Daily Kaizen

I had an interesting discussion yesterday on performance measurement for the Model Line and our centralized LEAN consultancy.    Many of the measures being discussed in my opinion are complex and non-operational.  We are so used to developing outcome. measures that do nothing to encourage improvement or business results in the long-term For example there is some pressure from leadership to demonstrate a measurable ROI for our LEAN efforts.  Trying to determine an ROI for each LEAN event would lead to a considerable amount of effort trying to demonstrate results, but conclude with fuzzy metrics that may or may not be the result of the LEAN work.  Additionally, by tracking and ROI based on LEAN efforts we end up putting the focus on LEAN itself as opposed to the team that is using LEAN thinking to achieve the results in the first place.  Overall our goal should be to only measure things that will lead to improvement.  The measures should be simple, easily reported and provide incentives for teams to make improvements in Quality, Cost and Delivery.  

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I relate to a lot of the points in this article on the Panta Rei blog, which I follow.

The ideas are especially pertinent to me as I help lead a rapid process improvement event for two of our specialty groups this week. As I mentioned earlier, we had site visitors on the first day of the event, and the goal was to demonstrate how these events work. I made a comment at lunch that supporting these require “active management/participation” by myself and the other leads. We are not able to just arrive and see how things flow based on the paradigms people are used to. I think that would not be respectful.

An analogy I think of from my distant past is the idea of a fusion nuclear reactor. These were dreamed up in the 80′s and it was theorized that no physical structure would be able to contain the core because it would get too hot. The idea was to use a supercharged magnetic field to keep the core contained. I think that our role is to be the supercharged magnetic field to keep the reactor of ideas going in the group (not for containment!). We listen to what’s needed, find out what can be done, and then listen some more. The motivation and ideas come within the participants, not from us, when this works well. And the reactor gets hotter and hotter and produces more energy…..

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As I have discussed many times over the last couple of weeks I am working on a Model Line in one of our largest departments. Yesterday I helped lead a training and coaching retreat with the leadership team. It was an exciting day and the dialog was excellent. For the last two hours of the session we led the team through some exercises to discuss how their roles would change and how they would have to change their own behavior moving forward. This exercise was incredibly powerful, because change really hits home when people start seeing how it will impact their work. The team all understands that in a year their departments will most likely no longer exist having been reorganized around the process. They may have a smaller budget. Their position may not be valued added or needed. All the same, the team was energized and can’t wait to get started. They understand and believe that the opportunity for our patients trumps any personal concerns and regardless of what happens to them they are willing to step forward and begin this journey. For the last four months we have prepared them well and they are value and customer focused.

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It’s interesting how during this journey, similar themes come up in our experiences even though Lee and I aren’t always working in the same area. Or maybe there aren’t that many themes to choose from in a LEAN transformation….

Yesterday we had our first ever site visit from a sister health care organization that we have been working with for some time. It’s interesting to think that it has taken this long to invite/allow another organization, one that we think of so highly, to come see what we are doing with LEAN. Partially, it’s to make sure that we provided a good use of there time. Partially, because we hope one day they’ll adopt and want them to see the most realistic view of things, which we assume is a view that occurs when we are more mature. Maybe we’re wrong about that.

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I have had several conversations last week with supervisors and managers from different departments in the organization that are struggling with LEAN concepts and change. These conversations have reinforced my belief that resistance to change is not greatest in the frontline as many believe, but instead at the mid-management level. It is interesting to me to hear these managers discuss their lack of trust in allowing frontline employees have greater control around making decisions and owning broader levels of job responsibility. I believe that most of these managers are competent and dedicated. Their resistance is a result of them being brought up in a culture (that is typical to most organizations) that emphasizes control. Managers and supervisors are taught that their primary responsibility it to make decisions for their staff. Many would argue that this control is in place in order to support their staff and shield them from risk. Unfortunately, this belief has the opposite effect and results in staff feeling disempowered, and unconnected. This is also the primary reason why staff often feels that their managers are disconnected from the work.

As we move forward in our organizational transformation our success will hinge on our ability to change the way managers think about their role and how they treat their staff.

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What a week. It was great. I was challenged, Lee was challenged, the team was challenged, and we all learned something. I’ll be honest when I say that there were a few times when I asked myself, “I gave up sitting at a desk and having meetings for this?” I’ll also be honest when I say that I answered myself, “Yes. And I’d do it again.” Kaizen is not easy. It’s difficult. And it is just a tool – kaizen doesn’t solve any problems. It creates a framework and environment – we have to bring the passion and energy to it. And we did.

One thing I picked up on for myself was the importance of watching and listening, carefully. When I saw what people went through as they learned the concepts and reacted to new ideas, I got clues as to what amount of change was realistic, and that team members really did want to improve their processes. I couldn’t get this by checking in a few times during the week. That’s a great thing about kaizen – it brings management closer together to those they serve, rather than farther away, which might be the instinct if one is going to change the way work is done in a business unit.

There were several moments where I think the most credible advice came from colleagues doing the work, who had been through this process before, and offered up their experience, unsolicited. Their words were more credible than anything I could say as a sponsor. This is good; I was impressed at the leadership displayed by team members in these instances, and by the fact that we have all grown and changed just in the last several months.

I can’t wait for the next one.

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This weeks Kaizen is summed up perfectly by this quote.  The team we have been working with have held on tight to the past, because they have a hard time seeing the future.  I predict that in a couple of months they will feel much greater empowerment at work and provide far greater value to our patients, they just can’t see it yet. 

“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.”
–Belasco

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We are about to start day 2 of our kaizen. Yesterday, I was asked to teach the section on defining waste. I was a bit nervous (just a bit) because this is not the normal subject that I teach. I was also excited to teach it, with the idea that the best way to learn something is to teach, and to introduce a topic like this to a group of motivated colleagues.

One thing was brought to my attention that impressed me. Another was something I noticed about myself:

1. The thing that was brought to my attention was that my discussion of waste was different than has been given to participants in a kaizen before. Without thinking about it, I used examples from my work team of waste, and brought them up in the first person – times when we found wasteful activities in what we did. I was told that this transparency hasn’t been seen in kaizen here before and that it created an open atmosphere. I was glad to hear that.
2. The thing that I noticed about myself was that when we did our personality profiles, I “profiled” as a different personality. I usually profile as an analyzing controller. Yesterday, I profiled as a persuader.  And I know why – when I looked at the words on the profile that I was supposed to identify with, I identified less with the words that typified the controller, like “aggressive,” and “stubborn.” Could be the way the profile was set up. Or maybe LEAN has transformed me as well as the process….

On to day 2, visioning….

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Lee is facilitating a kaizen that I am participating in this week. This is one in which most of the participants have never been in a kaizen before. It looks to be an exciting week…..

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As I have discussed in recent entries I am about to embark on a major LEAN transformation within one of our business lines where we will be completely reorganizing how work flows from vertical functions to horizontal product lines. To kick off this transformation we are conducting a significant amount of training with the leadership in this area. The leaders will spend several days in the classroom, visit local companies that have been using LEAN as their business strategy, and each leader will be responsible for leading Kaizen events. The leadership group is excited and willing, but I am not sure if they yet grasp just what they are committing to. Most likely they won’t until we really start making changes.

To be successful we know that the leadership cannot delegate LEAN. In fact, commitment to LEAN has to be their number one priority and a major part of their ongoing job responsibility. That is why it is so important that we start off by preparing the group properly for this level of responsibility. I wonder if others that have done this before can offer some tips to ensure that we are successful?

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