Lean Thinking Misconception

Posted on May 5, 2006 by John Hunter

Office Furniture Companies Now Leaner [the broken link was removed]

Steelcase, the largest of the nation’s office furniture companies, cut thousands of jobs, consolidated manufacturing operations and started relying more on third-party suppliers and outsourcing as it shifted toward a leaner and more flexible manufacturing model popularized by Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp.

This does not convey true lean thinking. It is a shame so many think lean is equal to “reducing staff.” Lean is about removing waste. Removing waste might mean that fewer people are needed but no real lean thinking organization aims to reduce staff. It may be that, due to past practices and current realities, they have no reasonable alternative but to reduce staff.

But, it would be much better to redeploy staff not needed for streamlined processes to other jobs to service the companies growing business. The popular press continues to write as those the main goal of lean is to reduce staff.

Lean is named for the Toyota Production System. You don’t see Toyota laying people off they are growing and hiring people. Wise companies follow Toyota’s example.

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Manufacturing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Find the Root Cause Instead of the Person to Blame

Posted on May 3, 2006 by John Hunter

When encountering a problem or defect the inclination of many is to find a person to blame. W. Edwards Deming believed that the system was responsible for 93% of the problems and over time he increased that number to at least 97%. Why did he see it that way, while so many others first inclination is to blame someone?

As I see it the issue has to do with what is the effective way to improve. Often if you ask why do we have this problem or defect, people will point to some error by someone. So you can blame that person (there are reasons this is not a very accurate way to view the situation often but even without accepting that premise the blaming a person strategy is not wise). The reason the blaming a person is a bad idea is that your organization will improve much more effectively if you keep asking why.

Why did they make that error? Why did the process let them make that error? When you follow the why chain a couple more steps you can find root causes that will allow you to find a much more effective solution. You can then pilot (PDSA) an improvement strategy that doesn’t just amount to “Do a better job Joe” or “that is it Joe we are replacing you with Mary.” Neither of those strategies turns out to be very effective.

But investigating a bit more to find a root cause can result in finding solutions that improve the performance of all the workers. What kinds of things? You can apply poka yoke (mistake proofing) concepts. You can institute standard practices so that everyone is using the best methods – not whatever methods they have developed over time. You can rearrange the process to simplify the steps and eliminate chances for errors. These improvement, and many more, are sustainable and can be built upon over time.

In addition, the psychology effects of seeing people as the source of errors and defect instead of seeing people as the source of improvements to process weaknesses are powerful. If you find yourself thinking a problem or defect is the fault of a person try asking why a couple more times and see if you can find a system improvement that would eliminate or mitigate such problems in the future. That is a much more effective improvement strategy.

I always have had a bias toward finding system improvements but over time that bias has increased as I have applied management improvement concepts. As you gain experience working on improving systems you gain experience showing the wisdom of Deming’s 93-97% figures. My belief is that he increased the percentage of problems attributable to the system over time as he experienced the same thing.

Posted in Management, Popular, Process improvement, Psychology, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Production Preparation Process

Posted on May 3, 2006 by John Hunter

The Top 5 Reasons for Using Production Preparation Process (3P) [the broken link was removed] by Jon Miller:

Production Preparation Process (3P) is one part of an overall Lean design approach that includes QFD, design reviews, and post-start up monitoring by a cross functional team to kaizen any bugs in the new system. The benefits of Production Preparation Process are a cross-functional team approach, rapid testing of ideas and the embedding of Lean manufacturing principles into process and product design.

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Airline Quality

Posted on April 30, 2006 by John Hunter

The Inmates Are Running The Asylums by Bill Waddell.

For instance, I found something called NWA’s [Nortwest Airlines] “Customer First” Customer Service Guide. Incredibly, it includes the statement, “Ensure that you receive a response to your written complaints within 60 days of their receipt by our Customer Relations department.” That’s right – you tell them about a problem in writing and, by golly, within two months they’ll get back to you.

I flew JetBlue Airways last week. The help at the counter was polite and friendly. While this is only one data point (and hardly a “high bar” to meet) it contrasts with most of my flying experience (in my experience Southwest has a good likelihood of meeting this goal). It would be nice if more airlines could be like Southwest (which manages to be profitable in a very challenging industry – LUV stock info).
Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management | 3 Comments

Most Meetings are Muda

Posted on April 29, 2006 by John Hunter

Most Meetings are Muda (Waste) from Got Boondoggle:

I will not waste your time and regurgitate all the expert based meeting protocols like following an established agenda, having a meeting plan, taking meeting notes, etc. All these ideas are great and work well. Instead, I have a list of a few meeting musts that may guide you to more productive meeting time.

