Eliminating Complexity from Work

Posted on October 20, 2005  Comments (0)

Eliminating Complexity from Work: Improving Productivity by Enhancing Quality by F. Timothy Fuller. National Productivity Review, Autumn, 1985. A case study of a process improvement from 1985.

as much as half of the activities of about sixty people had been to set up and take down jobs, expedite, move material, count material, and do other tasks that were unnecessary in the new process.

Related: productivity improvement articles and links

Marketing in a Lean Company

Posted on October 20, 2005  Comments (4)

Where Is Marketing In All of This?:

The problem with all of this is that it is based on the idea that sales and manufacturing are distinct entities, with a one way flow between them, rather than hopelessly intertwined elements of the same complicated business.
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An essential element of lean manufacturing is a level loading of demand – or at least reasonably level. Toyota uses pricing to accomplish this.
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It is becoming more and more apparent that lean is a company wide issue and that giving any department or function an exemption leads to failure.

I agree. The company needs to be viewed as one interdependent system not independent departments. The system needs to be optimized as a whole. And that means optimizing the overall system not optimizing the individual departments independently.

World class management understands this concept. But so many of our current management practices undermine attempts to optimize the overall system: rating and ranking people, accounting systems, performance goals, focus on quarterly profits, etc. Some have difficulty understanding that optimizing individual components of a system is not the best strategy to optimize the overall system but that is the truth.

Book, online articles and web links on systems thinking

What’s Holding Back Lean?

Posted on October 20, 2005  Comments (0)

What’s Holding Back Lean? by Lauren Gibbons Paul (via Got Boondoggle – another new Lean blog):

2. A short-sighted focus on cost reduction

Responding to profit imperatives, many companies are concentrating only on reducing costs rather than looking to lean as a source of greater efficiencies
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3. Emphasis on imagery rather than real work

Compared to their Japanese peers, U.S. management is too focused on the trappings of a lean initiative, such as slogans, launch parties and classes, rather than rolling up their sleeves and figuring out how to improve actual processes, says Womack.

After reading the articles take a new look at Deming’s 14 Obligations of Management. There is quite a bit of similarity.

The Best Factory in the World

Posted on October 17, 2005  Comments (0)

The Best Factory in the World (site broke link so I removed it) by Norman Bodek (from his book, Kaikaku):

This is a story about a time when Bodek asked Shigeo Shingo to take him to the “very best factory in all of Japan.”
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Pictures of areas of the factory or the office hung throughout the plant. Workers were encouraged to look at the pictures and talk about them together, then to make improvements.
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After the visit, I could understand better how it is possible to have a super-efficient manufacturing plant where people’s needs for growth, respect and creativity are also met.

Another excellent article from Superfactory.

New IT Lean Blog

Posted on October 17, 2005  Comments (0)

A new Lean Blog, Compound Thinking, focuses on Information Technology. It has started off with some interesting posts, including – Compound Thinking: Lean Manufacturing Principles — Trust the Team (link removed – blog was likely closed – now some spam blog has taken up residence):

If you aren’t trusting your people, you are slowly but surely sapping their morale. Even worse, you are cutting yourself from the source of real ground-floor process innovation.

Hopefully this blog will continue to offer interesting posts.

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

Posted on October 16, 2005  Comments (2)

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor, and Scott D. Anthony in Harvard Management Update:

Companies have two basic options when they seek to build new-growth businesses. They can try to take an existing market from an entrenched competitor with sustaining innovations. Or they can try to take on a competitor with disruptive innovations that either create new markets or take root among an incumbent’s worst customers. Our research overwhelmingly suggests that companies should seek out growth based on disruption.

Clayton Christensen has put forth this position in several of his books including the Innovator’s Solution.
Read more

BetterProcess Podcasts and Blog

Posted on October 16, 2005  Comments (0)

Edited to correct links – people involved with web content really need to learn that pages must live forever.

BetterProcess Podcast and Blog

I found a new source of podcasts focused on manufacturing, charting, use of data and the like. Yesterday I wrote about the potential for webinars and last week I wrote about the value of podcasts to the transfer of management improvement knowledge. The biggest problem right now is finding management improvement podcasts so I am glad to find another source of podcasts on management improvement topics.

Topics of the podcasts include: Pareto charting, P-charting, Six Sigma (Measurement System Analysis) and manufacturing news.

All the podcasts end with a musical selection. This new technology allows individuals to create what they want. So we get a much more personal creations than were common in the past. I can’t imagine many video training sessions each ending in a musical selection. It also is made possible by thinking like that of the creative commons license (that allowing more use of your content may actual be wiser, in some cases, than prohibiting any use of content that you own).

The most recent podcast is part 2 of 2 (and the 12th podcast overall): Broken link an interview with Andy Sleeper a Master Black Belt discussing Measurement System Analysis.

Toyota Engineers a New Plant: the Living Kind

Posted on October 15, 2005  Comments (3)

Topic: Management Improvement

Toyota Engineers…a Shrub

Toyota Motor Corp has developed a derivative of the Cherry Sage shrub that is optimized for absorbing pollutants from the air.

It seems Toyota is dominating the management improvement news in the same way Google is dominating the rest of the business news. It seems like Toyota is mentioned positively nearly as much as other companies combined on the management blogs that I read most often. And I am contributing to that. I doubt I would bother to write about this if it were most other companies. But then other companies don’t have letter signed by the President like the one I quote below.

And this seems to be another small example of Toyota’s vision, see our previous post on Toyota as Homebuilder and Biotechnology researcher.
Read more

Glacier National Park Photos

Posted on October 15, 2005  Comments (0)

Topic: Travel photos

I have posted the first batch of photos from my trip to Glacier National Park this June. See all Glacier National Park photos, I have posted so far. Previous posts show photos from North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park and Mount Saint Helens on the same trip.
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Lean Manufacturing Webinar

Posted on October 15, 2005  Comments (0)

Plant Design for Lean Manufacturing – view webinar archive

This webinar archive is a series of slides with an audio track (my guess is the slides should be flipped as you listen though this didn’t happen for me). Use of webinars to present management improvement content over the web is fairly limited at this time. And archived webinars that are available on the public web (not hidden behind locked doors (login required) – whether they are free or require a fee).

I think there is much to improve in how we take advantage of this technology. Over time this method of presenting information could prove very valuable. It is good to see people trying to figure out how we can use this technology to deliver information more effectively.

It is good that they make an archive of the webinar available online (it would be better if it were not hidden behind a login system – even a free as this one is) but still I am glad to link to them which provides them potential customers.

The business model used by those providing the content will determine if they should charge for the content, or give it away. I strongly believe that in almost all cases it is best to make significant content available for free on the public web (not behind login systems).
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Seven Leadership Leverage Points

Posted on October 13, 2005  Comments (1)

Seven Leadership Leverage Points: for Organization-Level Improvement in Health Care by James L. Reinertsen, MD; Michael D. Pugh and Maureen Bisognano.

If leaders are to bring about system-level performance improvement, they must channel attention to and take action regarding several, if not all, of these leverage points. In other words, this set of leverage points is not offered as a tried-and-true method, but as a theory-one that we hope will be useful for individual leaders in planning their work and for us in organizing a support and learning system to share best leadership practices and results across organizations; and from which all of us can learn about what works, and what doesn’t, in bringing about large-system change in health care.

Once again the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is doing a great job. This white paper does an excellent job of collecting knowledge and suggesting a way forward. And they are having an impact by getting people to participate in improvement efforts.

They have the courage to say one of the 3 sources for there hypothesis as “Hunches, Intuition, and Collective Experience.” While attempting to base plans on data and not hunches is good. Often you must make decisions without data. It is why Dr. Deming was so concerned with mobility of top management: that mobility means many managers don’t really understand what they are managing. Lean thinkers understand the value of having managers with deep knowledge of the areas they manage.
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Science and Engineering

Posted on October 13, 2005  Comments (0)

Broad Federal Effort Urgently Needed to Create New, High-Quality Jobs for All Americans in the 21st Century, news release on a report from the National Academies Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy – Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future:

U.S. 12th-graders recently performed below the international average for 21 countries on a test of general knowledge in mathematics and science.

This is not a new discovery, but the continuing persistence of this result is none-the-less an important issue to consider.

In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.

As Dr. Deming stated decades ago “Excessive legal damage awards swelled by lawyers working on contingency fees” is one of the seven deadly diseases of the American economy.
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Shackled by Bad Six Sigma?

