Tony Schwartz blogs about Ten Principles to Live By in Fiercely Complex Times.  I could not help but to consider how these principles align with Lean Leadership and how you could apply these to your Lean world in manufacturing, healthcare, or service.  Here are a few of Mr. Schwartz’ principles with Lean commentary:

1. Always challenge certainty, especially your own:  Lean is all about challenging the current process to create value from the customer’s perspective.  The current process may not have been designed with this perspective.  There is room for improvement if there is still waste even if you or others don’t see it.  Challenge the process to see where you can make it safer, improve quality, make it more efficient, and remove waste.
2. Excellence is an unrelenting struggle, but it is also the surest route to enduring satisfaction:  Lean is also about the relentless pursuit of excellence.  There is no short cut to true excellence.  Pick the right initiatives to bring sustainable improvements and be encouraged by the incremental changes. Lean practitioners should enjoy the feeling of a job well done when they drive improvements to their process by driving out waste and adding value. 
3. Emotions are contagious, so it pays to know what you’re feeling.  Lean really is a journey in pursuit of excellence with the lofty vision of perfection.  Be careful though because the journey can wear on you if you let negative thoughts creek into your team’s psyche.  Guard against feelings like “it’s never good enough.”  It’s better to enjoy the ride with feelings like “The team has done great.  Let’s see how we can get even better.”

Lean Leaders challenge the process.  Lean Leaders are relentless about pursuing excellence and enjoy the journey.  Lean Leaders know that their attitude is contagious and set a good example.  What examples can you share about how you have you managed your pursuit of excellence?

Best regards,                                                                                                                         Christian Paulsen                                                                                                                           Lean Leadership Blog                                                                                                            Written for  The Consumer Goods Club

~~Stephen R. Covey

Image via Wikipedia

The Fishbone diagram is also known as the Cause & Effect (C & E) diagram.  It is also known as the Ishikawa diagram referring to its originator, Professor Kaoru Ishikawa.  The C & E diagram is a good tool when you need to identify the root cause of a problem.  It is also a good tool when there are several possible causes to explore.  Using the Ishikawa diagram enables you to brainstorm and collect possible causes in a group setting.

The mechanics of a Fishbone diagram are not too difficult:

1. Identify the problem.  Be careful to keep the scope small and manageable.   Using the Pareto Principle is a great way to narrow the scope.
2. Write a problem statement on a dry-erase board or flip chart.  Draw a box or circle around this statement.
3. Draw the main bones of the diagram.
4. Label the bones.  The categories are easier to remember if you call it 4 ME:  Man (People), Machine (Equipment), Method (Procedures), Materials, Environment. See below for more on the 4 ME.
5. Brainstorm causes and record them on the bones (see diagram).  Capture the causes and avoid solutions at this point.  ”Poor Quality Raw Ingredients” is better than “Need a new vendor.”
6. Identify which causes are most likely to cause the problem and to have the biggest impact.  Validate that there is a true cause and effect with these conditions.
7. Perform a Root Cause Analysis for the leading causes.  Some people like to do the 5 Why RCA right on the Fishbone diagram.  Pete Abilla shows how you can do this at shmula.com.  This works with a simple 5 Why but you might find it difficult if it turns into a complex multiple path 5 Why.
8. Identify and implement countermeasures.

More detail about the 4 ME catagories:

• Man (People) - anyone involved in the process and contributes to the undesired effect.  Names are not needed.  Capture the contributing factors such as not following SOP’s.
• Machine – equipment, computers, tools, etc.
• Materials – consumable supplies, packing or raw ingredients, etc.
• Methods – policies, procedures, common practices
• Environment – time, temperature, company culture, etc.
• Some people also use Management, Measurement, and Maintenance.

Two watch outs when doing an Ishikawa diagram:

• Keep you scope small.  You can get what Jay Arthur calls a whalebone in Lean Six Sigma Demystified if you are not careful.
• Don’t spend too much time debating where to place a particular cause.  It won’t matter as much as finding the right countermeasure.

