Management by Exception | Glossary

Definition:

Management by Exception (MBE) focuses on identifying and handling exceptional situations that needs management’s attention, typically human intervention. MBE concept was propounded by Frederick Winslow Taylor an American Mechanical Engineer and one of the first management consultant who sought to improve industrial efficiency.

MBE is a “policy by which management devotes time in investigating only those situations in which actual results differ significantly from planned results”.

It’s objective is to facilitate management’s focus on really important tactical and strategic decision making. Exceptional cases can be an opportunity which needs to be identified and tapped or a problem which needs to be solved in time with a strategy. This benefits organisation, with efficient utilization of management’s time for business to grow and improve it’s services rather than using valuable resources on routine tasks.

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_exception#cite_note-CAMBRIDGE-1

Fail-Fast | Glossary

Definition

‘Fail-Fast’ is an oft-debated, controversial topic that involves trying something new, obtaining rapid feedback and quickly inspecting and adapting. It’s practiced in methods of high uncertainties , where it’s less expensive to start a product. The task is to learn whether the decisions work. If they don’t, the Project is killed fast, and focus is  moved on to the next thing.

It’s seen as a controversial move in the general press and media, which often sees it as reckless and irresponsible. It’s also a much criticized move in Agile/Lean/DevOps where the ‘fail often’ approach is not encouraged.

Further Reading

  • “Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win”(book), by Ryan Babineaux