Lifetrack was developed as part of a sponsored research program involving BP, Honeywell Control and the University of Cambridge. The project spent 2 years understanding the social, communication and information dimensions of shift hand-over and operations logging.
Lifetrack is built on this understanding and is grounded on ease of use (ergonomics), knowledge management and communications management principles to ensure relevance, ease of use and reliability in a way that permits smooth operations to be maintained.
Although you don't need to read any of this to get started, here is more on the philosophy and design of Lifetrack.
The Lifetrack Approach
The best response to a developing operational need requires full awareness of the operational situation, available expertise, a supportive team environment and confidence in the tools.
Having taken a decision or action, the opportunity arises for the organization to learn from the experience, and improve the quality of future decisions and actions. This is the process of generating and applying knowledge.
Einstein said: "The only source of knowledge is experience."
Companies that retain, learn and apply experience will operate more effectively and efficiently than those that do not. Like cash, knowledge must flow to generate value. Lifetrack is about making sure knowledge flows and generates value. Lifetrack is designed to enable and reinforce this virtuous circle (see figure).
Our investigations of all stages, in both team and corporate circles, show that most people stop after the 'Decide and Act' stage. Lifetrack helps close the loop on team learning. By widespread application of these principles, the organization as a whole can become more knowledge-sharing, regulation compliant and agile.
In the long-term, the skill with which a company uses the knowledge available to it and the continued strength of its decision-making will determine its competitive position and reputation.
Lifetrack emphasizes the benefits to be gained from developing an organization's intangible assets - such as the strength of its communication channels and knowledge resources. Although tangible assets such as plant, IT systems or efficient business processes are clearly a necessary part of operations, major opportunities are to be had from improved exploitation of intangible assets, including:
1. Improving operational performance and risk by raising the quality of decision-making in operational situations.
Lifetrack's approach is to deliver a solution that amplifies, rather than automate away, the abilities of capable staff - by encouraging communication and enabling team awareness.
2. Exploiting experience through improving the ability of organizations to learn from experience and to record, share and apply knowledge across organizational boundaries. This has the long-term benefits of enabling resilience, agility and competitiveness.
The diagram illustrates the progressive benefits to operational teams and organizations available through this approach. In our work, we have investigated how the factors of psychology, culture, expectations and technology can be managed to achieve the improvements described.
It is this understanding that is embodied in the design of Lifetrack.
The Lifetrack Difference
Technology can be the lens through which the resources of information, knowledge and skill are focused. It is the shape - the design - of the lens that is crucial to its effectiveness. Too often what is put there instead is a semi-opaque or distorting window resulting from an over-enthusiasm on the technology rather than the task.
We believe IT should transparently amplify innate human capabilities such as awareness, communication and decision-making but in a way that makes the tools, working environment and task clearer and simpler.
Too often IT is brought-in as a way of appearing to provide answers that, in fact, obscure the reality of a fundamentally dysfunctional or inefficient business process. The resulting increase in complexity is cited as a solution whereas a proper examination of what the users are trying to do or even a basic redesign of the underlying process would be the way to go.
IT-focused approaches are therefore not the way. Homegrown or purchased systems that replace paper often only automate the existing complexity without improving a situation or adding value. They are often complex in themselves requiring staff to attend time-consuming and expensive training courses away from their workplace.
Lifetrack enhances the quality of communication within teams whereas other systems focus on providing information to individuals. In comparison to competitive systems, Lifetrack simplifies and reduces the amount of information a team-member has to deal with in order to quickly gain an accurate picture of operational status.
It is this focus on communication, generation of a shared understanding and simplified view of complex operations that differentiates Lifetrack and gives it its edge.
