Daily Kaizen

80 trays, 72 seed trays per tray.  There were 5 basic components to the job:

• Retrieving trays with soil from the central area
• Poking holes for the corn seeds in the soil
• Putting one corn seed per hole into the soil
• Covering the corn seed with soil
• Returning the completed tray to the central area

The other table, table #1, had 4 people, and our table, #2, had three.  Applying concepts of steady flow were impossible to resist as I asked my table if they were interested in trying a production line to increase our productivity.

From doing a few trays independently, we quickly realized that the jobs of putting a corn seed into each hole, and covering each seed, took roughly the same time, and at least twice as long as the job of poking holes.

In our first attempt of balancing the line we figured out that the job of poking holes could be combined with retrieving and returning trays to the central area.

Roughly halfway through we lost one person to another job on the farm, and the other table gained a helper. This allowed us to rebalance the line around 2 people. We rebalanced a third time as we improved our technique for poking holes and covering the corn seed with soil.

At the end of the 80 trays, the results were in:

• Table 1 – 44 trays, 4.5 people, 9.77 trays / person
• Table 2 – 36 trays, 2.5 people, 14.4 trays / person

There were other important outcomes:

• Table 1 never considered the most productive method, instead, just enjoyed being together on a farm in Snoqualmie valley on a spring morning. They talked about work, politics and hobbies.  Laughter was consistent and easy.
• At table #2 there wasn’t the same ease. Yes, this was largely due to the fact that I’d brought my work ideas to my wife’s hobby, which wasn’t fully invited. But there was something more fundamental at play as well.

Table #1 employed a production method in which each individual was able to complete work in whatever way they wished, completely independent of others, with no need for team work other then the camaraderie born from shared space, and time. However, at table #2, attempting to create a production cell had intertwined the individuals into a team in which the actions of one had dramatic effects on the whole group. There was a connection, there was a system. And this system required constant attention.

Because of this connection, tension was increased, as the rover job, who was somewhat of a utility player, had to move among many jobs, staying busy while the longer cycle time jobs completed their step with the tray.  Further, without standard work, each individual did the roles slightly different, further stressing the balance of the line.

This was the weekend. Productivity wasn’t and maybe shouldn’t have been others obsession. This was a farm work share, where city folks donate time to a farm in return for getting their body and souls into the dirt, taking some part in the food that comes home with them.

Besides this reality – there was a fundamental learning for me. How the goal is presented, how lean concepts are introduced, and how the rules are created that must be agreed to and followed by the team to allow learning and continuous improvement to occur, is critical and difficult.

Which brings me to Autoliv. A colleague and I had the opportunity to visit the Ogden, Utah airbag plant at the beginning of May. Despite innumerable lessons to be learned from Autoliv, the most immediate take away for me was the elegance of their system, and the tight interconnectedness that years of waste reduction had achieved.

There was a 23 minute pitch for each of the 100+ workcells. Each workcell had an expected volume to achieve within this pitch, and the factory hummed with forklifts taking away finished products, tugs bringing raw supplies, and water spiders from the central production control bringing work instructions for the next pitch.

How did they achieve this interconnection without the tension I’d experienced? With clear direction, clear rules, empowerment, and a shared mental model and improvement framework, people were engaged in solving a shared problem.

With standard work for both management and continuous improvement from top to bottom, it was apparent that each team member, no matter their role, knew what their job was, how to do it, and what success for that day looked like.

This was living proof of where we can all hope to go in healthcare. A world in which:

• So much waste has been removed that roles, tasks, and what success looks like for each employee, each day, is clear. As a result, each employee knows the value they bring to the organization, and can take pride in that value.
• Every employee has the tools and visibility to take on improvement in the direction of the customer, and see clearly the impact that improvement has toward the standards set.
• Work becomes simpler not because the system is immature, rather the opposite – the elegant result of countless distillations through the PDCA cycle.  

This was respect for people in action.

As I think to my farm experience and others at work, there is so much to learn from Autoliv.

I have much to learn on how to inspire waste reduction and continuous improvement in a way that motivates and engages in a shared problem even though a sense of autonomy may be declining. I have much to learn about not rushing past the foundational elements that must be in place for a group to successfully partner in continuous improvement that they feel ownership of. Top on my list: next time I am on a farm over the weekend – leave the work ideas at the office.

Popularity: 56% [?]

A couple of years ago I got a chance to spend a week with a Japanese Sensei at a medium size manufacturing company in the Midwest. The company was running a large scale kaizen blitz with a several events with different purposes taking place simultaneously. This included rapid improvement of current processes, a set of large scale simulations testing the entire supply chain and two different 3P events on new products. It was quite an experience and very impressive how the entire organization was able to organize and support such large scale improvement.

One of the most important learning’s I took from the experience was how effective rapid prototyping and hands on experimenting could be in an event. The Sensei went from team to team throughout the event and kept telling us to stop brainstorming and start “trystorming (actual simulation or creation of the idea).” This meant putting away the flip charts and sticky notes and getting out on the floor and getting our hands dirty. Having the 3D, tangible “mock-ups” allowed the teams to quickly understand each others ideas and iteratively improve the solution in a way that would not be possible on paper. Simulations became real and many of the bugs of standard work could be worked out in advance prior to a “down stream” implementation.

Being a service industry it has been difficult to find opportunities to take advantage of rapid prototyping and “trystorming” techniques since the customer is “onstage” and directly interacting with the processes. Yet, at the same time it is clear that the complex environments that care team work in are very difficult to understand and improve on paper. How else, besides prototyping and simulation can you understand the experience and feelings of the customer as they interact with the product?

As I have mentioned in several postings in the past over the next couple of months we are going to be mocking up an entire “clinic of the future” and testing breakthrough improvements and design. This will represent a large investment by the organization and will allow teams to “tryout” many solutions to each problem. We will have actual patients participating in the process and test based on real life situations. I believe over time we will learn that approaching improvement in this way is well worth the additional investment.

Popularity: 75% [?]

Late this last Friday night I spent some time with two of my favorite leaders sitting in an empty warehouse reflecting on the work we had completed over the week. The three of us were exhausted having just completed a five day rapid improvement event with over sixty people and six competing teams that had participated. Quite literally, the teams had come together to redesign the future Ambulatory experience for our Group Practice. What they designed and will soon begin to implement will significantly improve the quality and experience of the care process.

There have been many similar Friday nights that the three of had shared over the last couple of years. If you have ever experienced one of these types of events you know the magical feeling that is earned throughout the week. Not because of the new processes and systems that the teams design. You basically know when given common methods and principles what they will produce. The magic comes from the way the team comes together and works together in the spirit of improvement. Having led so many of these events you would think I would get used to this feeling by now, but that is never the case. Each and every time I experience one of these events I leave recharged and with an incredible respect for the experience, capability, goodwill and good intent that each and every person I work with is willing to contribute to the organization. We just need to be willing to ask.

As one leader put it for many years we have asked these people to give us their hands, sometimes we have them use their heads, but nothing compares to when we have them engage with their hearts.

Popularity: 66% [?]