I am the apple

Do you remember that Beatles Song, 'I am the Walrus'?  This song is the epitome of intellectual property and having "made it".  Lennon wrote it somewhere between an acid trip and a joke on himself.  He heard that they had started analysing Beatles lyrics in school and thought he'd throw some utter rubbish into a song and send them all chasing after the euphemistic white rabbit.  But you know it's true, you know you have made it when your IP is part of the subject matter at school or university. 

Hmmm... what has this got to do with process mapping, or with business for that matter?  Let me tell you a little story.  About 3 years ago I went looking for some insight into well run call centres.  Three of us went to visit centres from different industries and we talked to the managers about how they made it work.  This was very insightful, but the one that really stayed with me was a manager of a major call centre in the medical industry.  He pulled out file after file, graph after graph.  He had completely designed his own way of running a call centre.  Processes, procedures, measures and manuals.  He had created a complete methodology that he could carry from job to job.  

This caught my attention - that light-bulb moment happened.  What was before me was tried and tested Personal Intellectual Property.  Yes, the PIP.  He had got to the core of what worked and what could be replicated.  He'd spent years building a wealth of knowledge.  It just made sense to me.  You create and become known for what you have quietly been using and refining for years.  

I saw a future where employees will be hired on the basis of their PIP, to some extent it was already happening at board level, at executive level.  It wasn't being explicitly acknowledged as IP.  Building processes, procedures, measures and manuals for your expert area can become your PIP, what you are known for.  You can be the apple.