After a great kaizen event this week, kicking off an eight week project looking at reducing real waste (actually reducing landfill waste generated by the organization), we asked the team members for lessons learned. Our Team Leader, David York, leading his first kaizen experience, shared with our team one of the most insightful reflections I have heard in many years.
“We don’t know what the problems are…..that’s why we make them visible.
We don’t know what the root causes of the problems are….that’s why we ask 5 Whys?
We don’t know what the evidence is….that’s why we collect data.
We don’t know what is actually happening….that’s why we observe.
We don’t know what solutions will succeed….that’s why we experiment.”
Ultimately, it is alright for us “not to know” but in our arrogance and pride, we pretend to “know it all”. Maybe we are afraid of looking of looking stupid? Maybe we wish to look smarter than those around us? Perhaps we believe that our leaders expect us to know it all otherwise we are not worthy?
In reality, acting like we know it all prevents us from improving, learning and growing.
Thank you, David for teaching me this week!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
To Get Results, You Gotta do the Work
Some lessons for our lean journey can be easily seen on NBC’s The Biggest Loser in every single episode: To get results, you gotta do the work. The trainers don’t run on the treadmill for you. You must do all the heavy lifting and all the sweating. It’s hard work and requires you to change your behaviors. Nothing comes for free. And we must make the time to do it daily, no excuses.
No secrets. No magic.
Don’t hire Lean consultants to do the work for you and expect to become lean. Any improvements we might see will not stick. Lean consultants can teach, motivate, influence, demonstrate, coach, yell, scream and cuss, but you will only get results by doing it yourself.
Don’t delegate continuous improvement to your lean department. Kaizen is everybody, everyday, everywhere. A culture change towards becoming lean MUST be led by the top, no other way!
Just like you can’t sit on the couch eating ice cream and expect to lose weight, you can’t sit in your office looking at the computer screen and expect to improve your processes.
Too many executives don’t want the labor pains, they just want the baby.
YOU have to get up and get moving. Go to gemba. Don’t say I can’t, I don’t want to hear I can’t. Do what you can. Go, Go Go. You better toughin up. Improve something every day. Again. (Wow, I could get used to this!)
There are many inspirational quotes after many seasons of the Biggest Loser that may help us on our lean journey. As show trainer Bob Harper said it best, “Believe in yourself, trust the process and change forever.” And former show trainer, known for her hard-core, in-your-face style, Jillian Michaels says, “Shut up, focus and do the work” and “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” and my personal favorite, “Unless you puke, faint or die, Keep Going!”
As an added bonus, here are a few clips of Bob and Jillian in action. Be warned: They have to be bleeped many times for rough language. One of my favorite parts is when Jillian points to her head saying” You are not getting it here”. It reminds me a little of some the Japanese consultants that used to yell at me years ago.
No secrets. No magic.
Don’t hire Lean consultants to do the work for you and expect to become lean. Any improvements we might see will not stick. Lean consultants can teach, motivate, influence, demonstrate, coach, yell, scream and cuss, but you will only get results by doing it yourself.
Don’t delegate continuous improvement to your lean department. Kaizen is everybody, everyday, everywhere. A culture change towards becoming lean MUST be led by the top, no other way!
Just like you can’t sit on the couch eating ice cream and expect to lose weight, you can’t sit in your office looking at the computer screen and expect to improve your processes.
Too many executives don’t want the labor pains, they just want the baby.
YOU have to get up and get moving. Go to gemba. Don’t say I can’t, I don’t want to hear I can’t. Do what you can. Go, Go Go. You better toughin up. Improve something every day. Again. (Wow, I could get used to this!)
There are many inspirational quotes after many seasons of the Biggest Loser that may help us on our lean journey. As show trainer Bob Harper said it best, “Believe in yourself, trust the process and change forever.” And former show trainer, known for her hard-core, in-your-face style, Jillian Michaels says, “Shut up, focus and do the work” and “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” and my personal favorite, “Unless you puke, faint or die, Keep Going!”