You can solve a lot of issues using a few of the right tools.  Pareto charts, Fishbone diagrams, and the 5 Why Root Cause Analysis work very well together to prioritize, identify, and resolve issues.  What can you solve using these tools today?
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The Deming Cycle & Learning

The #2 Lean Leadership Blog post of 2011 was The Lean Learning Cycle:

Lean Manufacturing is much more than a set of tools.  Lean is a way of thinking that can and should result in a culture change.  Part of the culture change is becoming a learning organization.  Since Lean Practitioners embrace Deming’s Plan – Do – Check – Act cycle (PDCA), it makes sense to utilize PDCA as part of the learning process.

As a leader, you need to create opportunities for your team to learn and to reflect on their new knowledge.  Translating “Plan – Do – Check – Act” into “Learn – Do – Think – Apply” will enhance the learning process:

1. Learn – You and your team need to be learning daily.  There is the formal training but your learning opportunities are not limited to the classroom.  Some of the best learning opportunities are when mistakes are made and when equipment breaks down.  Dig for the root causes and learn from the mistakes.
2. Do – Give your team the opportunity to try out what they just learned as soon as possible.  Doing will re-enforce the learning and will help to clear up any misunderstandings.
3. Think – Make opportunities for your team to reflect on the learning and doing steps.  Regroup after the team tries out what they just learned.  Give them the opportunity to learn from each other as they discuss how step 2 shaped what they learned.  I also recommend that you have discussions about what was learned at the end of classroom training.
4. Apply – Get your team using their new knowledge as soon as possible.  Training is a classic case of use it or lose it.  They’ll forget quickly.

What learning opportunities do you anticipate over the next few days?  How can you apply Learn – Do – Think – Apply to these opportunities?  Will you go the extra mile to make your training great?

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~~Hajime Ohba, former General Manager of Toyota Supplier Support Center via The Old Lean Dude

Follow through is critical. Image by familymwr via Flickr

Our march through the top 10 Lean Leadership blogs of 2011 continues with #3, Why Don’t People Follow Procedures:

It’s a cold and rainy morning as John, a new Production Manager, is driving to the plant.  He implemented a new procedure yesterday and he wants to follow-up with his team to ensure everything is going as planned.  It’s an important change since it should resolve a nagging quality issue.  John is hit with a major issue as soon as he walks in the front door.  Before he knows it, it’s been a 12 hour day and John all but forgot about following up on the new procedure.  That’s OK, follow-up will wait until tomorrow, right?  When John finally gets around to asking his operators about the procedure, he finds that they are not following it at all and each operator seems to be doing his own thing.  Sound familiar?

Cover of The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Why wouldn’t the team follow the new procedure since there are such clear benefits?  You probably have a theory or two if this experience sounds familiar to you.  The Toyota Way Fieldbook states that when people deviate from the original plan, it’s a strong indication that there is a flaw in the plan.  This was also one of the main points of Implementing Change – Get It Done! There are reasons why people are not following a new procedure.  You need to find out what those reasons are and figure out what to do about it.

Sustaining the improvements can be the most difficult part of the change process. It can be very tempting to move on to the next project in today’s busy manufacturing environment. But don’t let up just yet because you are likely to see everyone drift away from your new best practices if you do not have the right systems in place. There are a few important points if you are to Sustain the Gain:

a) You will need to follow-up with the key players to see what issues they may be encountering. You will often find that you would benefit by making modifications to the new Best Practice. Reserve the right to learn, get smarter, and to continuously improve.

b) You will need to establish systems to support the change. Data may need to be collected for Leaders to review. Data would be helpful if the change involved process set point changes or other measurable parameters. Forms will need to be created to document that the new procedures are being followed for new Quality inspections and other similar changes.

c) Leadership must ensure that there are robust systems in place and follow-up at the right level of the organization to ensure the change becomes a reality. Follow up will be needed to ensure that the change is implemented as intended. Proper follow-up will enable you to work through those unforeseen issues instead of ignoring them or being blissfully unaware.

John learned the value of following up with his team through this experience.  He also learned that there valid reasons why his new procedure needed modification.  What about you?  Have you seen similar examples?  Are there other reasons why operators may not follow standardized work?  Are you ready to engage your team to get the most out of your standard operating procedures?