The post provides good tips on what to avoid. Given how many people know that many meetings are a waste of time, taking steps to improve meeting effectiveness is a good way to gain some credibility for management improvement activities. Doing so is very visible. Unfortunately, even with the simple and good ideas on how to do better – many meetings that are full of waste.

Here are some good tips from 43 Folders; 9 tips for running more productive meetings:

Follow up – If you have been utilizing a project manager or note taker (and God knows you should), be sure to use a few minutes at the end for him or her to review any major new projects or action items that were generated in the meeting. Have the PM email the list of resolved and new action items to all the participants.

This is an important step missed far too often. Doing so helps make sure that upon leaving the meeting everyone has the same understanding of what has been decided: in addition to reviewing new assignments I would suggest review all significant decisions made. Far too often, people have very different ideas on what happened in previous meetings.

The Team Handbook also has good information on running effective meetings.

Curious Cat Management Improvement Dictionary: Muda definition

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Quality Conversation with Gary Convis

Posted on April 29, 2006 by John Hunter

Quality Conversation with Gary Convis by Norman Bodek:

There are two pillars; one is continuous improvement. You might not call this a human issue exactly, but Toyota’s success rests on the need for all employees, all management, to be looking for and striving for continuous improvement and never being satisfied.
…
We believe very strongly in what the Japanese call “genchi genbutsu,” the foundation of Toyota’s engineering strategy, which means “Go, see, confirm and be aware with your own eyes.”
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The other pillar of the Toyota way is respect for people and honesty. If you don’t have respect for people who work for the company, you’’re in the wrong business.

More lean thinking articles

More posts on Toyota and TPS (lean)

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 1 Comment

Why are you afraid of process?

Posted on April 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Why are you afraid of process? by Seth Godin

I spend a lot of time railing against organizations and teams that fall in love with process at the expense of innovation. This is not a post about that.

It’s about the opposite.

Seth Godin does a great job helping people think creatively. I am glad he sees that process management is not in conflict with that. Many others fall into the trap of thinking it is, see our previous post: Not the End of Process.

Process management is necessary for management improvement. That is true in manufacturing, service, government, research and any other environment. The way process management will be done must be modified to be effective. I believe people react negatively to the concept because they see process as the “rules” such as when the explanation for poor service is given as “that is our policy.” Don’t mix up those excuses with proper process management and improvement strategies.

Related:

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Creativity Overflowing

Posted on April 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Creativity Overflowing [the broken link was removed] :

It was clear that Whirlpool needed to reinvent its corporate culture. To do so, it had to figure out the answers to basic questions that managers everywhere struggle with: How do you define innovation? How do you measure success? How do you teach people to be creative?

Related:

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Using Design of Experiments as a Process Road Map

Posted on April 23, 2006 by John Hunter

Using Design of Experiments as a Process Road Map by Davis Balestracci:

The current design of experiments (DOE) renaissance seems to favor factorial designs and/or orthogonal arrays as a panacea. In my 25 years as a statistician, my clients have always found much more value in obtaining a process “road map” by generating the inherent response surface in a situation. It’s hardly an advanced technique, but it leads to much more effective optimization and process control.

DoE is a tool that is very useful. And while the situations in which DOE is the best tool to use is limited the limited use of DOE is used less than it could be. See more articles on the use of design of Experiments (DoE).

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management, Process improvement, Statistics | Tagged | Comments Off on Using Design of Experiments as a Process Road Map

Stop Demotivating Employees

Posted on April 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation [broken link removed – Harvard is extremely bad about breaking links, which is an indication of how little they think about anything but the short term] by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael Irwin Meltzer from the Harvard Management Update:

Most companies have it all wrong. They don’t have to motivate their employees. They have to stop demotivating them.

Clear, simple and right. Douglas McGregor explored this topic well in 1960. He explained theory X management (managers believe the workers will do only what they are forced, coerced into doing) and theory Y management (managers believe the workers want to do a good job and the managers job is to help them do so) in his excellent book: The Human Side Of Enterprise.

According to the Harvard Business School article:

To maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs initially, management must understand the three sets of goals that the great majority of workers seek from their work – and then satisfy those goals:

  • Equity: To be respected and to be treated fairly in areas such as pay, benefits, and job security.
  • Achievement: To be proud of one’s job, accomplishments, and employer.
  • Camaraderie: To have good, productive relationships with fellow employees.

…
One goal cannot be substituted for another. Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done, and pride alone will not pay the mortgage.

It would be nice if we can do a better job in the next 46 years of incorporating theory Y style into our management systems. The article provides good ideas on what management should do. While not amazing new ideas, the ideas presented are good ideas that management far too often fails to properly apply.

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Popular, Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments