The indisputable fact about change is that everyone hates it! It is painful and nobody likes to go through it. It’s a natural response and one that humans just despise. However, we also know that change is a positive thing and an absolute necessity for any business. Across corporate platforms, innovation and change are typically repressed, and usually lack a clear mission or framework. Even businesses with a strong management team can generate an environment that is hostile to innovation and change. This logically leads a board to the next question, “Do we really need a Chief Innovation Officer?” Without a doubt, considering the mere fact of human nature, a business can benefit from a Chief Innovation Officer (CIO).

Let’s consider that a CIO can breathe fire into an organization that lacks innovative energy or can be an effective counter-balance to an organization’s natural business instincts. A CIO can help design a more innovation-friendly environment. Let’s look at some key factors that support the role of a CIO:

• Supports Best Practices – Scours the market for ideas and insights. Promotes open and free innovation cultures. Introduces practices and tools like Lean Six Sigma that promote creative thinking.
• Building Skills – Instills a culture of training and measures improvement in innovation.
• Supports New Initiatives – Acts as an expert and facilitator for innovation teams. Raises the bar on their vision and encourages their aspirations.
• New Market Spaces – Always searching for new market opportunities.
• Foster Idea Generation – Managing idea generating platforms that create new possibilities.
• Direct Funding – Operates a budget for “orphan ideas” and innovation.
• Project Sheltering – Protects innovation and seed projects from managers who are strictly invested in the status quo.

Innovators are relatively intolerant of an organizational resistance to change. They neither understand nor appreciate the value of an organization’s muscle memory. Innovators are the employees who will poke managers with a sharp stick if they fail to get the response they seek. Letting a CIO have control over these factors can bring new life into a stagnant business or industry.

When you consider the powerful nature of a leader that can inspire and support innovation, the possibilities are endless. A CIO who uses Lean Six Sigma in the organization is powerful: the methodology becomes a force multiplier in the business. Inspiring innovation and taking projects from seed to implementation are the basis of a Lean Six Sigma practice. Choosing a CIO could be the best choice a business ever made for the stability and growth of their operation well into the future.

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When you gather a room full of Lean Six Sigma practitioners discussing projects, the one word that always creeps into the conversation is culture. If you discuss the reasons why projects succeed or fail, culture seems to be the point that makes a difference. Without much debate, it can be agreed that an organization’s culture has a major impact on Lean Six Sigma projects and is crucial to quality. The problem comes to mind that we cannot really accurate measure or even define what exactly culture is. Without being able to put our hands on it or scientifically define it, it becomes an elusive factor, which has significant impact.

Corporate culture is defined as the pervasive values, beliefs and attitudes that characterize a company and guide its practices. To some extent, a company’s internal culture may be articulated in its mission statement or vision statement. Whether we align our strategy with our existing culture or seek to change our culture to fit our agreed strategic plans will depend on what view we take of culture. Trying to measure culture, we can look at it from two different perspectives:

1. External – The culture is derived from a variety of roots and is largely unchangeable. It is influenced by factors brought into the workplace, such as religious beliefs, family beliefs and company lore embedded in the values.
2. Internal – Based on the behavior of the people in the organization, who can be led and changed as often as possible to achieve the desired results when there is a need for major change.

Understanding people’s behavior is a necessary prerequisite therefore whichever view we take of culture.

For a Lean Six Sigma practitioner, understanding the culture of a corporation and what influences it is crucial to success. Our practice is based upon facts and scientific outcomes, but understanding the intangible is just as important. There will continue to be lengthy debates about the impact of culture in our practice, but it can be agreed that culture impacts outcomes greater than any other factor we face.

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Do you feel like you’re just putting out fires with Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs? Always in a defensive, under siege mentality, arbitrarily moving in different directions without real focus or strategy? Well, you probably aren’t alone. If you are thinking it, then you are probably doing it! It’s time to step back, take a deep breath and get control of your VOC program — especially if you find the following points describe any or all of your program:

Listening Overload – Listening and managing more “listening posts” or sources than is practical or valuable.

Maxed Out – Your responsibilities as a VOC Manager have taken on a life of their own and control and keep you reeling and reactive.