Posted on October 13, 2005  Comments (0)

Shackled by Bad Six Sigma? by Fred Mullavey, Quality Digest:

Technical experts, customers and suppliers–both internal and external–all need to be involved, regardless of their department or discipline. When boundaries aren’t crossed in this manner, problems remain entrenched, and the Six Sigma effort fails.

Malcolm Gladwell – Synchronicity

Posted on October 12, 2005  Comments (2)

Topic: Synchronicity – Management Improvement

Today I had lunch with a friend of mine, Sean Stickle, who continually provides me with interesting ideas to contemplate. One of the things he mentioned during lunch was a story in the New Yorker about the current college admission process.

On the way home I listened to a podcast (on my Zen Micro player). I have been meaning to write about what a nice addition listening to podcasts has been to my commute, but I always seem to have more important things to do (or write about). The podcasts I have listened to so far, while somewhat interesting (for those interested in management improvement) have been heavily focused on those also interested in software development.

Well the podcast today was, “Human Nature,” and discussed the flaws of relying on customer surveys. It reminded me exactly of Deming’s warning against the dangers of relying on surveys. Obviously there are good things to learn from surveying and talking to your customers, but Deming understood that asking customers about what innovations they would like was dangerous. Well that is basically what the speaker talked about. And he gave some excellent detailed examples (New Coke and Aeron Chairs). So again, I thought really should post about the benefit of listening to these podcasts. But I didn’t.

Tonight, I stumbled across a blog post: The Business Model of Business Schools:

A great article by Malcolm Gladwell called the ” the social logic of ivy league admissions” in the New Yorker magazine is linked to. This is a must read.

In looking at that article, I realized it was the exact article Sean had mentioned at lunch. I then went to the authors web site and noticed he also wrote The Tipping Point. At which time I realized the podcast I listened to on the way home was by the same guy: Malcolm Gladwell. And I decided it was time to write a post.

The podcast really is worth listening to, Human Nature:

Malcolm explores why we can’t trust people’s opinions — because we don’t have the language to express our feelings. His examples include the story of New Coke and how Coke’s market research misled them, and the development of Herman-Miller’s Aeron chair, the best-selling chair in the history of office chairs, which succeeded in spite of research that suggested it would fail.

IT Conversations has excellent podcasts by leading thinkers including Jeff Bezos, Paul Graham and Clayton Christensen (Sean also introduced me into Graham and Christensen).

I’ll try to post something more on podcasts and good sources for those interested in management improvement but there is also tons of information online for those who don’t want to wait for me to get around to posting. I figure those reading this blog, might, like me, be a bit behind the leading gadget users. Many might actually own iPods. But I figure many may not have taken the time to discover that they can not only listen to great music, but also listen to great thinkers present their ideas using mp3 players.

Malcolm Gladwell’s new book is Blink.

Lean Consumption: the Customer’s Perspective

Posted on October 12, 2005  Comments (0)

Lean Solutions book cover imageLean Consumption: Defining Value from the Customer’s Perspective, AutoAsia magazine.

The recently released, Lean Solutions, as well as, The Toyota Way Fieldbook, are required reading for anyone serious about applying lean concepts. And truly both should be read by anyone interested in management improvement (even those who are not lean experts or even that familiar with lean ideas).

A short portion of the full article (exploring the ideas James Womack and Daniel Jones write about in their new book) is available online (without subscription). The short abstract packs in all sorts of good info. The new book, Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones is no doubt the catalyst behind this article. From the article:

The concepts underlying lean consumption boil down to six simple principles that correspond closely with those of lean production.

  1. Solve the customer’s problem completely by making sure that all the goods and services work together to do so.
  2. Don’t waste the customer’s (or the provider’s) time.
  3. Provide exactly what the customer wants.
  4. Provide value where it’s wanted.
  5. Provide value when it’s wanted.
  6. Continually aggregate solutions to reduce the customer’s time and hassle.

For those interested in reading up on lean thinking concepts we have gathered links to lean articles available online.

Box on Quality

Posted on October 11, 2005  Comments (2)

Bill Hunter and George Box

Dr. George Box is not as well known in the general management community as his ideas merit (in my biased opinion – photo of Bill Hunter and George Box). He is well know in the statistics field as one of the leading statistical minds. Box on Quality is an excellent book that gathers his essays from his 65th to 80th year. The book has just been issued in paperback (which helps as the hardback was pricey).

