The Lean Journey is a Climb not a Stroll

Photo Source: http://www.chriscastaldo.com/2010/12/28/the-way-to-godliness/

Lean Thinking is often described as a “journey, not a destination”. In many regards this is true since the best Lean companies have found that their improvement efforts never end. Each set of improvements result in improved bottom-line results but also exposes more opportunity.

This journey toward dramatically improved business performance shares three characteristics with more traditional travel. Every journey has a starting point, an objective, and a path that connects the two. In order to gain the maximum return on limited resources organizations must understand and optimize these three essential characteristics.

Lean is more than a specific tool, management technique or software package. Above all, lean is a strategy, a commitment to organizing and managing the process in ways that reduce waste and assess value from the customer’s eyes. Lean is not a set of tools. Lean is a cultural change to the way a company does business. Because it's a culture change it becomes more of a journey than a destination.

We have seen countless companies whose goal to be #1 leads to terrible demise once finally achieved. It is not necessarily that this is a bad goal but it is not customer focused. So once achieved they naturally decline. I believe if you are not improving then you are declining.

For me the Lean journey is not a stroll down a winding road but rather a climb up a perpetual hill. Reaching the top of the hill is the pinnacle of the journey. So you are either improving (climbing the hill) or you are falling back. The key to keep you moving forward up the hill is to stay customer focused (not competitor focused as that is looking behind you.) Your acceleration up the hill is controlled by the rate of new learning (this changes the speed of improvement). The smarter you work the closer you get to reaching the top.

Lean doesn’t end after you reach your first set of goals, and it’s not a finite project with a beginning and end date. Rather it’s a way of business life that everyone needs to pursue continuously. Sustaining the Lean effort and overcoming inertia requires institutionalizing your process (how you’re going to climb the hill). The real benefits of Lean come from a sustained effort over years, not weeks or months.

Lean Quote: Comfort Zone Doesn’t Promote Growth

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.

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there." — Unknown

It’s funny that this quote is by ‘unknown’ because stepping out of your comfort zone is essentially stepping into the unknown. and it’s scary but that is how we grow and learn, we must face what is new to us head on no matter how scary or difficult it is.

Your comfort zone.  This phrase can be used to describe many areas of our lives, both personally and professionally.  It is a place where we are, well, comfortable.

Change is necessary for growth. While it may be very comfortable to stay in a place of familiarity, we will never grow into the person we are created to be if we are unwilling to move beyond what is comfortable.  Many people have become complacent because the common notion is that change is bad. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Change can be very healthy and liberating. How we respond to change is a function of our mindset. Change your mind, change your outlook. And the reality is, change is inevitable. I like to say the only thing that remains the same is change.

If you want something that you have never had before, you’re going to have to do some things that you have never done before.  It’s like being a caged hamster on a wheel. You can expend a lot of energy, but never go anywhere. I‘ve learned that every step you take out of your comfort zone gets you off the “wheel” and onto a path of improvement.  Every step into the uncomfortable is building courage to take the next step.

Moving beyond our comfort zones is how we can best learn and grow. The challenge is to resist our normal human instinct to seek comfort rather that discomfort. The key is to continually push beyond the comfort zone and drive continuous improvement to develop and strengthen your Lean thinking.

Leaders need to challenge their employees to move out of their comfort zone. You can’t move forward if you don’t grow and you can’t grow if you never leave your comfort zone. When possible, give your employees challenging assignments. Help them prepare by providing them a safe environment to learn from the mistakes that they are bound to make.

 

How Do We Promote STEM Careers?

In Bill Troy’s post this month on ASQ's blog he highlights the importance of STEM careers in business. STEM represents the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM education encourages a curriculum that is driven by problem solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and student-centered development of ideas and solutions. The saturation of technology in most fields means that all students – not just those who plan to pursue a STEM profession – will require a solid foundation in STEM to be productive members of the workforce.

I couldn't agree with Bill more myself. I am an engineer (chemical) by formal education so this hits home for me. STEM fields have become increasingly central to U.S. economic competitiveness and growth. Education in math and science is critical to our nation’s future success. Bill notes a recent ASQ survey that found a lack of yong people believe their jobs in STEM fields. Our nation needs to increase the supply and quality of “knowledge workers” whose specialized skills enable them to work productively within the STEM industries and occupations.

There is broad consensus that the long-term key to continued U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly global economic environment is the adequacy of supply and the quality of the workforce in the STEM fields. Scientific innovation has produced roughly half of all U.S. economic growth in the last 50 years (National Science Foundation 2004). The STEM fields and those who work in them are critical engines of innovation and growth: according to one recent estimate, while only about five percent of the U.S. workforce is employed in STEM fields, the STEM workforce accounts for more than fifty percent of the nation’s sustained economic growth (Babco 2004).

Everyone needs a strong foundation in science and mathematics accompanied by familiarity with their applications to engineering and technology to be productive contributors in business and society. Since the 1960s, the demand for skills has changed significantly – the demand for routine manual task skills have decreased, while the demand for non-routine interactive task skills have increased significantly. However, as jobs requiring a solid background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are growing – more students are choosing not to major in these areas. If students continue to pursue degrees and careers in fields other than STEM related areas, the U.S. will find it difficult to compete in the global economy.

