Control: @Waze vs @GoogleMaps & hi to @WSDOT (A Work-Related Post)

So in May, a bridge collapsed. As soon as I heard about it, I headed to Waze where it had already been removed from the map and Google Maps where the best I could do was submit a report.

Just got this email from Google Maps in response to an update I submitted in late May...

Unfortunately (or fortunately) several things have happened since then:

(1) I forgot about this submission. (Now I'm a tad annoyed because this is silly and there's a small part of me going "No, wait, don't do it!" but there's no way to provide feedback on this email and I am going to assume that they won't actually do it - but does this mean they've technically lied to me?)

(2) A replacement bridge has been erected. (My report is no longer valid. Nicely done - hats off to WSDOT and their contractors.)

(3) Google has purchased Waze. (That's kinda funny. It's a relief over the rumor that Facebook had purchased them.)

So, while we can hope that Google will learn from Waze's ability to crowdsource and keep up with a rapidly changing world in real-time (we are already seeing additional traffic elements popping up in the latest Google Maps apps on Android and iOS), there are some questions you can ask about your own processes...

(1) How's your Customer Service process working? Are you timely? Are you relevant? Does a well-meaning process have the impact you want it to or is it working against you? When's the last time you audited it?

(2) Are you paying attention to those around you in similar, tangential or completely unrelated industries and not just for those things like HR, CS, finance, IT that cut-across all industries?

(3) Do your processes work at the same time-scale? You don't have to be in real-time, so long as you set expectations and are consistent.

(4) Is there a completely, radically different way you can do business?