As an added bonus, here are a few clips of Bob and Jillian in action. Be warned: They have to be bleeped many times for rough language. One of my favorite parts is when Jillian points to her head saying” You are not getting it here”. It reminds me a little of some the Japanese consultants that used to yell at me years ago.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Boeing Delivering First 787 Dreamliner
On our kaizen tour last week in Seattle, we included a stop at Boeing in Everett, Washington to observe their production lines and witness a test flight of the first customer production 787 for ANA (All Nippon Airways). The 787 lifted to the sky smoothly from the airstrip, unlike the bumpy journey of their long and costly production start-up which is only 3 years late in delivering this plane.
On my last visit to Boeing, in January 2007, the 787 Dreamliner production hanger sat empty and idle. This is in sharp contrast to the production area today which is in full swing trying to ramp up to 10 planes per month production level and put a dent into the 821 planes in customer order backlog.
From my vantage point on the observation platform, I looked for signs of improvement in their production process comparing the 747, 777 and 787 lines. With only a short observation time, I can not see the whole story however there are some interesting things I noticed and questioned.
The 787 line is completely surrounded by staff cubicles and offices directly on the production floor. This is not the case for the other lines. It appears that the staff has located as close to gemba as possible with the 787 layout. As you can imagine, this cuts the walking down dramatically. With such a huge facility to begin with this should have a dramatic impact to productivity and responsiveness. I wonder why the other production lines have not copied the 787 line and move more people closer to gemba? I also wonder why so many private cubes and not more work team clusters?
Visual management seemed a little better on the 787 line with many project boards, information centers, etc around the area. It is too hard to tell from a distance the purpose of all these boards so I’ll have to assume at this point. All the lines had plenty of shadow boards, kanban cards, flags and other mechanisms to convey orderly design. I wonder if all these boards add value or if they are just for looks?
The much publicized paced assembly line on the 777 line has been scrapped. I applaud Boeing for experimenting with this concept. Failure in these types of experiments is not a waste if we can learn from them. I wonder what Boeing learned?
Sitting near the paint hanger were 2 of the 4 Boeing 747 Dreamlifers specially designed and built to haul large composite components from distant suppliers. Although I find the Dreamlifter impressive in design and ingenuity, I still question the strategy to make these parts off site and have them hauled in using a specialty aircraft. With two of them sitting idol, I wonder how often the Dreamlifters are being utilized?
The biggest disappointment for me was seeing all the product lines more idle than active. In other words, all the production lines had more people standing around (and sitting) than actually working on the plane. I saw the same thing 4 years ago but expected the 787 line to be different assuming a higher sense of urgency, improved production line design and lessons learned on Boeing’s lean journey. In most manufacturing plants, you can understand the lean culture quickly by simple observation. It makes me wonder about the strength of Boeing's lean culture in general?
Regardless of their difficulties, I find myself rooting for Boeing to succeed. As an American and frequent flyer, I certainly wish them the best of luck as they begin releasing 787s to their customers. Now ramp up that effort with a dose a strong continuous improvement and make us proud again!
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Sometimes the Best Lean Approach is to Just Jump into the Mud
“You don’t have to be good to start, but you do have to start to be good.” Unknown Author
Regardless of task, project, or journey, everyone is faced with the same question, where do I start?
This question may take some thought before you decide on what you are going to do or it may leave you paralyzed in fear that you decide to do nothing.
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Do you lack knowledge or skills?
What if you head in the wrong direction? Make a mistake? Make things worse?
Do you fear failure?
Decide on a direction (call it a plan) and jump in the mud (do it).
Yes, you will get dirty! Change is messy and it can be scary. You might even feel some pain, more so in the landing than the jump itself. But most importantly, you make a decision to take action.
I am not saying to be reckless in your action, don’t jump off a cliff to get to the mud hole.
All action has risk. It’s unavoidable. Plan to minimize the risk where possible but it can never be entirely eliminated. So jump.
Once the action is taken, evaluate if you made an improvement or not. What did you learn? Where does it hurt? How can you do it better? (Check)
Make your improvements the new standard or adjust your actions accordingly. (Act)
Jump again. It’s the only way to improve.
You will find at the end of the day that there is no secret, no one-best-way and no perfect method, you just have to power to decide to jump or not.