Confidence Drains – Pressing on with a program that does not present real and measurable results or impact. Energy and effort seem to be just getting poured down a drain in the name of running the VOC program.

Recent surveys indicated 90% of executives understand the importance of VOC programs, and 86% did not expect to see tangible business results from them. If you can relate to these points and feel strongly your program is accurate described in those statistics, then maybe it’s time to step back and reboot.

The first consideration when rebooting your VOC program is to be strategic and stop being a worn out reactionary! When you start anew, start by dreaming big! Have a big vision for success and how you will achieve it. Stop expending energy on the smallest item and focus on the big picture with big results.

One of the strongest elements of rebooting your VOC is creating a shift to actionability. Shift your energy to strategic plans that incorporate your vision and are completely actionable. Change funding from being tied up on eternally broken things to creating real value for customers that are in sync with customer demands. This will give you wins in your program and give managers a level of success that wasn’t experienced before.

Lastly, ensure that your VOC is measuring the expectations of the customer, not just their every complaint. Stop putting out fires and start embracing the true Voice of the Customer. Transforming your program in this manner creates an environment of true value and eliminates those small picky complaints that bogged down your VOC. Managers will then create a tempo of success and responsibility. Actionability and action are the new wisdom for any VOC program.

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You know that your shop floor is extremely lean. It is efficiency in motion and something to be emulated across your industry. The real question is: when was the last time you took a look at your administrative offices? Can you say, with confidence, that your administrative offices are run with the same efficiency as your manufacturing floor? Did that give you something to consider?

Across the manufacturing industry, operations are still recovering from the recession. These operations are continually looking for ways to remain efficient, effective and profitable. Well, behind those doors over there could be significant opportunity, which remains largely ignored.

Even in your LEAN efficient organization, you may be burning profits that could be unimaginable to most. If you understand that that well over 50% of operating expenses are in labor and that 60%-80% of the costs of completing an order are administrative, you might be getting the hint of where to start. Administrative activities take place behind the scenes, but impact your bottom line far more that you can imagine.

This gives significant strength to the argument that a LEAN office is an important area of focus for those seeking higher profitability and customer satisfaction. Here are 3 steps you can take to create a LEAN office:

1. Get a Grip – Pinpoint and note every business process from design to delivery. Use the Kaizen event to discover answers to questions that arise.
2. Get the Right Software – Leverage technology to give you a strong advantage. Automate as many repetitive, tedious and time consuming functions as possible.
3. Track Results – Create performance metrics that count! Quantifiable metrics must be closely monitored to improve the people and the business.

Learn to trim the waist line of the administrative offices, with the same energy and focus as your manufacturing shop floor. Efficiencies with the administrative team can create a profitability never before imagined in manufacturing.

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Let’s just be frank. Americans are unhappy at work! Recent surveys indicate that 70% of then American work force are disengaged. That means that out of 10 people around you at work, 7 are not happy being there. Keep looking around at your coworkers while we get you a few more facts to ponder about the American worker:

1. 46% of all new hires fail in the first 18 months. 80% of those failures are related directly to a poor culture.
2. It costs between 100% and 300% of a new hires annual salary to replace them when they quit.
3. 80% of this disengaged or unhappy are feeling that way because of their direct manager.

We hope that gave you a few things to reflect on while you take in the true impact on your organization of those numbers. The disturbing part is that this information is not new. It has been trending for years, and organizations continue to hide from the real issues or paste over them by throwing around money and promotions to appease the staff. Unfortunately, the failure of those efforts are starting to hit home with organizations and leaders. The overall point is that people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their managers. It’s time to embrace the facts and find a new approach.

The Lead with Respect model is a radically different approach that engages staff and shows them the way forward! The concept is made up of these elements: Go and See, Challenge, Listen, Teach, Support, Teamwork and Learn. We can learn these elements my keeping the following points in mind:

• Share – Honestly share the challenges facing the organization. Show what questions need to be answered.
• Listen – Listen hard and intently to the problems your staff faces. They are going to tell you what the challenges are, whether you like it or not. Be open.
• Teach – Be willing and open to teaching new skills that open up opportunity.
• Support Learning – Keep them engaged in “trying” and support their fear of the new and unknown.
• Teamwork – Keep the focus on the overall success and quickly break down departmental silos.
• Learn from Improvement Efforts – Instill and demonstrate the value of quality improvement efforts.

Practicing these Lead with Respect principles will create a more open and energetic work environment. Organizations with happy employees outperform their competition by 22%. Thats a significant advantage.

The mainstream approach to management is so deeply engrained that leaders tend to find it the most comfortable position to take. Get out of your comfort zone today. Understand that the true mission of a leader is to completely satisfy the customer, and to do that all your available resources must be onboard and working in complete harmony with each other. Finding that ideal sense of purpose is not impossible, but it all starts with you, the leader. You must embrace Lead with Respect.

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You know it’s going to be a tough meeting. Lean is a mindset and comes from the heart, based on desires to change to improve outcomes. As simple as that may be, your boss just doesn’t get it. You have been spending weeks prior to this meeting rehearsing the concepts, practicing every conceivable objection and compiling reams of data. All your work clearly indicates that adopting Lean is the way to go. However, your boss has clearly indicated that they are skeptical and tells you it’s going to be a hard sell to win the day. Well, just relax! The conversation is going to be easier than you think, when you keep things in the proper perspective.

Going into the meeting, understand that selling Lean principles will be too tough. The concepts generally are because they are variable and can be easily argued. Start the meeting by getting an understanding of exactly what outcomes in the organization they would like to see changed and improved. Use Lean thinking to determine what predictor will provide the desired outcomes. Managers will always be interested in outcomes that revolve around the following points:

• Efficiency – Producing more with less.
• Speed – Increases frequency of delivery, or completing projects quicker.
• Quality – Of the product delivered.
• Innovation – Both internal innovation and product innovation.
• Morale – Of staff
• Reliability – Of delivery / predictability of release cycles / doing what we say

Conversations that occur around improvement of outcomes are always better than conversations centered around Lean principles.

The next logical step once outcomes are identified is to quantify those outcomes in terms that managers understand…money! Demonstrate clearly the cost savings of each individual outcome. Your manager may want to argue Lean principles, but they are woefully hesitant to argue against saving money, especially when those costs savings could significantly boost the bottom line. Be factual, calm and let the numbers speak for themselves.

Once you have identified outcomes, quantified each outcome with potential cost savings, now it’s time to go to work. Agree upon one outcome that can be addressed with Lean thinking and principles of the practice. Again, don’t sell or debate Lean principles, stay focused on outcomes. Use your Lean practice and thinking to get demonstrated results and quantify those results financially. When you can demonstrate the value of improving one agreed upon outcome, take on another. Let your results speak for themselves. Before you know it, successful outcomes will transform themselves into Lean successes without a heated debate of principles. Be silent and let your results speak volumes.

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Teamwork! We all know that great success is the result of great teamwork! Individual effort is important to the equation, but individual effort must be focused on the common goal or outcome. Without everyone working towards the same goal, with the same focus and energy, the desired results will always be elusive. Lean and Six Sigma are methods for quality improvement, each standing on their own merits. However, many organizations struggle with creating a team of the methodologies. Fact is, when they function as a team, the results can be significant.

Implementing the strategies will solely depend on where the comfort level is with each methodology and the desired outcomes. Many start with Lean, as they may view it as the easier process to implement. Others may choose to use Six Sigma first as they wish to gain control of specific processes. When beginning with Lean, using the tools of the methodology to eliminate the “eight deadly wastes” will achieve significant progress. The Six Sigma methodology can then be used to augment the Lean methodology in addressing process and service issues. Since companies must become more responsive to changing customer needs, faster lead times are essential in all endeavors. Lean is an important complement to Six Sigma and fits well within the Six Sigma DMAIC process. Additionally, the Lean Kaizen approach is a great method that can be used to accelerate the rate of improvements. Some organizations have responded to this dichotomy of approaches by forming a Lean/Six Sigma problem-solving team with specialists in the various aspects of each discipline but with each member cognizant of other’s specialties.

Whatever your choice is, combining the methodologies into a supportive and viable team can yield dynamic results. Lean tools include the 5S system of workplace organization, standard work, one-piece flow, quick change-over, pull systems and total productive maintenance. Six Sigma utilizes DMAIC along with other tools, such as Histograms, Pareto charts, the 5 Why’s, along with Fishbone diagrams to achieve specific results. These tools create a powerful, results driven focus in an organization and will inspire energized teamwork throughout.

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The business of our justice system is ripe for change! Set aside the legal aspects and just focus on the business side of the industry. The fact is, corporate counsels offices typically operate on an unlimited budget. Most of the time, there are soft budgets applied to show some type of fiscal restraint, but those restrictions typically are blown relatively quickly. No other department within any organization in corporate America is allowed to operate in such a reckless manner.

Secondly, most lawyers have not attended business school, nor are they trained in business fundamentals and operations. Their focus is typically on the practice of law, with limited fiscal constraints. Furthermore, lawyers are entirely unfamiliar with the methodologies of Lean or Six Sigma. The practice of law and protecting the interests of the client do not currently require managing workflows, improving efficiencies, reducing costs or delivering added value. These are alien concepts to most lawyers.

In today’s business climate, organizations are starting to demand “business-only” strategies be applied to their practices. Clients are demanding efficiencies and refusing to pay for unnecessary work, demanding legal operations remain within a set budget. The court system itself suffers from many of these weaknesses, and requires some fiscal belt tightening.

The principles of Lean Six Sigma can surely be applied to the practice of law and the business of the judicial system. The methodologies require constant improvement of quality based on the measurement of performance indicators. Specifically, Six Sigma can focus on service delivery, since the legal and judicial system is completely service oriented.

As with any other industry, this change will require attention and support from leaders within legal and judicial offices. Lawyers and judges will need to understand the methodologies and require experts from their organizations to properly implement the methodologies. Changes have already started to impact the industry, and attorneys are quickly focusing on meeting the expectations of their clients’ fiscal limitations. Lean Six Sigma can now define critical success factors to include engagement, management involvement, communications, resources, projects, discipline and consequences.

Lean Six Sigma, applied to the U.S. civil justice system, might seem strange at first, but the concept is right at “home” when discussing discovery. Applying Lean Six Sigma to discovery can assist in improving the primary review of documents and reduce overall costs, as the philosophy forces practitioners and courts to look at the bigger picture and ask—why is this discovery task done this way?

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Scorched Earth Policy

Are you really focusing on the details in your business? So many leaders and entrepreneurs are missing the details that make a difference. Business is a “games of inches” and success is measured in fine increments. Unfortunately, many business and leadership models encourage you to stay focused on the “big picture” and the little things will take care of themselves. Some believe that the small details are time wasters and not worth paying attention to. This style unfortunately is leaving scorched earth across the landscape of the business or industry. Is it time to make a change and try the Kano Model?

Redefining the Process Using Kano Model

If you’re open to a different approach that could bring a new energy to your business, the Kano Model is worth considering. The Kano Model is a technique developed by Dr. Noriaki Kano to help understand the varying levels of value that customers place on different features of a product or service. Dr. Kano, alongside with his colleagues at the University of Tokyo, established a framework that can be used to assess customer satisfaction. By using this model and focusing on the smallest of detail in every aspect of your business, you can actually address problems before they present themselves and cause disruption.

Elements of Success with the Kano Model

There are three elements of consideration when using the Kano Model. When using this system or model, everyone is involved in finding improvement ideas. That is being proactive with the Kano Model. You don’t wait for an issue to present itself, before you bring forward the issues and the answers need for resolution. Here are the 3 elements to consider:

1. Dissatisfiers – These are products or services that are expected by the customer and when not fulfilled, they create significant disappointment.
2. Satisfiers – These are elements of service or a product that can either increase or decrease customer satisfaction.
3. Delights – These are features that absolutely delight customers. These features add premier or custom value to the product or service.

The biggest challenge that businesses face is how to delight the customer with a product or service, without spending much money.

Turning the Tide with the Kano Model

Businesses and leaders that are firmly committed to improving quality and customer service utilizing the Kano Model must be able to identify challenges by one source alone – the customer. Understanding the challenge leaves you no other recourse but to implement change that reduce or eliminate the challenges addressed by the customer. You can now turn the tide of your “scorched earth” leadership and focus on what is most important. Pay attention to the smallest detail and focus on the customer.

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Study the Battlefield of Customer Experience

The battle of competition between business has traditionally depended on several factors. Location, environment, experience, price and customer service have traditionally been the arenas where business has waged the war of competition. Successful businesses have never been strong across all of these factors, but they do excel in certain ones that do attract customer attention for their service or product. Then, along came the digital age and disrupted the rules of the competition battleground. In today’s environment, the one singular factor that leads to success is the customer experience.

The Battle of Exceptional Customer Experience

The fact is, in today’s business environment, if you aren’t winning the war of customer experience, you are losing. The digital environment has changed the dynamic of customer choices, and if you aren’t meeting the exceptions, the customers will quickly go elsewhere. This environment is causing many businesses to struggle with this monumental change. They no longer are able to depend on price as the deciding factor in the battle for customer loyalty. Everything now depends on the customer experience.

Winning the War of Customer Experience

With customers demanding an omni-channel experience, business silos must be broken down. Here are 3 facts to consider about current customer demands:

1. 90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal. Silos just don’t work anymore.
2. 45% of in-store consumers turn to social platforms on their mobile device to influence buying decisions. The brick and mortar is no longer the platform of success.
3. 54% of marketers cite not having consolidated customer view across channels as the biggest roadblock to a successful cross-channel experience. Business are operating blind.

Businesses who succeed will stay ever mindful that the customer experience lives across multiple channels.

Customer Journey Map Leads to Success in Customer Experience

A customer journey map presents your customer’s point of view, to include the customer journey across all channels, the highs and lows people feel while interacting with your business, and identifies potential opportunities. Use customer focus groups to truly understand the exact factors of their customer behavior. Using both traditional and online focus groups will bring a more accurate representation of customer habits. With those insights accurately illuminated, it’s time to use stakeholder workshops to bring home the case for a better customer experience. Reviewing and analyzing customer feedback can be a very humbling process.

Understanding the ever changing environment of the customer experience is crucial to success in today’s business environment.

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Does it Work With Sales?

When you understand the Lean philosophy, this question comes to mind. Even though the philosophy is geared to the manufacturing process, it has immense flexibility across all sectors and logically should fit with your sales operations. The key to success would be, like any other sector, the structure of your sales organizations and the willingness to implement the Lean philosophy. A well-established, top-down leadership is crucial to rearrange the work pattern to which your team is accustomed. Having a manager that is well-respected, energetic and eager to apply a lean approach to business is the perfect combination that will make employees less apprehensive and more interested.

Applying the Philosophy to Sales

The same way you apply Lean to your physical production, there is a similar sale kaizen that will apply to your strategies. Here are five ways that you can start analyzing and improving your process:

1. Value Stream Mapping – Analyze your sales process and the customer’s buying process.
2. Apply the 5S’s- Clean your house and eliminate sale processes that aren’t needed.
3. Value Your Quality – The quality of your leads list allows you to work smarter.
4. Lead Nurturing & Generation – Selling and nurturing leads are two separate concepts. Make customers feel comfortable first!
5. Sales Kaizen – It’s all about constant improvement.

Enjoying a Lean Sales Force

A sales organization that operates with a focused Lean philosophy will benefit just as much as a manufacturing organization. Lean brings to the table efficiencies along with a deep understanding of customer needs and desires. After all, that is the basic core element of sales, isn’t it? When you understand the customer, then you can efficiently tailor a process that exceeds expectations and creates a better environment for closing the sale. Customers will organically become more loyal, and you will also attract new business that was hidden before by a clumsy process. Sales is all about being in perfect harmony with customers, and a Lean sale philosophy can and will deliver!

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The Strength of Tea in Sri Lanka

The tea industry in Sri Lanka has been in place since 1867 and represents 2% of the GDP. It is the main source of foreign exchange for the country. The business has been managed (ruled) under the age old feudal work structure that has been in place since the inception of the industry. Turmoil has shaken the industry in the past few years with protracted labor disputes and significantly reduced productivity. These factors has shaken the financial stability of the government, and change has been called for.

Problems Are Brewing

Some of the issues facing the industry are disturbing. When you measure productivity in the industry, plantation workers are plucking an average of 18kgs a day. Their counterparts on plantations in India pluck an average of 27 kgs per day. A prolonged labor dispute has been raging since early 2015 over wages. Both sides have been hopelessly deadlocked. In previous wage agreements, pluckers have been given wage increases, which improved their personal standard of living. However, much to the dismay of management, pluckers continued to be frustrated in their work, and absenteeism and attendance continued to decline. These issues are just a glimpse at the problems that are strangling the livelihood of the industry.

Lean Management Offers a Perfect Cup

Experts have studied the issue and have proposed the adoption of lean management on plantations across the tea industry. These studies have clearly shown that a Lean approach to the industry will bring resolution to the endless labor disputes, reduce the lack of productivity, and boost quality across the board. Because of the financial distress to the plantations and the government, all parties seem to be open to implementation of a lean management system. The problems of the industry clearly can be addressed and resolved through the use of lean management. When the plantation managers have a clear understanding of the challenges truly faced by the workers, and the workers clearly understand the need of the plantation managers, life could be revived in the industry. Will implementation of lean management be the magical fix some may envision? No, by no means will it be a “fix all.” However, we do understand that a solid practice of lean management in the industry will go a long way in stabilizing the decline, then turning this proud industry back onto a trajectory of success.

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A Fear of Pain and Lean

For most, when they hear the word ‘lean’ it sends pain shooting through their body. Just like mentioning the word ‘dentist’ to some people, it can create a mental image of extreme pain. It conjures up images of layoffs, reductions in operations and unreasonable expectations implemented by heavy handed managers. Bring it up in a staff meeting and you might have a few try to run for the door. Those feelings do not help foster a sense of open mindedness that is essential to the implementation. Unfortunately, this is due to lack of understanding regarding the lean approach. This is a terrible shame for the companies out there who could actually be providing better conditions for their employees if they only understood what it is really all about.

What It Is and Is Not

Let’s outline a few factors that highlight what lean is not:

• Doesn’t mean layoffs – Fact is, it depends on continuous employee input for the purpose of retention.
• Doesn’t mean overworked – Employees aren’t given ridiculous production standards. It creates an efficient and easy process, which makes their environment better.
• Doesn’t eliminate backstock and buffers – In the manufacturing world, this is would be insane and never tolerated.
• Doesn’t mean cheap quality – It indicates quality on high! Expenses are simply measured against demand and reality.

Now let’s outline some points about what lean is:

• Lean minimizes waste – Less waste increases employee satisfaction and higher customer value.
• Lean means corporate responsibility – It demands the business be responsible in every aspect of their operation.
• Lean is a constant process – It means that analysis and improvement is ongoing, never ending. It is the culture.

Easing the Pain

Changing the culture by open communication is crucial to dispelling the myths of lean. It won’t immediately relieve the apprehension. Just like a dentist who claims to be ‘pain free’, communication will be met with a certain skepticism. The real proof is in the action, and employee fears will subside when they’ve seen tangible, positive results. Just like when you finish at the dentist, the overall experience will probably much less painful than imagined. Change is a painful thing for most, but the proper implementation of the process can be a positive and pain-free process for all.

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Breaking a Trail in the New Frontier

There is a popular saying in business that goes something like this: ‘If you can’t measure it, then you can’t manage it.’ We think most entrepreneurs and leaders fully embrace that mantra, based upon results. Successful organizations across the spectrum, both in the US and on a global platform, embrace metrics measurement as the way to go! In the past few months however, some new entrepreneurs with new visions of organizational accountability are turning the mantra upside down. Their premise is that you don’t need metrics to determine value or performance. Just listen to the customer, render a great service or product and sell! Everything else will fall into place. This new vision of business operation has sent shockwaves through corporate offices worldwide. To substantiate their premise, these groundbreaking entrepreneurs are heading up companies that have multi-million dollar financials to support their assertions. Might be hard to argue with success.

A Free Style Spirit With Metrics

So here is the theory that they are following: first off, take away accountability metrics. They feel that these metrics are simply just a tool to pound people over the head. The alternative that they profess is that when the metrics accountabilities are gone, the people feel more free to innovate and create. They have the latitude to respond to situations in a more timely and free manner that fits the individual situations. Freedom in the workplace inspires meteoric growth through innovation and creativity. Secondly, without gathering, analyzing and building mountains of reports, they are saving time, money and inspiring people. They are freeing up significant assets that would go to research, analysis and documentation of metrics. With that, instead of placing people in positions to gather, analyze and report the metrics, they allocate those human assets to what builds their business, which is sales, production and service. Have they found the business utopia?

Settling the Frontier with Accountability

As inspirational as that new paradigm may be, it just also may be a paper tiger! Metrics and accountability are supported operational necessities. Just look at some of the largest and most powerful businesses in the world and you will see metrics work! Toyota and GE are good examples – they have become international powerhouses in business. They did not reach that pinnacle of success through a freewheeling workforce and business environment without accountabilities. Their success can be attributed to a focused use of measured metrics and constant willingness to exceed customer expectations. The practice of Lean and Six Sigma have brought that level of focus to those organizations and many others across the globe. From the largest global corporation to the small local entrepreneur, the measurement and monitoring of metrics allows for growth, competition and drives results!

One can argue all day the advantages of a freewheeling business operated without measurement of metrics and accountability, but reality dictates that these measurements are basic fundamentals of business. This debate is one that will bring an interesting conversation into the spotlight.

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What Is The Role of the Project Charter?

Defining a proper project charter is crucial. There are many tools available to a Six Sigma practitioner to ensure their work process is done within established standards and to expectation of the practice. We uses qualitative and quantitative techniques to drive process improvement. When we are defining a problem, improvement opportunity, or requirements, one of the first considerations is a properly defined charter for the project.

Building a Solid Project Charter

The purpose of a project charter is to define the focus, scope, direction, and motivation for a team. It is a crucial step that cannot be ignored. It sets the tempo, character and defines the scope of the project. With that in mind, it can be sculpted or molded during the analyze phase of the project to ensure clarity and definition. Once the analyze phase is complete, the charter should remain fixed. Some of the benefits of a well defined charter is that it builds the vision and case for change, provides a clear target for the team and clearly aligns the focus of team members.

Implementing Your Project Charter

A strong charter will also prioritize the project with the overall work flow and helps maintain a solid reference to keep the project on track. There are 7 steps to creating a solid charter for your project. By no means does this limit creativity — these steps will help clearly define it:

1. Define the business case to ensure clarity.
2. Quantify the problem and its impact.
3. Define the boundaries and scope of the project.
4. Understand the tangibles of the improvements.
5. Identify all available resources.
6. Specify the deliverables and milestones.
7. Allow team input before publication.

A properly developed and well thought out project charter is the key to a successful Six Sigma project. It will allow the team to launch a project without loss of focus or clarity. The project will be well defined, understood and defendable during the entire duration of the project. Remaining focused and loyal to a well thought out project charter brings credible results to your project and your program.

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Is A Mistake Free Environment Possible?

Wouldn’t it be grand to have a process that runs ‘mistake proof’? For most, the idea of a mistake proof environment is business heaven. The real world tells us that mistakes and errors are all part of life and business. The idea is to have processes and procedures in place that reduce or eliminate mistakes. Mistake proofing, or its Japanese equivalent poka-yoke (pronounced PO-ka yo-KAY), is the use of any automatic device or process that either makes it impossible for an error to occur or makes the error immediately obvious once it has occurred. This is a method at the disposal of Lean Six Sigma practitioners to reduce and eliminate errors in process and procedures.

The Elements of Poka-Yoke

Like with any other tool in Lean Six Sigma, there are some steps you need to follow to get the most out of mistake proofing your projects. Here are the 7 steps that are crucial for implementation of mistake proofing:

1. Create a flowchart. Think about where errors will occur.
2. Identify the source or origin of each mistake.
3. Identify ways to prevent the errors from occurring.
4. Consider mitigation methods for errors that cannot be eliminated.
5. