What's Your Baseline? Enterprise Architecture & Business Process Management Demystified

Some organizations seem to perform better, create results faster, and the people in those organizations seem to have fun on top if this? But how can that be when you are currently stretched in all directions and don't know how to get stuff done? In this episode we are talking with Amy Levine, who is an expert in neuroscience and how it impacts high-performance teams and the leaders (and their leadership style). Science to the rescue! After a decade leading global productivity for Fortune 100 companies, Amy ventured on her own to help even more high-potential organizations improve performance and profitability. It's been a fascinating ride. She partners with leaders and organizations to build high-performing cultures and achieve accelerated growth. With a focus on science-based strategies and proven methodologies, Amy helps clients improve stakeholder collaboration, optimize processes, and drive award-winning results. As a seasoned facilitator and coach, she creates inclusive environments for open dialogue and peer exchange, ensuring effective communication and goal achievement. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Amy can be found on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyllevine Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

Hey J-M, what do think when you hear the word “seven”? Well, maybe the seven wonders of the world? Seven rings? Seven deadly sins? My favourite song by Ariana Grande? Hmm, these are all good ideas, but how about a Season 7 of the What’s Your Baseline podcast? No way, what do we have in store for this season? A mix of interviews and topic shows, just as in all of the last seasons. But we also will mix up some things - we will do video podcasts in addition to the audio podcasts now, And we’ll keep it short and sweet! But what stays the same is the high-quality content that you expect from us and brought us to over 35,000 downloads. So, hang on a bit and we will be back with Season 7 next Monday August 26! See you then! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

Some organizations are like a ticking time bomb when it comes to their processes and (IT) architecture. "The old guard" is about to leave the organization in masses (and sometimes not voluntarily) and a lot of knowledge about how things are wired up - which is what architecture is all about, right? - will leave as well. And not too many organizations are prepared for this, and rather pretend that the young kid fresh from college can fill the hole. Note to those orgs: they won't. Our guest in this episode is Peggy McCann - she is a veteran business professional who has specialized working in areas that transform business operations. Peggy worked extensively in process mapping and process improvement utilizing new and emerging technologies. She developed workflows for companies that installed new ERP systems that necessitated corporate culture and process change, and worked on multi-national implementations advising and working to meld program roll out to national standards and diverse cultures both internal and external. Peggy is a project leader covering process engineering; functional/system integration; process controls and system security, and does business advisement for entrepreneurs; financial tracking, marketing, web presence, and ecommerce. She is an advisor for game development firm dealing with internet safety for children, multi user controls and guidelines - community work establishing and defining arts in action. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Peggy can be found on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggy-mccann-147b564/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

How do I get started? What is the first thing that I look at? Who will be my allies? What do I need to put in place? When you are tasked to build a brand new Business Architecture practice in an organization that has not had one before is a challenging task. When you have to do this in a 60-year old organization in a field that is relatively unique on the market, that might be even more challenging. Our guest in this episode is Breanne Casteel, a catalyst for change enablement through collaboration and connections to drive empathetic business solutions. She is a passionate advocate with 20+ years experience bringing awareness of Business Architecture and Business Analysis skills and mindset to numerous roles in the organization with an emphasis on communication, transparency, and collaboration across silos. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: You can find Breanne on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breannecasteel/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

"I just bought your tool, now you have to tell me what I can do with it". No kidding, that is what one client to said to me once. Well, here is a starter for you - in our latest episodes we are talking about the use cases for Business Process Management (not all of them, because we have that self-imposed limit of an hour-ish length for each episode). In this episode of the What's Your Baseline Podcast we talk about: Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

Why do some applications have a large following and their revenues soar, while others are struggling with making a sale and are virtually unknown? Or why do you struggle with building internal acceptance for your program? One reason might be that the former companies were able to build a community that includes not only users (and ends up being a glorified help desk), but also people who are convinced that your program is the best in its market ("superfans" - there is a whole concept around this, but I don't want to go too far here). But now the question is: How do you build such a community? The guest in this episode is Heather Wendt, the community manager for Gain, Grow, Retain, and she has a lot of experience in customer success and community building. She also worked extensively in the learning field, which is another area to increase adoption in organizations In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Heather can be reached via LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hmwendt/, and her community can be found here: https://gaingrowretain.com/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

AI is *the* hot thing these days and you cannot pass any tool that does not have these two characters attached to it. That is also true for the BPM space, and this week we have the pleasure to speak with a person who is working in this space for over 20 years and his tool has built in AI already, while other vendors are still thinking about how to integrate it in their stack. The guest in this episode is Scott Armstrong, CEO of Interfacing, a BPM tool provider. He is a entrepreneur and investor at heart and also a partner in various consulting groups. In addition to this he is an avid skier. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Scott can be reached via LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solution/ or via email at scott.armstrong@interfacing.com. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