Regardless of task, project, or journey, everyone is faced with the same question, where do I start?
This question may take some thought before you decide on what you are going to do or it may leave you paralyzed in fear that you decide to do nothing.
Do you feel overwhelmed?
Do you lack knowledge or skills?
What if you head in the wrong direction? Make a mistake? Make things worse?
Do you fear failure?
Decide on a direction (call it a plan) and jump in the mud (do it).
Yes, you will get dirty! Change is messy and it can be scary. You might even feel some pain, more so in the landing than the jump itself. But most importantly, you make a decision to take action.
I am not saying to be reckless in your action, don’t jump off a cliff to get to the mud hole.
All action has risk. It’s unavoidable. Plan to minimize the risk where possible but it can never be entirely eliminated. So jump.
Once the action is taken, evaluate if you made an improvement or not. What did you learn? Where does it hurt? How can you do it better? (Check)
Make your improvements the new standard or adjust your actions accordingly. (Act)
Jump again. It’s the only way to improve.
You will find at the end of the day that there is no secret, no one-best-way and no perfect method, you just have to power to decide to jump or not.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Top 3 Reasons Apple will be Successful without Steve Jobs
With the recently announced resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, many people are already speculating on the future of Apple. Certainly, the exceptional leadership, sage-like insightfulness and huge creative force of Steve Jobs will be greatly missed. However, there are three reasons Apple will continue to be successful:
1. Culture
2. Culture
3. Culture
Unlike other assets on the Apple’s corporate balance sheet or valuation on paper or products in the R&D pipeline, their corporate culture is much harder to quantify but is their single, most important strength. And it is Steve Job’s greatest contribution for their ongoing success.
I’m certainly not an expert in the inner workings of Apple’s corporate culture and not under the illusion that it is perfect, same goes for my understanding of Toyota’s culture for that matter. So simply take it as my humble opinion.
Culture matters. Big time! Cuture = People
Look at these great companies as a group, Apple, Toyota, Honda, Southwest, Starbucks, Disney, Virginia Mason, Group Health Cooperative, Zappos, TOMS. All different yet their common denominator is a great company culture with a great vision.
Here is my favorite quote by Steve Jobs, “I want to put a ding in the Universe.” What kind a corporate culture can be developed behind this vision?
Years ago this Steve Jobs’quote was taken from an Apple corporate poster, which I think gives a small insight to their corporate culture.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
As Lean Leaders, what can we learn from Apple and leadership of Steve Jobs? Look beyond their approach to “manufacturing” (or lack thereof) or Mr. Jobs’ specific leadership style but rather in the power of their corporate culture.
Are we developing a strong corporate culture or are we just learning Lean tools?
1. Culture
2. Culture
3. Culture
Unlike other assets on the Apple’s corporate balance sheet or valuation on paper or products in the R&D pipeline, their corporate culture is much harder to quantify but is their single, most important strength. And it is Steve Job’s greatest contribution for their ongoing success.
I’m certainly not an expert in the inner workings of Apple’s corporate culture and not under the illusion that it is perfect, same goes for my understanding of Toyota’s culture for that matter. So simply take it as my humble opinion.
Culture matters. Big time! Cuture = People
Look at these great companies as a group, Apple, Toyota, Honda, Southwest, Starbucks, Disney, Virginia Mason, Group Health Cooperative, Zappos, TOMS. All different yet their common denominator is a great company culture with a great vision.
Here is my favorite quote by Steve Jobs, “I want to put a ding in the Universe.” What kind a corporate culture can be developed behind this vision?
Years ago this Steve Jobs’quote was taken from an Apple corporate poster, which I think gives a small insight to their corporate culture.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
As Lean Leaders, what can we learn from Apple and leadership of Steve Jobs? Look beyond their approach to “manufacturing” (or lack thereof) or Mr. Jobs’ specific leadership style but rather in the power of their corporate culture.
Are we developing a strong corporate culture or are we just learning Lean tools?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Like It or Not, They are Watching Us
In the hustle and bustle of everyday work, amid the chaos of surviving our broken systems to get things done while juggling our efforts to fix our current processes, we can easily forget that leading by example is our most powerful tool we have for improvement and creating our work culture. Even when we don’t notice it, what we say and what we do are seen by those around us. And they are always watching! Always!
I was reminded of this last week while guiding a kaizen event during a discussion with a newly hired team member. He told me that their team leader regularly wears his safely glasses on top of his head instead of properly over his eyes while walking through the manufacturing plant. As a result, this new employee was not inclined to always properly wear his PPE (personal protection equipment). What example has been set? What kind of work culture are we creating?
This is just one small example, but what is the impact?
What about a healthcare clinician who does not regularly or properly wash their hands before caring for a patient?
What about cutting corners on quality just to get the order out? Even just this once?
What if we get upset at a situation at work, letting our emotions go and say things that would make a sailor blush?
When faced with adversity at work or doing a less then pleasant task, do we show a positive or negative attitude?
When a problem arises, are we quick to blame others or do we try to find the root cause?
What if we see this any of these behaviors by others, do we speak up or turn a blind eye and what example are we setting then?
Growing up, how many of us heard our parents say, when seen in questionable behavior, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say” and that somehow was suppose to erase the example set before us. Is this our motto as a Lean Leader?
Certainly, just like our parents, none of us are perfect in the examples we set but that should not prevent us from trying to improve our behaviors to set a better example. And a funny thing about leading by example, it takes many good examples on a consistent basis to catch on yet it seems that it only takes one bad example to spread like wild fire through our company culture.
Like it or not, we are always being watched and the example we set matters.
I was reminded of this last week while guiding a kaizen event during a discussion with a newly hired team member. He told me that their team leader regularly wears his safely glasses on top of his head instead of properly over his eyes while walking through the manufacturing plant. As a result, this new employee was not inclined to always properly wear his PPE (personal protection equipment). What example has been set? What kind of work culture are we creating?
This is just one small example, but what is the impact?
What about a healthcare clinician who does not regularly or properly wash their hands before caring for a patient?
What about cutting corners on quality just to get the order out? Even just this once?
What if we get upset at a situation at work, letting our emotions go and say things that would make a sailor blush?
When faced with adversity at work or doing a less then pleasant task, do we show a positive or negative attitude?
When a problem arises, are we quick to blame others or do we try to find the root cause?
What if we see this any of these behaviors by others, do we speak up or turn a blind eye and what example are we setting then?
Growing up, how many of us heard our parents say, when seen in questionable behavior, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say” and that somehow was suppose to erase the example set before us. Is this our motto as a Lean Leader?
Certainly, just like our parents, none of us are perfect in the examples we set but that should not prevent us from trying to improve our behaviors to set a better example. And a funny thing about leading by example, it takes many good examples on a consistent basis to catch on yet it seems that it only takes one bad example to spread like wild fire through our company culture.
Like it or not, we are always being watched and the example we set matters.
Monday, August 15, 2011
4 Ways to Eliminate "That's Not My Job" Thinking
How many times have you heard someone say, “That’s not my job”?
As we moved from the craftsman era to specialized, functional silos of modern management over the last century, it has become more and more common to say “That’s not my job”. That thinking is supported by our specialized, functional silo based job descriptions. And it is easily seen in our work behaviors in both manufacturing and service industries.
It is easy to step over a piece of trash at work, thinking “That’s not my job” because we have a janitorial crew to do this task.
It is easy to let a defect go down the line, thinking “That’s not my job” because it the inspector’s job to catch it.
It is easy to let patients or family members to get lost finding their way around our hospital or clinics, thinking “That’s not my job” because that’s somebody else’s job, even if I don’t know who that somebody else is.
Faced with this problem, we could easily blame it on the new generation as being “lazy” or “apathetic”. Or we could say that people are overburdened and overwhelmed with years of downsizing. Maybe we fall in the same trap and think that “it’s not my job” to change our culture.
In the kaizen way, we must eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking and replace it with “How can I improve it?” and “How can I help?” thinking. In a lean transformation, there is no “That’s not my job” thinking anymore.
As Lean leaders, we must embrace this culture change in thinking and here are a few simple ways:
Lead by example: If we want our employees to take responsibility, we need to also take responsibility. When you see a piece of trash on the floor or hallways, always pick it up yourself. Never step over a piece of trash. If you see an undesirable condition, don’t turn a blind eye. Stop the process, and fix it. Before long, people will see you walking the talk and it will become part of expected behavior.
Brainstorm and Document: What does it mean in your place of work to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking? You may know what the means in your mind but you cannot expect everyone to know what you have in mind. And there are probably many behaviors that you haven’t thought about that would make a big impact in your business to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking. Brainstorm with your group to discuss the new ways to act and document them. Share the list.
Training: Make it a theme in your daily huddle meetings. Improve your new employee orientation training process by adding a complete section on expected behaviors. Teach people to recognized opportunities to serve our customers and practice them. Try role playing as part of this training.
Tell Stories: In meetings and newsletters, tell the stories of employees where they improved or helped beyond that “old way of thinking”. Maybe an employee saw a family looking lost and learned that they wanted to know where the Hospital cafeteria was located. Instead of telling them the directions, the employee said, “I’ll take you there, follow me. It's my pleasure, I have the time to help you” even if the employee would be late for a meeting as a result. Praise the employee for their action instead of punishing them for being late.
These are just a few simple ways but these ways are hard to do. Be prepared, it will take hard work and sustained effort to make this cultural shift.
As you eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking, more opportunities for improvement will become visible, teamwork is strengthened, processes will improve and customer satisfaction levels will increase. The best part is that it does not cost a lot of money to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking.
As we moved from the craftsman era to specialized, functional silos of modern management over the last century, it has become more and more common to say “That’s not my job”. That thinking is supported by our specialized, functional silo based job descriptions. And it is easily seen in our work behaviors in both manufacturing and service industries.
It is easy to step over a piece of trash at work, thinking “That’s not my job” because we have a janitorial crew to do this task.
It is easy to let a defect go down the line, thinking “That’s not my job” because it the inspector’s job to catch it.
It is easy to let patients or family members to get lost finding their way around our hospital or clinics, thinking “That’s not my job” because that’s somebody else’s job, even if I don’t know who that somebody else is.
Faced with this problem, we could easily blame it on the new generation as being “lazy” or “apathetic”. Or we could say that people are overburdened and overwhelmed with years of downsizing. Maybe we fall in the same trap and think that “it’s not my job” to change our culture.
In the kaizen way, we must eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking and replace it with “How can I improve it?” and “How can I help?” thinking. In a lean transformation, there is no “That’s not my job” thinking anymore.
As Lean leaders, we must embrace this culture change in thinking and here are a few simple ways:
Lead by example: If we want our employees to take responsibility, we need to also take responsibility. When you see a piece of trash on the floor or hallways, always pick it up yourself. Never step over a piece of trash. If you see an undesirable condition, don’t turn a blind eye. Stop the process, and fix it. Before long, people will see you walking the talk and it will become part of expected behavior.
Brainstorm and Document: What does it mean in your place of work to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking? You may know what the means in your mind but you cannot expect everyone to know what you have in mind. And there are probably many behaviors that you haven’t thought about that would make a big impact in your business to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking. Brainstorm with your group to discuss the new ways to act and document them. Share the list.
Training: Make it a theme in your daily huddle meetings. Improve your new employee orientation training process by adding a complete section on expected behaviors. Teach people to recognized opportunities to serve our customers and practice them. Try role playing as part of this training.
Tell Stories: In meetings and newsletters, tell the stories of employees where they improved or helped beyond that “old way of thinking”. Maybe an employee saw a family looking lost and learned that they wanted to know where the Hospital cafeteria was located. Instead of telling them the directions, the employee said, “I’ll take you there, follow me. It's my pleasure, I have the time to help you” even if the employee would be late for a meeting as a result. Praise the employee for their action instead of punishing them for being late.
These are just a few simple ways but these ways are hard to do. Be prepared, it will take hard work and sustained effort to make this cultural shift.
As you eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking, more opportunities for improvement will become visible, teamwork is strengthened, processes will improve and customer satisfaction levels will increase. The best part is that it does not cost a lot of money to eliminate “That’s not my job” thinking.
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