire to have a punitive discussion at that moment in time off the table because it ultimately inhibits the workflow and the culture.”

 

-Kirsten Butzow

 

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, discussing the often overlooked and hidden cause of tension and bad culture in organizations—workflows.Kirsten Butzow is a product management enthusiast, passionate mentor, leader, and former Pragmatic Instructor.

 

During this episode, Kirsten and Rebecca Discuss:

• How to determine if a perceived cultural issue is actually rooted in a problem with workflow
• Why unexpected rework is a sign of a workflow problem
• Why starting with customer data will bring clarity to workflows
• The importance of agreeing to adjust either scope or date deadlines to better manage resource and time constraints

 

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