You may be wondering what this title is all about. The one and only one correlation some of you could probably imagine is the similarity between a Mathematics teacher and a process specialist- both come with a stick in their hand to get things done :-)
 As a parent I have been struggling to teach Mathematics to my son, a high school student. His relatively low scores in Mathematics always questioned my ability to teach, one skill which was considered as my strength in my previous organization. My mother even thought about changing his Maths Tutor not just because of the average results but because of the “Mahabharata Battle” between him and his Mathematics teacher (me) during the heated Maths coaching sessions. I also felt that it would be better to send him to someone else because children, especially teens don’t take it seriously when taught by parents and probably I know to train only adults and not children.
But I did not want to give up and wanted to analyse what was going wrong. He was clear about the concepts. But he comes back home with not so good scores which according to him are due to some “minor accidents ( silly mistakes)” , one thing over which we used to have “battles” at home.  While I am at home to monitor and warn him of those silly mistakes, there is none in the examination hall to point it out to him, causing a major impact on the scores. His mistakes were of the kind which I never made at school or could even imagine and so was not able to understand why he makes such mistakes again and again. Though he knows that they are mistakes, according to him they happen accidentally and he calls them “minor accidents”.
1. A list of do’s and don’ts
I came up with a list of don’t s including the  common mistakes he makes –mistakes in algebra, polynomials, decimals etc. and also clarified why they are mistakes.
For example,  √( x2 + y2)      ≠   x + y   ( Read it as x square )
Wrong      -   √ (32 + 42)   =   3    +    4   =  7 
 Right         -   √ (32 + 42) =   √ (9+ 16) = √ 25 = 5   
As he makes the same mistakes again and again due to the so called “carelessness”, the only way out was to remind him repeatedly of those don’ts by consolidating them in a list.
2. A structured approach or disciplined approach
Some of us think that Mathematical skills are only for those blessed with it. If a child is good in all other subjects except Mathematics, it is worthwhile to find out the root cause for it.  It may probably be due to lack of a proper approach to solve the problem and it is true for all those "impatient' students.
Any Math word problem of high school grade needs a bit of concentration and it is necessary to approach the problem in a structured way by thoroughly reading the problem, visualizing through drawing figures and understanding what is given and what needs to be found out.  
This means that a student needs to design his approach by understanding the requirements before jumping into solution.
My son  is always interested in the final “value” only and according to him the steps are meant for “bookworms”. But in that process of bypassing the steps to deliver the final value faster, he either delivers a wrong “value” or takes a long route to solve the problem.
The reality is that once the approach is clear, 90% of the problem is solved.  The remaining 10% is about applying the approach and getting the final "value".
This is what I tell him often- “At least you should know the destination and the route clearly before setting off on your journey”
Following the right approach helps you deliver faster and better.
3. Assess the Maturity Levels
Some children do well in Mathematics in lower classes, but as they go to higher classes, their scores start falling. The reason could be that there could be an understanding problem in some of the concepts which probably did not do much harm in lower grades but impacts a lot in higher grades.
 It is same as what happens in our organizations. You may somehow manage to deliver small projects even if there are some process flaws, but when it comes to big projects, lack of proper process or failure to follow them, can result in chaos. 
Mathematics is a subject which needs cumulative learning. If a student does not attain the desired maturity level in the concepts taught in lower classes, he/she would find it difficult to cope up with “Maths” in higher grades and slowly starts developing hatred towards the subject.
So, it is necessary to assess the student with respect to his understanding of the Mathematical concepts even though those topics are from lower grades , identify the gaps , if any and improve upon them before introducing the high level concepts.
Same applies in organizations too. In our hurry to attain high maturity level, we tend to neglect those gaps in lower levels, which very often lead to issues later
4. Classification of Problems - Continuous Improvement
Today, the volume of each subject is so huge that the child has to spend a lot of time to achieve really good scores. One method I tried to achieve the same output in less time was to classify the problems. There are many word problems which can be classified or grouped. Once the student is able to understand how to tackle a problem in a particular category, he/she can attempt any tricky problem in that category. But this needs a bit of effort to understand the pattern and group them. This would ensure that the information reaches the student in a faster and much better way.
5. Practice makes one perfect
Practice, practice, practice – there is no substitute for this.  With practice, one can deliver a perfect solution faster. In the International Congress of Mathematicians 2010, Hyderabad, Vishwanathan Anand played against 40 chess wizards simultaneously and beat 39 of them. One 14 year old boy managed a draw against him. Anand being the world chess champion is not the only reason behind this victory. The very fact that 99% of the moves made by other players were already known to Anand helped him defeat them easily. Practice definitely makes one perfect.
Same applies to process too. It is not possible to achieve consistent results in an organization without making it a way of life.
6. Design a proper teaching framework and improve upon it continuously
My experiences as a Mathematics teacher for my son led me to experiment and try to arrive at an appropriate framework for teaching him. It is very much required that we develop proper teaching frameworks and methods at school based on the interactions with children and also their performances. A teacher has ample opportunities to learn from the mistakes of the children and design an appropriate framework for teaching, just like an organization needs a proper process framework for running its business smoothly.
7. Teaching quality is the key and not the quantity of time spent
Interestingly , Japan, a country from which we have borrowed most of our quality processes and methodologies, is a leader in Mathematics as well.  Their students spend less time in learning compared to other countries but still excel in Mathematics.
"Since 2000 the OECD club of developed nations has been tracking and testing 15-year-olds in dozens of countries in math, reading and science every three years in what are known as the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests. Japan has never dropped out of the top 10 in math. In the last round of tests, administered in 2012, Japan was placed second in Mathematics performance and first in both reading and science amongst the OECD countries."
So, we should not only borrow Japan's processes but their education framework too. 
Mathematics and process are necessary in all walks of life. One cannot do away with it.  What we need is innovation to make them interesting  and easier so that they are no longer "burden" to us and we actually benefit from them.
I am passionate about children’s education and wish for an India where quality education is accessible and available to all children.
Your views and inputs are most welcome.