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Image via Wikipedia

We are looking at the top 10 Lean Leadership blogs of 2011. After two contributions by guest bloggers, Mark Hamel and Tim McMahon we are moving on to a post created to answer a reader’s question.  Here it is:

A reader asked a great question in response to a recent Lean Leadership Blog post at the Consumer Goods Club.  His question was in essence how do you keep Lean initiatives moving ahead and not going the way of another flavor of the month program.  We have all seen managers with the best intentions launch new initiatives that were supposed to be the wave of the future only to see them fizzle out after a few weeks or months.  Lean initiatives are no different.  Many organizations have tried Lean and either abandon it completely or don’t take it very far.  So what makes the difference between companies that tried Lean and those that are leading the pack?

A successful launch of Lean is in some respects like getting lean with one’s weight.  There are no quick fixes.  There are no easy solutions and it takes work.  You cannot make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight then go back to your old habits after a few weeks or months and expect to stay Lean. It takes discipline over the long haul.

Successful Lean organizations will have several characteristics:

• First and foremost, organizations embarking on a Lean transformation must have someone who is passionately committed to the process and can keep others on board. According to Industry Week Magazine, 70% of all organizational change initiatives fail because there is a lack of lasting commitment.  With this in mind, the higher in the organization this committed leader is, the better.  This Lean leader must be someone who has the authority to set direction for the long-term.

• There also needs to be accountability up and down the chain of command.  Lean will need to bring results if it is to survive.  I doubt it will work if it’s not part of everyone’s annual goals and bonuses.  Your company needs a way to keep Lean on the radar.

• Thirdly, these organizations need to have a core group that truly thinks Lean.  This group can be developed over time while on the Lean journey.  Lean is a way of thinking and not just a box of tools.  The journey is more than learning the tools.  It is a culture change.  Your organization will fall into the Lean toolbox mentality without a core group of people who can keep reminding everyone that it’s a process.

• Successful Lean organizations have a culture of employee engagement. This culture will need to be quickly cultivated if it is not already there.  The average line operator will need to see how Lean benefits them.

• Finally, there needs to be structure to facilitate and support the process.

This has certainly been an important topic in recent years and is very relevant today.  You can find many references to what causes Lean to fail and what is required for success.  There are many discussions in several LinkedIn groups, blogs, and books documenting successful Lean organizations.  The successful organizations are the ones who are willing to invest for the long-term.  Which describes your organization?  Does your team keep an eye on the long-term goals even when dealing with today’s issues or do they drop everything for the weekly or even daily crisis?  Is your organization ready for Lean?

Best regards,

Chris Paulsen
Lean Leadership Blog
Written for http://www.consumergoodsclub.com

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Recently, Mercedes Benz introduced a new brand claim. You may have seen it on TV or in print. It uses a direct quote from founding father Gottlieb Daimler, “The best or nothing.”

It sounds cool. Not that I’m ready to shell out a boat-load of money for a sexy new car. But, it clearly gets across that the Mercedes guys are uncompromising.

As a top executive from Mercedes Benz put it, “For us, [it] means we want to deliver the very best in all areas – be that in research and development, production, sales, service and aftermarket business or in purchasing.”

I have a hard time arguing with that. I know what they mean. It’s a powerful and noble principle.

And yet, the words grate on my (hopefully) lean thinking mind.

Now, I assume that Mercedes Benz is not anti-kaizen, but the brand claim, IF taken out of context, COULD be construed that way.

Specifically, lean practitioners can never, EVER defer to the “…or nothing,” part of the brand claim!

Perfection is not digital. It’s not, “do or not do,” as in I’m either going to make this improvement right here and be perfect or I’m not budging.  Instead, it’s plan-do-check-adjust (PDCA)…over and over and over again.

Seek perfection is a critical lean principle. It’s what provides the never-ending creative tension and the drive to identify opportunities for improvement and formulate and execute countermeasures.

But, at the same time, we can’t let this guiding principle cripple our bias for action. Consistent with the notion of kaizen, frequent, small incremental improvements drive big sustainable improvements. The best improvement is usually the one we can do right now.

General George S. Patton knew this, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future.”

In a PDCA environment, we have to be scientists. We plan, we do, we check and reflect, and then we make adjustments. The likelihood that our plans are perfect is pretty much ZERO. We don’t know what we don’t know. So we need to be ACTING courageous scientists.

…Hence the reason NOT to spend forever and a day to come up with the perfect solution. Perfection ain’t going to happen in one shot, anyway.  Don’t let that freeze you out of the pursuit. Instead, wash, rinse and repeat with a vengeance. It’s truly the only path to perfection.

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Today’s post was written by Mark R. Hamel.  Mark blogs at Gemba Tales and can be contacted at mark@kaizenfieldbook.com  

Mark Hamel is a lean six sigma implementation consultant. He has played a transformative role in lean implementations across a broad range of industries including aerospace and defense, automotive, building products, business services, chemical, durable goods, electronics, insurance, healthcare and transportation services. Mark has successfully coached lean leaders and associates at both the strategic and tactical level. He has facilitated hundreds of kaizen events and conducted numerous training sessions and workshops.

Mark’s 19 year pre-consulting career encompassed executive and senior positions within operations, strategic planning, business development and finance. His lean education and experience began in the early 1990’s when he conceptualized and helped launch what resulted in a Shingo award winning effort at the Ensign-Bickford Company.

Mark holds a BS in Mathematics from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, a MS in Professional Accounting from the University of Hartford and a MA in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. He is a CPA in the state of Connecticut and is dual American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) certified in production and inventory management (CPIM) and integrated resource management (CIRM). A national Shingo Prize examiner, Mark assisted in the development of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)/Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME)/Shingo Lean Certification exam questions. He is also Juran certified as a six sigma black belt and a member of SME, AME and APICS.  Mark authored the Kaizen Event Fieldbook: Foundation, Framework, and Standard Work for Effective Events, published by SME in October of 2009. The Fieldbook won a Shingo Research and Professional Publications Award in 2010.

Please leave a comment below if you liked this article. You can also connect on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, subscribe via e-mail (right side bar), retweet, digg, or stumble this article. You can check out my Facebook page and continue the discussion there as well. Your feedback is appreciated.

Tim is the Founder and Contributor of A Lean Journey Blog. This site is dedicated to sharing lessons and experiences along the Lean Journey in the Quest for True North. The blog also serves as the source for learning and reflection which are critical elements in Lean Thinking. 

Tim is a lean practitioner with more than 10 years of Lean manufacturing experience.  He currently leads continuous improvement efforts for a high tech manufacturer. Tim teaches problem solving skills, lean countermeasures, and how to see opportunities for improvement by actively learning, thinking and being engaged.  

Tim’s blog is always interesting and full of good information for the Lean practitioner. Tim was also helpful to me personally as I was starting this blog which is appreciated. It’s a real pleasure to have Tim contributing to Lean Leadership today.

It is often said that lean is 90% people and 10% tools. Knowledge is the factor which determines the rate of change in organizations. How do we learn and teach this knowledge within our organization? Many organizations use a “train the trainer” method where knowledge is handed down from one individual to the next. This is like the school age game “telephone” where one person tells a story to someone who tells someone else and so on till the end of the line where the final result is a variant of the original. The variation from this type of training can result in confusion, longer cycle times, rework, and defects.

A lean tool that can be employed for teaching is a Single Point Lesson, SPL (or One Point Lesson). Single point lessons originated from TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) as a method to teach knowledge and skills necessary for autonomous maintenance.

Keeping in mind this mantra:

Teaching occurs when an opportunity for Learning is presented.

Learning occurs when there is a change in behavior.

Teaching is only VALUABLE when there is a subsequent change in behavior.

The single point lesson is used to communicate a single idea effectively in five to ten minutes on one page. An effective single point lesson has the following characteristics:

• Visual supported pictures, diagrams, or drawings
• Short and focused
• Self initiated and self taught
• Generated and used at the point of need

As an aide for spreading best practices company-wide, single point lessons can support and enhance improvement efforts. The purpose of single point lessons include:

• Communicating knowledge and skill about the asset amongst members of the team.
• Raising the knowledge and skills of the team in a very short period of time.
• Eliminating problems and for making improvements to the way of working.
• Making sure that everyone knows about a better way of doing something.
• Making sure that next time a problem is encountered everyone knows the way to solve it.

