Lean Quote: Improvement Comes From People Who Feel Secure

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The economic losses from fear are appalling. To assure better quality and productivity, it is necessary that people feel secure." — W. Edward Deming

Managers have long used fear as a basic motivator. The obvious problem with using fear as a "motivator" is that workers eventually begin to loathe the object of their fear - the manager - and productivity levels begin to deteriorate rather than to increase. In the long run, workers who are afraid of the negative consequences a manager heaps upon them are likely to hate the supervisor and do little, if anything to follow the supervisor's directions. Using fear to start people on the road toward better behavior may work initially, but a wise manager will positively reinforce each improvement.

Fear of unknown, consequent failure and complacency are some of the major reasons for resisting change. There are some people out there who have no fear of the unknown, and who can simply decide logically what they want to do and do it, but for the rest of us, we have to make the unfamiliar feel familiar.

This fear can be diffused through open discussion and successful improvement events. Employees will go along with change more readily if they feel responsible for its implementation. Few people oppose something they helped develop. Employees’ involvement in successful endeavors will motivate others in the facility to join the journey and begin to implement change on their own. Ask employees for their time, ideas, and suggestions to make certain that a positive environment for change is created. Change is best done through reasonable increments and initial successes. Let people be active participants and become responsible for the new way of doing things.

People are normally very open to new solutions which they are familiar with or which they know they can easily understand and learn, but are averse to the opposite. Make the unfamiliar familiar through effective learning. You will find this is not dependent on how hard or easy the solution is to learn but how well the solution and method for learning/embracing is presented. One of the best ways to bring this about is to involve the people in the solution finding process, being receptive to their feedback on the problem, and the prospective solutions they are looking at.

Improved performance cannot occur unless workers feel comfortable that they can speak truthfully and are confident that their suggestions will be taken seriously. Managers and employees must assume that everyone is interested in doing his or her best!


 

Guest Post: A Leaner Me

Today's post is from a reader and follower of A Lean Journey Blog Kristina Ross, who has recently been on a kaizen kick. She has been learning all about Lean and trying to apply it in her work and life. She asked to share her story with you and as I like to promote learning and sharing I graciously agreed.

To me, lean philosophy was primarily academic endeavor – something I’d heard repeated a few times in my college classes, but never worth integrating into my own reality. B-school professors liked sneaking it into their lectures whenever Toyota was mentioned, but that was the extent of what I’d come to know about lean thinking. Essentially, I knew enough to check the box come finals week.

Now, a year or so post-graduation, that couldn’t be further from the case. Unknowingly, I came adopt a lean-centric mindset that thankfully landed me at the equally lean-oriented company I now work for. That’s a pretty massive jump, from general ignorance to full-on embrace, but it’s one I couldn’t have made if it weren’t for some bumps along the road.

In short, toward the end of my senior year, I felt like I was in a massive rut. I didn’t want to burden my parents by moving back in with them, but time was running thin and I didn’t have anywhere else to head after graduation. I’d applied for what seemed like thousands of jobs, some of which granted me interviews, but none of which granted me an offer sheet. I was running every which way, trying to find someone – anyone – who would employ me.

Sometime after I completed what seemed like my thousand and first resume drop, I realized something: I was working hard to get a job, but I wasn’t working efficiently. Simply put, I was going through a ton of unnecessary motions. By spreading my curriculum vitae far and wide, I thought I would catch the eye of some probing HR department, but that was the wrong way to look at things. I needed to condense my search and start focusing on the job openings that truly bonded with my skill set and interests. By eliminating my wasteful search efforts and narrowing the scope to only the companies I knew I could gel with, things took an incredible turn for the better.

Not but two weeks after, I scored a job as a blogger. Two weeks after that, I was all geared up in my new office, happy and ready to work. It was a quick, fortunate turnaround, and one that I totally attribute to lean-like waste elimination. I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out, and I can only imagine where this sort of mindset can propel me as I continue to lay down my career path. Institutionally, lean thinking is invaluable – but it’s important to never underestimate the personal good it can do for you, as well.