The age old question: how do you make your processes "evergreen". Well, one way is to update your models on a regular basis (for example to comply with regulations), but is that really "the process" or is it just a picture of it? Your processes come to life when someone performs them and for this you need to be able measure them. To support the process execution you can use an automation tool (a "heavy" BPMS, RPA, etc.) or you can use a lightweight low-code/no-code tool for this that business units can use themselves to solve their automation needs. Our guest in this episode is Maximilian Neumaier, who is leading the Professional Services group at TIM Solutions and is implementing their low-code/no-code automation platform for over a decade now - starting as a working student and growing into his current leadership role. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: You can reach Maximilian via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximilian-neumaier/) or TIM's website at https://tim-solutions.de. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

You have chosen to start your BPM journey and are now asking yourself the question "how *DO* I get started?". Well, one way is to look at a BPM Adoption Framework, the other is to ask someone who has done that before. We are lucky to speak with someone who fulfills both criteria - our guest today is Caspar Jans, who also already has been a guest in an earlier episode on the show before :-) Since then he has raised his profile in the BPM space and was recognized as a thought leader and Top 50 voice in operational excellence by the PEX / Process Excellence Network in 2023. In this year he not only continuous to publish his thoughts in his newsletter, but also starts a podcast in which he and his co-host look at BPM from a holistic perspective / from every angle. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Caspar is easy to reach on LinkedIn and also has a website that contains his writings (and his newsletter "Process Extraordinaire Weekly" on LinkedIn here). He also starts a new podcast BPM360 which you can find here: https://www.bpm360podcast.com/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

This episode closes out the mini series about data, and this time we talk about data modeling. Data models are some of the things that I have seen the least often in projects over the last two decades. Why is that? Is it because it is too geeky, or not interesting enough compared to, say, a process model in BPMN? But being clear about data is important when it comes to designing solution architectures (and in other use cases, such as regulatory compliance), and the three questions that you have to answer are: In this episode of the What's Your Baseline Podcast we talk about: Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

A lot of projects are just looking at processes and applications. One thing that typically does not get the limelight is the data that is needed to empower these two things. But why is that? Is it because data is "invisible" and cannot be touched or felt? Our guest today is Wiebke Apitzsch, who is working in "data" for over 15 years with companies like the Boston Consulting Group. Currently she is working in a small organization named "Datahearts" that focusses on the combination of business, data, and change expertise. Her role is the head of data strategy, in which she defines the use cases (that match the client strategy), looks at the systems that support the data strategy, and set up project and change management to make the project a success. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Wiebke is very active on LinkeIn and you can contact her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiebke-apitzsch/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

As we all know, the majority of time in a process mining project is in some form or fashion related to data preparation and a significant lower share of time is spent on the actual analysis. There are multiple ways of getting you data into shape (SQL, visual data modeling tools, etc.), but our guest today has developed an approach and a tool to flip this time relation and shorten process mining projects significantly. Our guest today is Lotte Vugs, who, after 5 years working as a process mining consultant, co-founded Konekti to speed up data preparation for process mining. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: You can reach Lotte via email, her LinkedIn, or go to her website getkonekti.io. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

This episode is a first for the podcast - we are not talking about something from an external perspective, but speak with someone "in the trenches" who is actively implementing BPM in an 160-year old organization. Our guest today is Martin Holling, who is working at Kemna (a road construction company in northern Germany) and who has worked at Siemens, as well as a consultant in the BPM space before. His main objective is to figure out processes and how they should be designed and implemented to be efficient and effective. Then you should think about tools that can help you digitalize your work with continual improvement and automation. Martin is also very active in the German BPM scene and is the co-host of the "BPM Stammtisch" (a regular meetup of BPM enthusiasts in Hamburg) that is organized via the New Process Pro community. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: You can reach Martin via LinkedIn, and also via his website here: living-processes.de. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

We had a couple of episodes where we discussed the Solution / Process Lifecycle, but this time we look at it from the perspective of Business Process organizations. What we see is a distinction between the different disciplines that are needed to deliver a full solution and there are organizations that see a "them" and "us" between those. Unfortunately, I see a lot of these organizations also display a "mercenary approach" ("I am just here to create this artifact") and don't show the ownership of their part of an solution architecture and the following implementation, roll-out, and monitoring steps. This hinders them being seen as valuable parts of the team that changes the larger organization, the IT landscape, the capabilities of the enterprise. And I have seen BPM orgs struggling because of that lack of acceptance by others. In this episode of the What's Your Baseline Podcast we talk about: Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

Welcome to Season 6 of the What's Your Baseline Podcast! We’ve got another fascinating season coming up, chock full of emerging trends and leading voices from the EA and BPM space. We will be talking about customer success stories, architecture topics like “data”, and also about how to make YOUR program a success. See you there! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