In order to grow this field we need to recognize the achievements of those in STEM fields and raise awareness for the continual need for these individuals in the future. Companies need to encourage young people to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to give their company a competitive advantage.  As good stewards in our community we need to foster this belief in our youth.

Businesses can create enthusiasm among our youth about the STEM fields through small, effective, low-cost methods.

Be a mentor. Mentoring can occur during the recruitment phase, and it can occur with your internal talent. Mentoring is a common activity, but the key to its success is the proper alignment of the mentee with your experienced staff.

Provide classes and webinars. Encourage employees to discuss new technologies related to their career fields in webinars. Online classes conducted by employees in different departments can provide demonstrations of techniques and new technologies.

Open your doors.  Allow students to visit your business and learn what your employees do. Let them see STEM careers in action.

Companies can leverage their resources, including their employees’ time or donated funds and products, to support STEM initiatives in a variety of ways.

I encourage you to take some time to think about how you encourage the need for STEM related fields.  Is there more we can do? 

I’m part of the ASQ Influential Voices program. While I receive an honorarium from ASQ for my commitment, the thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own.

Guest Post: 5 Ways to Strengthen Relationships with Your Suppliers

According to the Harvard Business Review, 100 of the largest manufacturers in the United States distributed 48 cents of every dollar earned to buy materials in 2002. Now, 15 years later, manufacturers are spending more than ever on suppliers, so why is there so much discord in their relationships?

For starters, manufacturers are in search of the best products on the market, but at a fraction of the cost. And they’re placing the pressure on the suppliers to do whatever it takes to meet their pricing and expedited delivery demands. Unfortunately, attempts at reconciliation from both ends in an effort to strengthen broken relationships haven’t always been successful, although being on one accord definitely benefits both parties. So where do manufacturers and suppliers go from here?

Here are a few tips to forge or restore these damaged relationships:

1. Conduct research
Chances are you did your homework before selecting suppliers, but did you gain an in-depth understanding of how their in-house processes work? If not, now’s the time to do so to learn how they come up with their pricing structure for inputs, who the key players are in their organization and what factors delay or expedite manufacturing times. Through research, you may also identify additional ways to boost supplier efficiency.

2. Keep suppliers in the loop
As a manufacturer, one of your primary objectives is to deliver an irresistible product that captures the attention of your target market. But to be successful, you must beat the competitors to the punch, so it’s crucial that you keep suppliers in the loop. If they are aware of your intentions in advance through strategic meetings and training sessions, they’ll have an adequate amount of time to work their processes so their inputs not only meet your expectations, but are produced efficiently. Auto manufacturer General Motors now has a system to grade suppliers in two areas: business performance and cultural performance. The "prime" suppliers—highest scoring based on the aforementioned metrics—are rewarded with these opportunities in an effort to improve relations.

3. Provide managerial oversight
Letting suppliers steer their own ship might seem like a wise move, but it may not yield the results you’re after. A better approach: closely monitor your suppliers using a report card or some other evaluation tool like GM did. “[Toyota and Honda] don’t take a hands-off approach; they believe suppliers’ roles are too vital for that. They use elaborate systems to measure the way their suppliers work, to set targets for them, and to monitor their performance at all times,” notes the Harvard Business Review. And thanks to this hands-on approach, both Japanese automakers have been quite successful over the years.

4. Implement quality control procedures
Are widgets up to par or are there deficiencies? A one-size approach definitely does not fit all, so create a distinct set of quality control procedures for individual suppliers, based on your company’s specific needs. Apple Rubber, the leading designer and manufacturer of o-rings, rubber seals and custom sealing devices has quality control representatives conduct extensive reviews and tests before shipping out materials.

5. Solicit feedback
The relationship should not mirror a dictatorship where the manufacturer barks orders or submits requests while the supplier blindly fills them or acquiesces. Instead, there should be an open line of communication between both parties so questions, concerns or suggestions can be presented and addressed in a timely, but cordial manner. As with most other business matters, communication is key.

About Author:
Allison Martin is a writer, financial mentor and business consultant to mommy-preneurs. Her work has been featured on ABC News, MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, Fox Business, Credit.com and Money Talks News.  When  she's not writing away, Allison enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.

Lean Quote: Customer Satisfaction Does Not Simply Happen; It Is An Effect

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.

"Quality is when the customer returns and the product does not." — Tim Robertson, PDGT Product Development Global Technology

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important aspects of any organization. If customers aren’t satisfied, they will take their business elsewhere and the organization won’t last.

Customer satisfaction does not simply happen; it is an effect. Quality is one important cause of the customer satisfaction effect, along with price, convenience, service, and a host of other variables. Generally businesses do not seek customer satisfaction as an end in itself. The presumption is that increased customer satisfaction will lead to higher revenues and higher profits, at least in the long term. To best serve customers, the successful quality program will apply specific principles, techniques, and tools to better understand and serve their firm’s royalty – the customer. The Customer is KING!