A single point lesson is a learning tool for communicating standards, problems, and improvements across a wide range of processes and work environments. Thus, single point lessons may contain information on a number of topics.

Types of Single Point Lessons:

• Basic Skill – Fill in knowledge and skill gaps
• Countermeasure – Identify root cause, recognize, and prevent future occurrences
• Safety – Spread knowledge and share root cause/mistaking proofing ideas
• Poka Yoke – Communicate solutions and importance of mistake proofing
• Productivity – Spread successful improvement ideas
• TPM – Equip team members for safe, effective, efficient use of equipment, tools and methods

Single point lessons should not replace work instructions or standard operation procedures but they can support and simplify instructions and procedures. Single point lessons are an effective training tool because:

• They are easy for shop floor people to develop – anyone can make one!
• They are easy for shop floor people to deliver – anyone can be a trainer!
• They don’t take long to develop or deliver.
• They facilitate discussion between team members.
• People want to share their skills and knowledge rather than hoarding it.

Example of a Single Point Lesson

There are endless opportunities for single point lessons as a learning tool in your organization. How can you apply single point lessons?

If you are looking for some examples, Fuss & O’Neill understands sharing best practices and have created a section on there website with over 100 SPL’s from various parties. You can access this great resource by clicking here.  You can enlarge the example to the right by clicking on the image.

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You can see more of Tim’s work by going to A Lean Journey.

Please leave a comment below if you liked this article. You can also connect on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, subscribe, retweet, digg, or stumble this article. You can check out my Facebook page and continue the discussion there as well. Your feedback is appreciated.

Image via Wikipedia courtesy Yves Guillou

John, a young production manager, makes his way onto the production floor to see how an important changeover is progressing.  He wanted to make sure everything is moving along as planned because orders are heavy this week and his team needed to be running the next product ASAP.  In fact the scheduler wanted it yesterday and the trucks are already at the docks.  John is disappointed to learn that the change over is running much longer than scheduled because the team cannot find some of the change parts for the filler….. “maybe now is the time to implement this 5S I have been hearing about.”

5S is named for its 5 steps:  Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain and is more than window dressing.  5S will bring several benefits to John’s plant and your workplace.  Let’s look at the benefits to John’s team as they implement 5S.

1. Housekeeping and Organization – When John’s team has Sorted out the unneeded parts and supplies (1^st S), they de-clutter their workplace.  This enables them to Set Locations and Limits (2^nd S).  At this point, the team has a place for everything and everything in its place.  John’s team will not be wasting valuable line time looking for change parts during the next changeover since they have a defined location for the change parts.
2. Losses & Waste are Visible – The team will find abnormalities as they clean with a purpose.  They find defects while cleaning to inspect as they Shine and Sweep (3^rd S). 
3. Continuous Improvement – Standardizing (4^th S) enables everyone to follow these best practices.  You should not expect consistent results when the practices are not standardized and you cannot consistently improve without standardization.
4. Structure and Discipline – John’s team gains structure and develops self-discipline as they build systems to Sustain (5^th S) their 5S initiative.  Sustaining 5S can be the most difficult step and it will not be successful without structure and discipline. 
5. Pride & Ownership – John’s team finds that they have increased ownership since they have more invested in their work environment and they find gratification because they can make a difference.

John and his team discover for themselves that 5S is not just a housekeeping project and is more than window dressing.  They find and eliminate defects, they reduce waste, and they are always looking for ways to improve.  More importantly, they develop the structure, discipline, and ownership needed as a foundation for a Lean Manufacturing journey.

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This post is the first in a series of articles on 5S implementation. You may want to read the next article: 7 Steps to 5S.  I originally wrote this as a guest blog for A Lean Journey.  Tim McMahon has a great Lean Blog there.  Thanks to Tim for allowing me the pleasure to guest blog there.  This article was posted on Lean Leadership where it subsequently had enough traffic to be one of this blog’s top 10 for 2011.

Please leave a comment below if you liked this article. You can also connect on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, subscribe, retweet, digg, or stumble this article. You can check out my Facebook page and continue the discussion there as well. Your feedback is appreciated.