Having never been to Africa, I was not sure what to expect when I arrived in Lagos, Nigeria for the first Certified Process Professional (CPP) Open course to be held on that continent.   I was warned of the traffic, yet I had no idea it could take an hour to drive five kilometers to the airport. Nothing prepared me for the volume of street vendors or the mass of people. I was also not prepared for the sharpest batch of CPP delegates I have had in a while. Representing a number of companies such as Virgin Nigeria and British American Tobacco, these delegates showed up to learn, work hard and also give each other a hard time.

These Nigerians worked the case studies and took those processes way beyond what most teams come up with in terms of actions to significantly reduce Points of Failure and Causes of Work and in creating large landscapes of innovation.  Here is what a few of the students had to say:

“This course is very informative. I have learned to think ‘outside-in’ and the idea of aligning innovation with customer outcomes is exactly what we need to maximize the opportunities that exist in this part of the world.” Funmi Adebayo

“A very useful training, with so many tips to infinitely improve on processes both at work and in personal life.  The coach is very knowledgeable and patiently explained gray areas.” Taiwo Obelawo

“…The course opened my eyes to a lot of processes at work that I would love to change and improve on, given the opportunity.” Dunni Adegboye

Imagine what they will do with the processes in their own companies once they get back to the office.  Beware, if you are a competitor with any of these companies or individuals! Your world is about to be turned upside down and your only defense will be to find yourself at the next Open Course in Lagos in November, Johannesburg in October, or anywhere else in the world.

Congratulations to the August class of CPP 1-2-3 graduates in Lagos, Nigeria!  Job very well done!

Don Smith, CPP Lead Coach

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

Dallas, Texas, USA (PRWEB) – July 9, 2008 – In another industry first, the Bennu Group announces the general availability Open Beta of HerculesX – the first SaaS Business Tool to support CEMM and the advanced BPM approach CEMM encapsulates.

HerculesX supports the entire CEMM approach to customer alignment and process improvement – the same approach that underlies the Certified Process Professional program that has received worldwide acclaim. The Open Beta program provides free public access to HerculesX through September 31, 2008.

Closed beta testing of HerculesX was conducted with people from 4 continents and 12 countries. “You’ve got a great product that deserves all the recognition and socializing it can get!!” commented Nikki Alberts of HBOS Australia while Theo Priestly (Head of BPM, UK Consultancy) states “these guys are blazing the trail in online, on-demand BPM with their HerculesX tool. Its value is in its simplicity and no other tool I’ve seen can document your processes and show you how close you are to true customer alignment so clearly without heavy investment.”

Delivering HerculesX as “Software as a Service” (SaaS) provides a low-cost, pay as you go, no maintenance and no software to install use model. This approach makes HerculesX available to a larger audience while increasing results for everyone using the tool.

“This is a critical milestone for us,” stated Bennu Group CEO Terry Schurter. “HerculesX dramatically improves both the degree of success and personal productivity of the people who use it. In what is called ‘Intersectional Innovation’ (as referenced in the book The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson) HerculesX breaks new ground on multiple levels in how we align and optimize our processes, and how we interact with the tools we use in doing that.”

CEMM (the underlying Method of the Certified Process Professional Program) presents a new way to understand process, identify opportunities and implement changes that simultaneously create Increased Revenues, Decreased Costs and Enhanced Customer Service (the Triple Crown). HerculesX is the first product to support the entire CEMM approach.

“HerculesX is a new breed of software application. Instead of forcing you into doing things a certain way, HerculesX focuses on helping you get things done. Through its simple design and minimal rule set, you can begin to document, analyze, and improve any process immediately,” said Alex Morse, Bennu Group Chief Architect.

The HerculesX Open Beta program is available at www.herculesx.com

About Bennu Group
Bennu Group is the world’s leading business process and performance transformation company. We deliver the business and technology-related insight, tools, methods and training necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CEO’s, CIO’s and senior executives in global corporations and government agencies to business leaders and practitioners; we are the first choice of our clients throughout the world.

Change. What a powerful word. For most people the word “change” elicits an immediately reaction. The word “change” has meaning… but what meaning does it have for you?

The study of human nature tells us that change elicits a primordial response of fear or at least caution. Change means things are not going to be the same and our basic instinct is to pull back into a defensive response of fight or flight because if things are not the same then whatever is different could pose a threat to us!

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One of the issues raised time and time again is the disconnect between what some of us “know” we should do and the chains of existing legacy that continually wrap themselves around us when we actually try to go to a “new place.” It almost seems that many of the other people in the organization are actively resisting our desire to do the Right Things and that they do so through the use of legacy roadblocks.

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Gilead Systems wins the Triple Crown – simultaneously improving revenues, reducing costs and enhancing service.
As Business Week puts it in the prelude to this years review of the top 50 performers in Standard and Poors 500 stock index “for many years pharmaceutical companies viewed the development of HIV treatments as a necessary – but unprofitable – public service. There was some logic to that view, given that the majority of victims lived in developing nations and were unable to pay what drug makers could earn from selling other products. But Gilead Systems had a different perspective"

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