About the Author:
Kristina Ross is a blogger with SaveOnEnergy.com. Outside of her lean revelation, she enjoys gardening, genealogy, psychology, and spending time with her loving husband and wonderful son. She also owns a lovable oaf of a dog named Buster.

Daily Lean Tips Edition #41

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #601 - Create a Model Line.

Develop a showplace within your shop where everyone can see how it should be done. Start small, but don't pick a project that has no challenges. Develop key measurements before and after the production line so that people can watch the progress of your get-lean initiative. Finally, create a future-state map that acts as your ideal value stream.

Lean Tip #602 - Learning takes place through the application of lean principles.

Learn as much as possible about a concept, then begin to apply it. A good example is 5S. When 5S is implemented correctly, it not only provides order and improved housekeeping, it also enhances equipment and improves efficiency.

Lean Tip #603 - Visit other successful lean implementations.

It is easy to find companies that will allow you to see their lean implementation. The difficult part is finding a successful implementation. A good way to do this is find a company hiring lean manufacturing professionals. If the implementation wasn't successful, they wouldn't be hiring more professionals.

Lean Tip #604 - Encourage creativity by thinking differently and rewarding good ideas.

If you want to hear the best ideas about your business, give an incentive to get them heard. Make sure you reward creativity and thinking differently, not just whether an idea will work or not. What you want is the culture that allows ideas and challenge – in that culture not every idea will be successful, but at least they are being raised.

Lean Tip #605 - Get out there, go to the gemba.

I say this to executives and to on-the-floor people alike. They must start their Lean journey with a trip to see what Toyota calls the three reals - the real place, the real data and the real problem. They must go and see for themselves, not just take the advice of a Lean committee!

Lean Tip #606 - Think about how to do it, not why it can't be done.

I often hear, "We tried that before and it didn't work." They may have had a good idea, but the chances are that they didn't include the accountability portion. Without accountability, you will not have sustainability. Make someone accountable and avoid the "flavor of the month."

Lean Tip #607 - Do not seek perfection. Do it right away.

Taiichi Ohno used to regularly nag at people not to let a quality problem "escape" to the next customer. You've got to stop what you're doing, put a countermeasure on it and do it right away.

Lean Tip #608 – We don't have bad people, just bad processes.

For the most part, this is true. By concentrating on the process and building continuous improvement there, you will have the culture change that you're looking for.

Lean Tip #609 - Question everything.

Ask "why" five times. A brilliantly simple root cause problem-solving tool, asking why five times becomes easier the more you do it. Adopting this as a default way of looking at things will aid, not only your problem solving, but other areas, too.

Lean Tip #610 - Get support from the senior management.

Lean's successes are 20 percent due to the tools. About 80 percent comes from culture change, which is driven by support from senior management. Without this, Lean will be just another fad. Take no action and nothing will happen. If you do nothing, nothing changes. Be aware of items that stall your action. It's better to have a 50-percent reduction in waste right away than it is to take no action and hope for a 100-percent reduction in waste sometime in the future.

Lean Tip #611 - Kaizen requires a bias for action.

Get your teams out of the conference room and into the gemba. From there, mandate a fast turnaround time, have them quickly do a value stream map and root cause analysis for their actionable items, and post their successes right away.

Lean Tip #612 - Kaizen starts with taking a look at the actual place of work.

Continuous improvement efforts must start with a trip to the gemba. The gemba might often be the factory floor, but people forget about Lean in the office, where half of the work starts out being late! It's easy to see waste on the floor, but it's harder (at first) to see waste in the office or other value streams. Going to the gemba will make it easier.

Lean Tip #613 - Do not spend money for kaizen.

All that proves is that you have a lot of money. It doesn’t matter whether you're in manufacturing or health care, you don't have "extra" money. Toyota says that they use their wits, not their wallets, for continuous improvement.

Lean Tip #614 – Take no action and nothing will happen.

If you do nothing, nothing changes. Be aware of items that stall your action. It's better to have a 50-percent reduction in waste right away than it is to take no action and hope for a 100-percent reduction in waste sometime in the future.

