The Lean Book of Lean

9 The Dreaded Business Case!

There's no getting away from this one, sooner or later your “…trust me, I know what I'm doing…” line will fail to carry the necessary weight to get the commitment you need to get things done. Someone will ask you to back up the claims with some hard numbers: the dreaded business case. In this chapter we look at the various types of business case, some common problems associated with them and a few tips to try to avoid them.

Business case, benefits case, case for action, best guess, what?

First things first: when the question comes, as it surely will, you need to establish what EXACTLY you are being asked for. This might sound like a stupid statement to make and you may consider it a bit of an insult to your intelligence, but you would be surprised how often the asker and the doer part company with a totally different understanding of what the outcome should be. I myself have fallen into this trap with very painful results! Presenting your high-level case for action to a confused-looking executive team to be told after you've finished, “…very good, but where's the detail, who has signed off on it, how does it link with the detailed projects?…”. Oops!

The first thing to do is to find out what the “xxxxxx” case is going to be used for and who is asking for it. Next, go see that person and ask the same question, even if it's the CEO. Especially if it's the CEO! Understand what level of detail is needed and why, who needs to agree with it before it's ...