Always a Better Way
Turn every operating process into a measurable improvement opportunity
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
Treat every process as the best version found so far, not the permanent answer. Give team members at every level permission to challenge why the work is done in its current form. Define the outcome that matters, identify adjustable inputs, and test alternatives using comparable data. In logistics, those inputs might include packaging dimensions, materials, carrier price, route performance, delivery time, and customer satisfaction. A decision engine or scorecard can then allocate each job to the provider with the best combination for that case. Share lost opportunities with suppliers so they can improve specific lanes, allowing competition to reduce cost and improve service. Once a better method wins, adopt it without turning it into a new unquestionable rule.
Origin
Kogan contrasted rigid corporate procedures with his company's internal philosophy that there is always a better way. He illustrated it with packaging changes and a freight engine that selected carriers using dimensions, destination, shipping performance, and customer satisfaction.
Core principles
- 01The current process is provisional, not sacred
- 02Anyone close to the work may question it
- 03Operational choices should follow customer outcomes and data
- 04Competition between providers can improve price and service
How to run it
- 1
Challenge the inherited process
Ask why the process works this way and explicitly permit junior as well as senior team members to question it.
Pro tip Ban the phrase that something is done this way merely because it always has been.
Watch out Questioning without a defined outcome can become disruption rather than improvement.
- 2
Choose a measurable outcome
Specify the cost, speed, quality, or customer-satisfaction measure the change should improve.
Pro tip Use customer benefit as the tie-breaker.
Watch out A cheaper process may be worse if it damages delivery or satisfaction.
- 3
Expose the changeable inputs
Break the process into variables such as dimensions, materials, provider, route, price, and prior performance.
Pro tip Look for small physical changes that repeat across large volumes.
Watch out Do not protect a variable because of personal relationships or perks.
- 4
Run a comparable test
Evaluate alternatives against the same input data and outcome measures.
Pro tip Automate allocation when the decision is frequent and the criteria are explicit.
Watch out A comparison is unreliable when providers are measured on different routes or conditions.
- 5
Create the next competition
Adopt the current winner, show other providers where they lost, and invite targeted improvements.
Pro tip Make the route-level opportunity visible so suppliers can respond precisely.
Watch out Never let the current winner become exempt from future measurement.
In the wild
Kogan built an engine that selected a freight provider for each shipment using item dimensions, customer location, previous shipping times, and customer satisfaction. The company showed carriers the lanes they had and had not won, inviting better rates on the lost routes.
→ Carrier competition and shipment-level selection were used to drive costs down for customers.
Common mistakes
Optimizing one metric
Selecting only on price can damage delivery performance or satisfaction. Compare the full set of relevant outcomes.
Making improvement permission symbolic
The culture fails if junior employees may question a process in theory but their evidence is ignored in practice.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for repeatable operating processes with measurable costs, service levels, or satisfaction outcomes.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for safety-critical processes where uncontrolled experimentation could cause serious harm.
From the transcript
“absolutely everything in our business is up for grabs”
“the way we do things now is just the best way we've come up with until now”
From the episode
536: He Made $450M Selling TV's for $0.01
Ruslan Kogan