Lean Tip #615 - Show results, not action items.

It's terribly important that you post real results on your Lean board, not things that you're going to do. You must be able to point out your successes if you're ever going to convince the CAVE people that Lean works. (CAVE = Citizens Against Virtually Everything)

Accelerate Lean Adoption WIth These Ten Key Steps

Lean philosophy creates an opportunity to look at specific tasks within a production system and improve that system. The adoption of Lean as a discontinuous practice requires a change to behavior, relationships, and business models. In essence, it requires a new business paradigm that supports Lean Thinking as applied to the entire delivery system and not just discrete processes. Accelerate the adoption of Lean to improve quality, productivity, and cost.

A common first step on a lean journey is to apply lean “tools” — e.g., a value-stream map to track patient flow, 5S visual techniques to organize work areas. Use of tools represents a necessary albeit insufficient component of a lean transformation. Tools are only as good as the ways in which they are used and the intent of their holders. Lean systems and behaviors must accompany lean tools in order for a transformation to deliver optimum results and operational excellence.

Starting the Lean journey can be difficult. It is critical to have alignment and clearly state the need for improvement from the beginning. There are ten key steps that should be taken when starting the journey towards a Lean improvement. 

1. Establish a need to improve and obtain management commitment
2. Define the improvement objective
3. Identify and acquire necessary resources
4. Collect information and determine current state
5. Uncover the root cause
6. Identify and test countermeasures that will meet the improvement objectives
7. Develop plans for implementing the countermeasures which ensure buy-in
8. Implement the improvement
9. Standardize the improvement
10. Repeat starting a step 1

Every system should have provision for an improvement cycle. Therefore when an objective has been achieved, work should commence on identifying better ways of doing it. There is no improvement without measurement. An organization must establish current performance before embarking on any improvement. If it does not, it will have no baseline from which to determine if its efforts have yielded any improvement.

Key influencers must champion new ideas and have a message that is simple and compelling. In addition, there must be a contextual environment that promotes the change. When an environment deems a change as “optional” with no consequences, group dynamic will allow others to bear the responsibility for the change to the point where nobody will be responsible for the change.

Lean improvement is about the entire organization and everything it does. Lean Thinking has to be a prime concern of executive management and its success depends upon commitment from them. Their commitment must also be highly visible. It is not enough to demand improvement. If executive management does not demonstrate its commitment by doing what it says it will do they cannot expect others to be committed either.

The adoption of Lean is never a short or simple journey. A Lean transformation takes time. It begins with understanding the core tenets of the Lean philosophy and with focusing on the customer. It continues by incorporating the methodology into the organization and involving every employee in developing a refined work ethic. Overall, Lean is about adopting a lifestyle change—one that requires an ongoing commitment to achieve organizational health and longevity.

Lean Quote: Simple Rules for Holding Lean Meetings

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"We just seem to meet and meet and meet and we never seem to do anything." — Richard Collard, FedEx

A 2005 Microsoft survey of 38,000 people worldwide found that the average worker feels productive only 60% of the time. Ineffective meetings ranked in the top three time wasting activities. Meetings tend to be viewed as costly by each participant due to the time it takes away from their “productive work.”

Here are some rules for holding a more effective “Lean” meeting: 

Quick Time Saver: Simple Rules for Holding Lean Meetings 
Rule 1 – Reduce the duration of most meetings. Try restricting meetings to no more than thirty minutes in most cases. 
Rule 2 – Have only a single topic on the agenda, or perhaps several closely related items – it’s hard to run a multi-topic meeting efficiently. 
Rule 3 – Only invite those people who have a need to be there. Uninvited attendees should be discouraged – they can waste the rest of the group’s time. 
Rule 4 – Foster a culture that discourages lateness. If an attendee is running late, they should notify the meeting holder as to when they will arrive. 
Rule 5 – Define the goals of the meeting when it is announced, and identify any pre-work that should be performed or information that is needed. 
Rule 6 – Tangential issues should be captured in a “parking lot” for future discussion.
Rule 7 – Ask attendees at the beginning of the meeting if they are expecting any emergency calls, otherwise ALL ELECTRONICS SHOULD BE TURNED OFF! You may need to forcibly remove smartphones from peoples’ hands. 
Rule 8 – Do not begin the meeting until everyone in the room agrees on the “deliverables” that will be created. EVERY MEETING SHOULD HAVE A DELIVERABLE, OR THE TIME SPENT WILL PROBABLY BE WASTED. 
Rule 9 – Ask yourself if a formal meeting is really necessary before interrupting multiple peoples’ value creating work.

