Well, I have just finished delivering my first class in Australia and what I can say? I don’t see how it is possible that the people here could be more “switched on.”

Not only did the class - a diverse class from all over Australia from private and public organizations - get it, they employed the CEM Methods and Techniques on the case studies in the class with a clarity and focus that took the results to new levels of optimization, alignment and innovation. Remember what we have said over and over, our training only gives us a way to open the door to the possibilities to radical new improvement opportunities but is up to the people using CEMM to actually produce results - and hence, value. There is no doubt about it. BPM is not only alive and well down under it is flourishing in a way that the rest of us should learn from, creating the simultaneous benefits of Increased Revenues, Decreased Costs and Enhanced Service that will easily drive business success in any organization anywhere in the world.

Obviously I’m excited by the experience I have had here but I want to share another aspect of my time in Sydney, the fact that I have created new friends that I will certainly cherish for the rest of life.

While I came here to deliver our advanced BPM training what I found here came as quite a surprise. The people in Australia are about as real as real can get. I don’t know if this would seem a complement to the people here there is no doubt Australia and Texas share the same heart. If I may, I think that Australia is a part of Texas - just as I think that Texas is a part of Australia. Considering that as far as I am concerned people don’t get better than those you find in Texas that is saying a lot.

From the class I have made friends. Not acquaintances, people I know, or people I have an association with but true friends. Considering that I am friendly with many, courteous with most, associate with some, and really care for a few there’s far more in those words than words can convey.

But enough of the mushy stuff! What else is important about the experience of this trip?

I make an observation and if you aren’t already “switched on” yourself then you need to pay close attention. The observation that I made is that people who are NOT caught up in all of that egotistical, self-validating, inside-out stuff…. people that are open-minded, that care more about what success they can create for the right reasons… people who want move on from “doing things right” to “doing the right things”… the advanced BPM techniques of the Certified Process Professional and CEMM immediately become the enabler for them to go to a whole new place. It’s real folks, very very real. ASK THE PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA THAT ATTENDED MY CLASS. They will tell you the story and if you listen it will change your world forever.

So here it is plain and simple. What you bring to our classes - you not us - is the single determinate for what you take away. Your attitude, your perceptions, your willingness (or not) to be shown something very special and powerful is what determines what you get from the class. The methods we teach work, every time in every process in any part of the world. The will open the door to opportunities that eclipse what we were able to find before we had them. But only we can decide if we find that or not. As we say in Texas, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

So if you’re thinking of joining one of our classes please make sure it’s for the right reason. If you’re planning on attending to get more of the same old stuff - you won’t. If you’re coming to hear about “industry best practice” - you won’t. If you’re coming to learn a perspective, rigid, highly structured and complex way of fixing more of those affects - you won’t get it.

If you’re coming for the right reasons you will leave our class with more than you could possibly hope to have received. If you’re coming for the wrong reasons you will leave frustrated, you will have disrupted the learning experience of the rest of the class and you will have disrespected our coaches far more than you could ever realize considering how hard they work to deliver unique benefit to you.

For those of you that are thinking of joining one of our CPP classes for the wrong reasons I ask that you not do so. Find some inside-out thing that will reinforce your the reality you have chosen to live in.

For those of you that are thinking of joining a class for the right reason be assured - you will walk away with a new perspective that will create value for you the rest of your life.

Terry Schurter
Director - International Process and Performance Institute
www.ipapi.org

PS - Any of my mates down under care to add in your comments on the experience we shared together?