We are wrapping up Season 5 of this podcast with an episode that I was looking forward to for quite some time now – we are talking about operational intelligence. What is that, you might ask. Well it is the insights into what your complex organization does by using technology and measuring the important things, while making them visible for you as a decider when you need to take not only the “big decisions”, but all those small decisions that you take dozens or more everyday. Those micro-decisions made by many, many people in organizations that pile up and determine the ‘actual’ direction. Our guest this week is Shoeb Javed, the Chief Product Officer of iGrafx. He is a seasoned technology executive with broad experience in intelligent automation, process intelligence and enterprise software, and has a proven track record of leading product and technology teams that build amazing digital transformation solutions. Shoeb loves to collaborate with digital transformation leaders to deliver meaningful business outcomes, and is a philosopher, swimmer, and biker. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: You can reach Shoeb via email or LinkedIn, and also via the company website here: https://www.igrafx.com/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

You might have heard it in the last episode of the podcast (Ep. 59: Process Inventory), that our guest Michael Schank has written a book ;-) That triggered two things with us - first, making a WYB Shorts about the process of writing a book and become a published author, and second, nudging Michael for a giveaway of three books to some randomly drawn winners. To win, you need to do two things: Followhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/whatsyourbaseline/Add a comment We will have the following/commenting period open until Dec 19, 2023 and draw three lucky winners at 1800 ET. The next day, we will reach out to them to get their mailing addresses and once the book is published (ETA end of December 2023), Michael will send them out to the lucky people. In the meantime, enjoy the Shorts episode with Michael. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

How do you plan your transformation? By looking out of the window or asking your two best friends? Or would it be better if you had an overview of all the things that your organization does - in the form of a process inventory? Michael is a distinguished thought leader and executive, specializing in addressing Digital Transformation and Operational Excellence challenges through his innovative, process-based framework. With over 25 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, he has primarily served as a management consultant, empowering clients with forward-thinking solutions in technology, processes, and risk and spearheading large-scale business and digital transformations. Michael brings a powerful combination of superior sales and delivery skills, having personally sold and delivered over $100M in consulting services. He is the author of the forthcoming book, ‘Digital Transformation Success,’ in which he introduces his groundbreaking Process Inventory framework. This promises to be a transformative approach to achieving success in the digital era, unlocking unprecedented levels of operational efficiency and strategic alignment. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: Michael can be found on LinkedIn (of course) and on his website at https://www.processinventory.com/. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

Last week's episode of the podcast was a very good conversation about learning and enablement with Ron Cohen, Peter Dern, and Adam Egger, and we could have talked for hours about this topic. However, the conversation took quite a turn after I asked how the future of learning will look like. But we also were at the top of the hour and we didn't want to cut it out unheard. The solution to the problem? Another What's Your Baseline Shorts! Enjoy the conversation and -sometimes creepy- outlook into the business of learning and enablement, and let us know what you think where the future will go. Have you or your organization already started on this track? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support

How do you set up learning and enablement for your architecture/process people? What has changed since the days of instructor-led training, and where will the field of enablement go into the future (hint: it might be creepy for some of us). In this episode of the What's Your Baseline? podcast we are looking into the field of learning and enablement and discuss this topic with three experts of the field, and the background of working/having worked in process organizations. Ron is the Director Global Learning at iGrafx, and an adept and insightful learning and development professional with a 20-year career leading training strategy and programs for a diverse set of global companies. He has a proven track record of building organizational development initiatives from inception to delivery—coaching large, complex teams through content assessment, design, and implementation. Peter is the co-founder of SKLLD.de, a company that is all about Empowered Employees, Delighted Users, and Captivated Customers by combining Customer Centricity (CX), Employee Centricity (EX), and User Centricity (UX) with the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). His focus is on leadership development and team training, and he works as a coach, trainer, author, speaker, and podcaster. As a person, he is highly driven and motivated with more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry. He believes in leading by example with a clear focus on growing talent instead of just managing people. Adam is the other co-founder of SKLLD. For over a decade, he has helped visionary teams worldwide build highly innovative products and cultures focused on customer satisfaction. Adam's training sessions teach teams innovation methods, optimization strategies, and how to use AI to be 10x more efficient at work. The end result? Customer-centric products, cost savings after a few days of workshops, new revenue streams—and owning the future of your industry. When Adam is not obsessing about innovation and AI, you can find him shaping our future leaders - he teaches young people communication, creativity, AI skills, and empathy, so they can thrive in an AI-powered world. In this episode of the podcast we are talking about: All three can be found on Linked In: Ron Cohen, Peter Dern, Adam Egger. Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatsyourbaseline/support