Your time and that of your organization is valuable. Some say time is more valuable than money. Time can't be saved. It can only be spent! We spend it at the exact rate of one minute per minute. We can’t spend more or less no matter how hard we try. We can’t spend more than 5 minutes in five minutes with a friend, and we can’t spend less than 5 minutes in five minutes being angry in traffic. Our rate of spending is fixed. All we can control is where we choose to invest



 

Ten New Year’s Changes for Lean Leaders Transforming Culture

It’s that time of year again when many are making personal resolutions for change. But as I said yesterday I recommend forgetting the whole concept of resolutions and concentrating on setting goals instead. For most managers the beginning of New Year means establishing a new set of objectives. This is a good time to reflect on your progress over the past year and plan how you want improve in the coming year.

It is our role as leaders to reinforce cultural transformation in the workers perception of their work roles, to create structures for empowered workers to be accountable and successful, to communicate, support, reward and model this culture of engaged workers, helping to identify and resolve defects and eliminate waste.

As we head into a New Year I wanted to share ten changes that Lean leaders should consider to transform your culture. These changes must have a process that you follow when you need to make a change or solve a problem; a process that will ensure you plan, test and incorporate feedback before you commit to implementation.

1. Get Energized About Work. 
Getting energized about work usually results from a couple things. Primarily if a work culture is fun to be in, it’s a place you look forward to going because the people (and leadership) are authentic, caring and fun. And teams that are energized with what they are doing get excited by the opportunities that a day may bring.

2. Planning is the Basic Step for Success. 
You won’t know where you are going unless you know where you want to go. Confusing? Well that’s exactly how your business would be, if you do not keep things simple and organized. Planning is the basic step to succeed in business and planning accurately and developing strategies will lead you to a healthy and growing business. That means reframing the top down objectives in your organization. Don’t just work with only the large goal in mind. Set immediate and short term goals that fire up your team. Celebrate achieving those goals and adjust as the culture and needs change… We live in a very fluid business world where things change fast. Create a team that is able to change along with it.

3. Strive to Learn Something New Every Single Day.
It is easy to get bogged down in the same old, same old. In order to fully realize potential, you’ll have to add knowledge, skills, and experience. Don’t expect your potential to spring forth in a final draft; it takes time to hone your skills and build your confidence. This could come from formal schooling, from the school of hard knocks, or from both. Either way, your education is the house your realized potential will live in. The opportunities for learning are multiplying every day in this information/technology age. Learn at least one new thing every day. Improve your mind and enhance your skills. Never stop learning.

4. Work Smarter Not Harder. 
Productivity comes from working smarter, not harder. That is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency. You can be effective without being efficient, but, the key to productivity is to do both. Sometimes, those job inefficiencies are not very obvious. However, if you can specifically identify them, then those inefficiencies can be eliminated and staff can become more productive. By distributing the tasks and responsibilities around, you not only become more flexible and able to respond to changes more quickly, but you involve more people in the improvement process. This can increase work satisfaction as well.

5. Devote Time Each Month to Employee Development. 
 Most people want to learn and grow their skills at work. Encourage experimentation and taking reasonable risk to develop employee skills. Get to know them personally. Ask what motivates them. Ask what career objectives they have and are aiming to achieve. You can make their career. In order to get the most from your employees, you need to invest time and resources in their development. Annual performance reviews simply aren’t enough. Make a point to sit down with each employee on a monthly basis (or more frequently, if possible) and provide them with specific feedback and areas of improvement.

