2002 IURPA / SCRPA / SURPAConference

OUT OUT OF OF THETHE BOXBOX

Thursday – June 20, 2002

Tommy MayneEntergy Corporation

ManagerRevenue Assurance

First Two Issues for discussion

Safety

God Bless America!

Why out of the BOX!!

Preaching to the Choir

Never got the sinners to repent

Exercise

Our ability to look at ourselves makes us human!

Why out of the box?

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kindof thinking we used when we created them”

A.Einstein

Service Diversion Trend

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Jan-98 Jun-98 Nov-98 Mar-99 Aug-99 Jan-00 Jun-00 Nov-00 Apr-01 Sep-01 Feb-02

Confirmed Cases 3 year Trend

Boudreaux

What you should expect today

Quotes from various sourcesExercisesCartoonsAttempts at Humor

INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION

What does “Out of the box” mean to you?

CreativityNew IdeasOld Ideas looked at differentlyNew approaches to old problemsOUT IN LEFT FIELD!

What does “Out of the box” mean to you?

ARE YOU CREATIVE ?

ARE YOU OPEN TO CREATIVITY?

ARE THE THIEVES YOU DEAL WITHCREATIVE ?

Recognize creativity

POST ‘EM NOTES

It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem.

G. K. Chersterton

Critic, novelist, poet

1874 - 1936

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of a problem to one who is striking at the root.

Henry David Thoreau

Writer, poet

1817 - 1862

Exercises

Driving a car/raining/stop sign

3 left turns

Pass the ball

Reference Materials

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

Who Moved My Cheese? : An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work & in Your Life by Spencer Johnson

Reference Materials

Orbiting the Giant Hairball : A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie

So this sounds good,BUT

The Corporation

Bring a new idea to management

The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.

Margaret J. WheatleyAuthor on systems thinking

We run like mad, and then we change direction.

Bert RobertsChief strategist, MCI

“When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and you’ll like it.”

- Humphrey Bogart in

The Maltese Falcon

What can you do ????????

Work related:

Encourage new ideas or new ways to attack old ideas

Listen for creative thinking and water guns

Reward odd ball ideas

Try something new

What can you do ????????

There are very few new ideas just poor implementation

Work as small teams and units“Separate we are dumb, together we’re

brilliant”

Don’t let rules and regulations stop the real goal of what you are trying to accomplish

celebrate, Celebrate, CELEBRATE

What can you do ????????

Challenge your group and give them the room to do it.

Cycle Time Reduction

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

• Time from when the problem occurs to when the bill is recommended.

• Includes– Finding the problem,– Identifying and getting it

fixed– Recommending the

adjusted bill.

Cycle Time

1.Blank Display2.Meter not read3.Account not set up4.Multiplier(s) incorrect5.Electronic display error6.Register faulty-gas7.Meter damaged8.Ct/Pt lightning damage9.Account incorrectly billed10. Ct/Pt open11.* Ct/Pt wiring faulty

Top Ten

* In New Orleans you always get some lagniappe

What can you do ????????Personally:

Shave with your opposite hand

Move your watch to the other wrist

Take a different route to work/home

Read a new book not related to your job

Recognize that you are creative

http://www.dilbert.com/

Boudreaux