Group items tagged

A key component of continuous improvement is to show progress. It's not about miracles or heroic solutions or solving massive problems overnight. It's about building momentum. It's showing your employees that you're headed in the right direction. It's making visible changes, even slight ones, that show you're doing something. You're demonstrating that you support them. You're giving them a reason to trust you. You're building faith.

"Challenge" is one of the explicit values in The Toyota Way 2001 but it looks quite different. Yes, there are challenges issued. But behind that challenge is a support structure. The leaders, at all levels are expected to stretch their own personal development, but to do so within the context of kaizen, deep understanding gained by genchi genbutsu, team work and most important of all, respect. The leader's development level is gauged by how the challenge is met even more than whether it is met. Just "get-r-done" doesn't work here.

But to have success, management must create an environment where it is safe to fail. Failure is an expected part of the process of finding solutions. If workers feel that they have to "hit one out of the park" every time they come up with an improvement idea, they will be reluctant to provide their ideas. In a Lean environment, failure and success should be met with the same level of enthusiasm and support.

Drupal is an open source content management platform powering millions of websites and applications. It's built, used, and supported by an active and diverse community of people around the world.

Lesson 1: The critical importance of the simple act of walking. When you get bogged down, distracted, or even discouraged rediscover the power of going to see. Lesson 2: Never walk alone. What is the benefit if only you see the current state and think of a better way to create a future sate? Always walk the value stream with the people who touch it. It will be their efforts who are needed to improve it. Lesson 3: Expand your focus. Many look primarily at the steps in the value stream and ask how to remove the waste. You must ask about the support processes to get the right people to the right place in the value stream at the right time with the right knowledge, materials, and equipment. Lesson 4: Reflect first on the purpose of the process. Focus on what problem the customer is trying to solve and ask whether the existing process, now matter how well, run, can effectively address their problem. Pay special attention to the way people are engaged in the operation and its improvement. Lesson 5: Make work fulfilling. There is nothing worse than seeing good people trapped in an unfulfilling process that they lack the power to improve. Lesson 6: Stability before full panoply of lean techniques. The process must be capable (able to produce good results every time) and available (able to operate when it is needed).

So…participate! If you set up a system to surface, capture, and apply small and rapid continuous improvement ideas, then use it. Be a role model…a visible role model. This is not to show off. If you want small ideas from others, then find small ideas, submit them, and execute them. Let everyone see you using it.

In his recent e-letter Shook offers the same 5 key questions for transformation: 1) What is the purpose of the change-what true north and value are we providing, or simply: what problem are we trying to solve? 2) How are we improving the actual work? 3) How are we building capability? 4) What leadership behaviors and management systems are required to support this new way of working? 5) What basic thinking, mindset, or assumptions comprise the existing culture, and are we driving this transformation?

To embrace scientific thinking one believes deeply in the process of experimentation, is curious about "what if," sets aside prejudices and remains open to possibilities. The scientific thinker bases decisions and actions on facts and data as well as intuition and emotion. An organizational culture that embraces scientific thinking expects and supports people and teams at all levels to be "scientists," passionately and relentlessly looking for and systematically trying new and better ways to do practically everything

Four kinds of behavior account for 89 percent of leadership effectiveness.

I really like these three tips: Complaining trumps self satisfaction. The people in an organization which is 10 years into a lean transformation should not be satisfied with their condition. A happy lean culture is a faltering lean culture. People should be happy, but there should be a distinct sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. Frequent and brief complaining followed by 5 why root cause analysis and corrective action is a characteristic of a sustaining lean culture. Structured program trumps invisible behaviors. It's tempting to think that a formal, structured lean program is no longer necessary after 10 years of practicing lean because it is now "in the blood" and does not require special promotion or attention. However this is rarely the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, and corporations seem to abhor a vacuum in program-space. Best to keep the lean program and improve it also continuously as a support mechanism. Pedal to the metal trumps cruise control. Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and coincidentally this is also the price of a sustained lean culture. At no time is it safe to put the program on cruise control. Corners always want to be cut, people naturally want to do what is easy, and without strong leadership to remind people that sometimes the important things are not easy, a lean culture will not sustain. Developing people trumps driving results. After 10 years even people who may have only paid this lip service begin to see the cause and effect connection and begin to believe. It takes time to develop people. When you can point to people that have developed with the organization and are driving results, this is a sign that the elements of a sustainable lean culture are in place.

Four

Pulling form a common pile of work.  We don't do it often.  Why not?