Key Takeaways
- Grocery lines demonstrate that predictable flows work well for repeatable tasks, but transformation requires adaptability.
- When situations change, sticking to the same process can create bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
- Transformation work encounters more exceptions and complexities that don’t fit standard processes.
- Good governance is crucial, but it should adapt to the type of decisions required for transformation.
- To improve transformation initiatives, assess if the right decision flow is being used for the associated work.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Good management protects the predictable.
Michel Paquin
Transformation governance must handle the exceptional.
A grocery line taught me more about transformation than most steering committees.
At the regular checkout, everything works because the flow is predictable.
Scan.
Pay.
Pack.
Move.
That is good management.
The system is built for repeatable work. And when the work is repeatable, speed comes from consistency.
But then someone shows up with a price exception.
Then a missing barcode.
Then a delivery issue.
Then a manager approval.
Suddenly, the same line that was efficient becomes the wrong system for the situation.
Not because the cashier is bad.
Not because the customer is difficult.
Not because the process is broken.
Because the situation has changed, but the flow has not.
That is what happens in transformation.
Most companies try to run transformation decisions through the same flow they use to protect the regular business.
And that regular flow is useful.
It protects margin.
It controls risk.
It prevents chaos.
It keeps the business moving.
But transformation work has more exceptions, more unknowns, more cross-functional dependencies, and more decisions that do not fit neatly into the usual lane.
So the line backs up.
Teams wait.
Issues get escalated too late.
Decisions are reopened.
Leaders become the bottleneck.
And everyone quietly calls it complexity.
But often, it is not complexity.
It is a flow mismatch.
Good management needs a predictable operating rhythm.
Transformation needs a decision rhythm built for exceptions.
Different work needs a different lane.
That does not mean bypassing governance.
It means designing governance for the type of decision in front of you.
This week, look at one transformation initiative that feels slow.
Ask one simple question:
Are we using the right decision flow for this kind of work?
Because sometimes the problem is not the people waiting in line.
It is the fact that every exception is being sent through the regular checkout.
Michel Paquin is a Strategy and Management Senior Lead Consultant at Valtech, based in Montreal. He helps executive teams increase decision velocity by fixing the system around decision-making: governance, operating model, and the translation layer between strategy and delivery. He writes about business decision flows, transformation, and what actually makes change stick.
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* Please note that I am unable to accept mandates outside of my engagement with Valtech.
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