How do you do less improvement but make it stick? How do we work better on the vital few? How do you incorporate green issues into your Lean programme? These and other questions were explored in a seminar hosted by Professor Peter Hines, chairman of the Lean Enterprise Research Centre and SA Partners.
Peter has led research at Cardiff University, where the Lean Enterprise Research Centre is based, into how and why change programmes fail.
They discovered that the top 10 reasons were:
- Lack of a clear executive vision.
- Lack of an effective communication strategy.
- Failure to create and communicate a real sense of urgency.
- Poor consultation with stakeholders.
- Lack of a structured methodology and project management.
- Failure to monitor and evaluate outcomes.
- Failure to mobilise change champions.
- Failure to engage employees.
- Absence of a dedicated and fully resources implementation team.
- Lack of sympathetic and supportive Human Resources policies.
Source: Lucey, Batemen and Hines, 2005.
It would appear that the main problems are not with the tools: they are change management issues. However, most Lean books do not focus on these, but instead on the mechanics and the tools. Consequently, Peter and his team at SA Partners have created several different roadmaps to create a “self-propelling” organisation. This involves concentrating on strategy and alignment, leadership, and behaviour and engagement.
The purpose of this seminar was to introduce these methods, as outlined in the new Shingo prize winning book “Staying Lean: Thriving Not Just Surviving”. Peter detailed the goals for the day, which were to give a brief overview of Lean basics/essentials, share a case study of an implementation at Cogent Power giving details of the five key elements they got right, introduce the “Lean iceberg” method of implementation, show how Lean can increase profits and capability by focusing on the right areas, and to show how this can directly relate to those in attendance.
What is real Lean?
The seminars are tailored based on the attendees, and as all of the attendees had Lean experience Peter did not spend too much time on Lean basics, but instead pointed out how the basics are often done wrong.
Most people, for example, think it is simply about waste reduction. This is not only wrong, but potentially very damaging: emphasising the cost-cutting aspects of Lean can be seen as a significant threat, particularly if this is how it is introduced. Traditional Lean is about Muda (waste), Mura (unevenness) and Muri (overburden). Muri focuses on the culture of the organisation, and as such is the most “likeable” aspect of Lean. However, it is also usually ignored, or certainly the least often mentioned or addressed. This is a mistake as the Muri side is about engagement and should be where to start.
In addition, most deployments fail due to an over-reliance on Kaizen Blitz and not enough of a focus on “True” Lean: that is, creating sustainable results through incremental change.
Cogent Power Case Study
Professor Hines at this point handed over to his colleague, Chris Butterworth, who took the meeting through the successful implementation of Lean at Cogent Power. He detailed the key lessons learned, including how different roadmaps were designed and implemented at various stages as a result of detailed PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) studies, that identify where the attention of the programme should be.
The first roadmap, for example, concentrated on strategy formation and deployment, people skills and value stream management, and in particular the first principle of Lean: identifying what is value in the eyes of the customer. A PDCA study 18 months in shifted the roadmap towards multi-level leadership and deployment, sustainability, and extending customer value throughout the supply chain.
Chris shared many other experiences from the Cogent Power implementation, and shared details of the success of the programme, which has not only registered significant savings, and new growth, but survived a change in CEO to continue to thrive.
The Lean Iceberg Approach
Following the case study, the Lean Iceberg Approach was introduced.
Particular attention was given to the bottom half of the iceberg, the “Lean Management” aspect that is so often either ignored or not properly dealt with. Each part was explored in detail, with the benefits highlighted by real-world examples as well as common mistakes. Attendees learnt about the following:
Strategy and Alignment:
- The correct method for Strategy Formation and Deployment.
- Creating not a ‘vision’, but a ‘purpose statement’.
- Identifying Critical Success Factors (CSF) and turning them into the right Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
- Identifying the key strategic issues.
- Translating CSFs at team level, and monitoring the KPIs.
Leadership:
- The difference between management and leadership.
- The evolving role of the Lean leader.
- Typical activity state (ratio of effort spent on strategy, improvement, fire-fighting and day job throughout the different levels) in organisations, and the ideal state.
- Situational leadership.
- Gemba management.
Behaviour and Engagement:
- Identifying behaviours and changing them to the right ones.
- Measuring employee engagement.
- Creating people-centred Lean sustainability.
- The seven Lean skills to disseminate throughout the organisation.
- Understanding and defeating resistance.
These discussions included valuable insight into how Lean can be used to create additional capability which in turn can be used to increase innovation and profit. It is important Lean is positioned not just as cost reduction, but as a business management tool that leads to increased profitability.
Tools and Lessons Learned
The last session of the day focused on the tools and how best to use them from a sustainability point of view. Peter gave practical, real-world examples from the unusual environment of a hospital, and emphasised that there are wasted opportunities if people simply focus on the tools and techniques without realising that they are just a means to an end. Too often customer value is lost as the tools are thrown at problems, often in the wrong order, and with little overall benefit. In addition opportunities for improvement in non-manufacturing functions are missed: the tools and philosophy works equally well in all areas of the business, as long as it is applied properly.
T
he day concluded with a round of feedback from the attendees, all of which was positive with everyone indicating that they had much to take back and use in their organisation.
Finally, Professor Hines asked the meeting for each individuals three key learning points from the day. For me, they were:
- Perception of Lean as profit potential and not just cost reduction.
- Emphasising the Muri side instead of just waste and the consequent negative perception that can engender.
- Aligning the current activity state so everyone is involved in improvement and strategy.
For more information about the book “Staying Lean: Thriving Not Just Surviving”, the Lean Enterprise Research Centre, or SA Partners, please complete the form below.
