Improving Continuous Improvement – The Four Musts of a Better Model
Recently, we've been exploring the current state of Continuous Improvement (CI) and why it typically doesn't deliver on its promises, with the intent of utilizing the lessons learned to generate the foundation of an improved CI model. In this post we synthesize the key takeaways from our research into the ‘four musts’ that form the basis of a more lasting and effective approach; a CI model that ingrains excellence deeply into every corner of the organization, generating ever increasing customer value, positive financial impact, and worker fulfillment.
The four musts of an improved CI model:
MUST 1: Build upon the proven most effective existing tools, methods, and concepts (Lean, Lean Six Sigma, 4DX, Kata, TWI, etc.)
The value of appropriately applying the tools, concepts, and philosophies from Lean and Lean Six Sigma is well proven. Any improved model needs to retain the elements that continue to deliver value, while addressing key gaps that inhibit long-term CI success.
We are not advocating a revolution, but there is a clear need for an evolution. In CI speak, we are now in the ‘adjust’ stage of the latest plan-do-study-adjust (PDSA) cycle for CI as a whole.
MUST 2: Deliver rapid and lasting results
While the end game of CI is to position organizations and their people for long-term success, we all know that in today’s short-term focused environment, positive results need to be delivered quickly. The faster and more effectively CI efforts address important process issues, deliver real dollars to the bottom-line, and begin to improve the welfare of the workers impacted, the more CI will be valued and the more likely it will attract additional attention and resources to build further momentum. Success begets success.
However short-term results also need to be long lasting. The shine will quickly wear off of CI if specific improvements fail to stick over time. CI needs to make results sustainment a natural byproduct of daily work, rather than an extra bolt-on set of activities.
MUST 3: Ensure focus and alignment
The entire organization needs to be able to focus efforts on executing the activities required to achieve the MOST CRITICAL short-term objectives, while still managing the typical chaos of the workday and delivering the expected daily numbers. The key here is making sure no one in the organization is accountable for more than one (or two at most) near-term critical objective. This is very different from the situation we typically see, in which leaders often times are on the hook for more than a dozen goals. From a Lean perspective, specifically Little’s Law, having lots of goals at any one time has the same effect as having too much inventory in a production process – There’s lots of activity, but nothing gets completed on time.
In addition to a razor sharp focus on only the most critical short-term issues, the organization needs to continually strive to make progress toward the direction of a common ‘true north’ supported by fundamental Operational Excellence Principles (this will be a subject of future blog posts).
MUST 4: Fundamentally ingrain CI into the organization’s culture
Our experience shows that if CI is positioned as a set of bolt-on activities to be performed in addition to the required daily work, it will eventually get swept aside. However when it is ingrained into the way work gets done every day – and becomes wired into individual habits and collective routines – it is much more sustainable and requires significantly less of the business non-value add support infrastructure utilized by most of today’s approaches.
Ingraining CI into the culture engages the combined horsepower of all workers in a daily cadence of problem solving – amplifying improvement momentum and yielding all of the benefits of increased worker engagement discussed in the last post.
Of course this is just an introduction to the foundational tenets of an improved model that we are labeling as ‘Ingrained Excellence’, with many specific details still to come. So stay tuned!
In the meantime, we welcome your thoughts. What resonates with your experiences? Are there additional gaps that still need to be closed?
Lesson Learned: To close the gaps of existing CI approaches, an improved model of Ingrained Excellence must:
1. Build upon the proven and most effective tools, methods, and concepts. 2. Deliver rapid and lasting results. 3. Ensure focus and alignment. 4. Fundamentally ingrain CI into the organization’s culture.