This was prompted by a suggestion by a contributor in a discussion forum that the customer should be involved in process re-design. Now, there may be complex supply-chain situations where this could be practical (and so the exception may prove the rule), but as a rule I find this a completely crazy thing to suggest

The wider problem is, as I see it, a tendency for of some practitioners with superficial knowledge and experience to develop an unhealthy fondness of platitudes like “customer involvement” and trot them out at the drop of a hat as though they are nuggets of distilled wisdom that require no further explanation or justification

The point I make in my article is that provided we get the “whats” right (and we may well consult the customer as to what the “whats” should be) the “hows” will be of little interest to most customers – they expect you to sort that out