The responsibility of delivering quality products and services to customers lies on the shoulders of every single individual who is even remotely associated with the organization. It is not only the management but also employees irrespective of their designation, suppliers, clients, customers who need to come up with improvement ideas to make foolproof systems and processes to deliver quality products which meet and exceed the expectations of end- users.

Customer satisfaction is a very important part of quality management because it directly involves the products and services that are made available as well as what goes into the manufacturing process. That is why companies strive to offer products of the highest quality and work hard to maintain that level and make improvements or change where ever necessary. 

 

5 Ways Leaders Can Instill New Habits For Employees And Themselves

When it comes to habits David Mann tells the story of Smokey the Bear's campfire rules. Douse the fire with water, stir the coals and turn them over, then douse again. Not following the rules of Smokey the Bear you risk the fire restarting itself from the live embers that remain. Cultural habits are very much the same way.

Habits define how organizations behave, and therefore changing organizational habits often requires changing the organization’s culture. To increase your chances of success, start by changing your organization’s keystone habits, or the habits that by definition change other habits.

As a leader try to identify the right moment for the organization to introduce change and think about crises as opportunities to break old habits and introduce new ones. In the mist of chaos, people become both increasingly flexible and willing to rethink “the way things get done around here.”

Leaders of business have a powerful influence on the development of the company's culture. You might not be very aware of your culture, or you may just think of it as "the way we do things around here." But your company does have a culture, and it probably reflects your leader’s values for good or bad: People will have adopted the manager’s behaviors and attitudes toward their work.

The culture of a company is the result of the behavior of its leaders. If you change their attitudes, their values, their beliefs, their behaviors, you will change your culture. If you don’t, you will fail. Here are 5 ways leaders can make forming new habits easier for employees and themselves:

1. Start Simple

Don’t try to completely change everything in one day. It is easy to get over-motivated and take on too much. For example, If you wanted to study two hours a day, first make the habit to go for thirty minutes and build on that.

2. Commit to Thirty Days

Three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic. If you can make it through the initial conditioning phase, it becomes much easier to sustain. A month is a good block of time to commit to a change since it easily fits in your calendar.

3. Make it Daily

Consistency is critical if you want to make a habit stick. If you want to start exercising, go to the gym every day for your first thirty days. Going a couple times a week will make it harder to form the habit. Activities you do once every few days are trickier to lock in as habits.

4. Run it as an Experiment

Withhold judgment until after a month has past and use it as an experiment in behavior. Experiments can’t fail, they just have different results so it will give you a different perspective on changing your habit.

5. Be Imperfect

Don’t expect all your attempts to change habits to be successful immediately. It took me four independent tries before I started exercising regularly. Now I love it. Try your best, but expect a few bumps along the way.

The culture of an organization is learnt over time. It can be taught to new employees through formal training programs but is more generally absorbed through stories, myths, rituals, and shared behaviors within teams. Organizational culture will impact positively or negatively on everything you try to do whether you want it to or not.

Leaders need to be mindful of their role in creating culture change.

Sustaining with Layered Audits

One of the most common questions I hear with 5S (and Lean for that matter) is how do you sustain.   Sustaining 5S can be very difficult without the use of 5S standard. A layered audit program is essential to ensure that your company’s 5S efforts continue.

Layered Audits are tied directly into the fifth S – Sustain – and they are the means used in Lean Improvement Systems to avoid “backsliding” into old habits, creating sustainable culture change.

Originating in the automotive industry, the concepts behind the Layered Process Audit are not new.  They find their origin in the well-known Plan-Do-Check-Act continuous improvement cycle.

Layered Process Audits require that multiple operational levels within an organization review the same key operational controls to ensure sustainability.  Simply stated, they are an ongoing chain of simple verification checks, which through observation, evaluation and conversations on the line; assure that the process is being properly performed.

The key is everyone is an “auditor”.   To paraphrase E. Edwards Deming, no one goes to work with the intention of doing a bad job.  Therefore, everyone wants to know that he or she is doing a good job. If people need to know that they are doing a good job, they need to have metrics regarding their job.  This starts with the operator personally checking their process for compliance.  Then the first line supervisor checks key processes, where feedback is immediate as are any agreed-upon corrective actions. The next level supervisor would then make the same checks, and so forth, up the chain of command in the organization.

The essential part of the Layered Audit is the creation of a standard checklist   You must identify and ask the right questions on the checklist.  This is where Standard work at all levels of the organization is critical.  Layered Audits is a formalization of “management by walking the Gemba”.

Layered Process Audits can be compared to a preflight checklist. Is my operation ready for take-off?  Am I confident that everything is in place to build and ship conforming product to my customer?  When the flight, or day, goes smoothly, management and operators can use the time saved to work on improvements.

The Layered Audit approach is especially effective in sustaining process improvements and institutionalizing key process steps because all levels of the organization participate.  Managers often can learn much about the manufacturing processes from operators, and operators can learn much about what is important to customers from managers.