Not sure which of our open training courses you wish to attend? Maybe you should consider visiting the great state of Texas in May - its your chance to meet the Thought Leaders.

The upcoming CPP open course in Texas is a very unique event. The course, lead by Bennu Group CEO Terry Schurter will also see visits by Steve Towers (SVP - EMEA Bennu Group), Alex Morse (Bennu Group Chief Architect), John Corr (Managing Partner CloseQuarter) and Alexandra Durcikova (Professor University of Arizona and Certified CPP Coach).

Dallas BPM Training

Along with the regular course program we will be using HerculesX in this class for at least one team. In case you don’t already know, HerculesX is the software product we have developed to support the activities we teach in the CPP program along with taking the use of the CPP techniques out to process groupings up to and including the enterprise.

I think its interesting when we start to cross that bridge into a new place with the development of software to support CEMM. Designing software to support a very context-based human set of activities is far different from traditional software development. Traditional software development in the BPM disciplines - and enterprise software in general - normally builds from the concept that the software “does work.”

HerculesX is developed from the premise that people do work and software (if properly designed) helps people get more value-added worked done with a very limited learning curve. That has lead us to several observations that directly contradict the “status quo” in software development.

For example, what business rules should be enforced within a software application (and if you haven’t thought about what embedded business rules are in most software you should really do so)?

What about the “language” of the software application? I’m not talking about geographical language definitions (english, spanish, german, french, so on) I’m talking about the “language” you have to know to use the software.

What assumptions about how people will use the software have been made and included in the software (this is an example of business rules folks)?

Just as we have applied intense rigor in challenging everything we know in developing our advanced (and incredibly simple) process method (CEMM) that is the basis of the Certified Process Professional program, so have we done with HerculesX.

Now let me tell you the business rules challenge is not an easy one! It’s so much easier to develop software that is rules-based as compared to software that enforces only those rules that are ALWAYS applicable. You know the old saying, there’s an exception for every rule. Well in most cases that is true and in HerculesX you won’t find many - if any - of the rules that can have exceptions. HerculesX is designed as a tool to help people increase their productivity and success in applying CEMM. If a rule doesn’t directly contribute to this goal without exception you probably won’t find it in HerculesX.

HerculesX also doesn’t use any new created language (like BPMN, BPEL, Klingon, or whatever). Why on earth could we possibly think it is useful or wise to created more languages? Has common sense truly become uncommon?

It’s hard enough to keep communication flowing among people in a reasonable way even when we are all using the same national language. What do you think happens when we introduce a new created language? Yeah, not a pretty picture. It’s a great way to create a new members-only club but it’s a really stupid thing to do if our interest is in creating business value.

How will people use the software? Do you think everyone will think, act, and do in the same way? Or will there be many minor variations and a number of major ones?

Right. There will be lots of variation and any assumptions we make on how people will use the software are subject to that tried and true observation that when we “assume” we flirt dangerously close to making and “ass” out of “u” and “me.”

So the proper design doesn’t create any new language and has the exact subset of rules that will allow people - in all their variation - to successfully use the tool in their own way. That’s the bottom-line and that is what we have done with HerculesX.

We’ve identified a great venue for our May class in Dallas (a couple of minutes from DFW airport). We’ve got the Texas Room at our selected venue and we’ve still got some room in the class for you. It’s going to be a meeting of the Who’s Who in the BPM/CEM world so its also a great networking opportunity. Plus we get to play with HerculesX :)

I hope to see you there!

Regards,

Terry Schurter
CEO - Bennu Group