6. Learn More from Reading.  
Far too may business executives believe leadership skills stem from some sort of wondrous epiphany or other such flash of insight. Sure, great ideas can come to any of us, but being a bona fide leader also means study. Read books, attend seminars, and pick the brains of colleagues to see what works for them. Read an article; discuss a new approach with a colleague; research what other organizations are doing on the Web. It can be a long education, but one with rewards that multiply with the more knowledge you have under your belt.

7. Try Something New. 
The world is moving forward, swiftly and consistently. As industry leaders, if you stop taking a breath, you will be left far behind others, competing in the race. Change is inevitable as so is it a scary concept. To overcome this fear, try doing something new. Take risks, explore ways to overcome the disabilities and move ahead. It might sound easy, but it is no less challenging.

8. Get Out of Your Office.
When you get bogged down, distracted, or even discouraged rediscover the power of going to see. There is no better way to experience the flow of value (or lack thereof) than taking the same journey that an order, new product, patient or other takes through your processes. Spend as much time as possible with employees and customers. Learn the issues first hand. Expand your focus. Many look primarily at the steps in the value stream and ask how to remove the waste. Reflect first on the purpose of the process. 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. Work to solve problems when and where they occur. Pay special attention to the way people are engaged in the operation and its improvement.

9. Focus Feedback on the Future. 
You want people to improve. In almost every case, people want to improve and do great work. Yet most workplace feedback is focused on something that can’t be changed -- the past. If you want to be a more effective coach to your team and help them make improvements in their skills and results, give them feedback, and about what they can do next time.

10. Follow Up and Follow Through. 
The primary criticism of leaders is that they do not follow up or follow through on promised actions and information. How well a manager follows up or follows through on promises is part of the test to determine if they will be a quality leader. Another reason follow up is so important is that old saying “out of sight, out of mind”; leaders need to remind employees that their interested in improvement.

Change can only be successful if it’s truly desired. Change isn’t easy but positive changes are always worth the effort. It can be motivating to add up and consolidate all the gains that have been made so far and to acknowledge how far you have come. Lasting changes require continued commitment. Keeping your commitment isn't easy but, following the PDCA cycle will yield better results and sustained improvements. Taking the time to plan, check, and act will pay dividends.

Forget about Resolutions, Focus on the Process

With the hustle of the holidays over we turn to the New Year, where many individuals are honing in on their New Year’s resolution. For many, it may be an opportunity to assess their struggles of the previous year or to wallow in their triumphs. Unfortunately, many fail to keep those resolutions.

Personally I recommend forgetting the whole concept of resolutions and concentrating on setting goals instead. The solution is to have a process that you follow when you need to make a change or solve a problem; A process that will ensure you plan, test and incorporate feedback before you commit to implementation.

A popular tool for doing just this is the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. This is often referred to as the Deming Cycle or the Deming Wheel after its proponent, W Edwards Deming. A closed loop system, it emphasizes four repetitive steps:

First, start with an idea and create a PLAN to make it happen. 
Then, DO adhere to the plan, and take corrective action when necessary. Next, analyze and CHECK progress toward your goal and identify the root causes of obstacles. 
Finally, take appropriate ACTion. If the outcome matches expectations, then standardize the process to maintain the gains. If the results were disappointing, then modify the process to eliminate the root cause of remaining problems. In either case, repeat the process starting again with PLAN.

While these steps appear in a linear sequence, when implemented the phases are best thought of as concurrent processes that can continually be improved. This is the key to seeing your resolution through to the end.

It is important to remember as you start 2013 you begin with a vision of what you want to accomplish. Whether it is a personal New Year's resolution or a new business objective you need to set a goal or target condition. Lawrence J. Peter said, “If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

Resolutions and goal setting may seem similar, but resolutions typically take a let's start something and see what happens approach, while goal setting is about planning a specific path to success. Keeping your resolution isn't easy but, following the PDCA cycle will yield better results and sustained improvements. Taking the time to plan, check, and act will pay dividends.