While some of the essays are aimed at a reader with an advanced understanding of statistics, many of the articles are aimed at any manager attempting to apply Quality Management principles (SPC, Deming, process improvement, six sigma, etc.). An except from the book provides a table of contents and an introduction.

Some of the articles from the book are available online. I encourage you to take a look at several of the articles and then go ahead and add this book to your prized management resources, if you find them worthwhile.

The Quick Fix

Posted on October 10, 2005  Comments (4)

The Fall 2005 issue of the Deming Institute newsletter includes a copy of a letter Dr. Deming sent to Time magazine in 1981.

Dear Sir,

Your article about Japan in TIME for 30 March 1981 is excellent, but the paragraph concerning my work is ridiculous and can do a lot of harm to American industry at the very time when they need guidance. Dr. Deming did not just give a lecture in 1950. He gave 35 lectures in the summer of 1950 to engineers and to top management. Six months later he was there again, and six months after that yet again. He has made 19 trips to Japan. One trouble with American industry today is that top management supposes that one lecture or one day will do it. “Come, spend a day with us, and do for us what you did for Japan, that we too may be saved.”

It is not so simple. Few people in top management in America understand their responsibilities and know that they must serve a life term on quality and productivity from now on, under competent leadership.

W. Edwards Deming

Many still search for simple quick answers. Management improvement most often requires a great deal of thought, study, experimentation and effort.

Innovation in Organizations

Posted on October 10, 2005  Comments (0)

Assessing Your Organization’s Innovation Capabilities by Clayton M. Christensen:

Three classes of factors affect what an organization can and cannot do: its resources, its processes, and its values. When asking what sorts of innovations their organizations are and are not likely to be able to implement successfully, managers can learn a lot about capabilities by sorting their answers into these three categories.

Innovation is one of the areas of management improvement that is not given sufficient attention. However, innovation is critical to the success of organizations and to the Deming management philosophy. Deming however, never had much specific advice on how to innovate. The management strategies he proposed do support innovation: truly knowing your customers, constancy of purpose, truly knowing your business, understanding your purpose, etc..
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30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Rates

Posted on October 9, 2005  Comments (1)

Fairly frequently I am asked, by friends, for investing advice. One topic I am asked about frequently is mortgages (locking in rates, etc.). Often they are concerned about what a Federal Reserve decision to raise or lower rates will effect the 30 year fixed mortgage rate. Essentially the decision by the Fed won’t have any predictable impact (this is not the complete truth but close enough for the question being asked – this article has more, though it still just provides a cursory view of the situation).

The chart here, shows 30 year fixed mortgage rates from 2000-2005 versus the federal funds rate. I don’t see any evidence that increases or decreases of the Fed Funds rate have a predictable impact on the 30 year fixed rate mortgage. For a larger chart and charts from 1980-1999 see 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates are Not Correlated with Federal Funds Rates.

I actually looked around for such charts online (to show a friend last week) but couldn’t find any (I sure they must be there but still I couldn’t find them). So I decided to create them myself. I used data from the Federal Reserve on historical rates. I was convinced the data would back up my belief but it is good idea to verify the data supports your beliefs (or learn that it doesn’t so you can update your beliefs).

More investment info:

Education Improvement

Posted on October 9, 2005  Comments (0)

Pattillo Tutors Granville School on Teaching Method (unfortunately the newspaper broke the link so I removed it) by Natalie Jordan, Rocky Mount Telegram (North Carolina, USA):

The model uses a PDSA – plan, do, study and act – component. “Plan” clarifies the purpose; “do” is when an action plan is made and done; “study” involves analyzing results; and “act” is to make improvements.

Through core values and strategic categories, the model is improving the way teachers teach and students learn, Olmsted said.

Education is another area where applying management improvement concepts can be difficult. The Education area does require special care but management improvement concepts can work very well in Education.

David Langford has done some great work in this area. He wrote a book, Orchestrating Learning With Quality, which while I would definitely recommend it for anyone planning on applying these concepts, it does not really capture the power of his contributions in my opinion.

The Quality in Our Schools site (by Ivan Webb in Australia) also is a good resource.

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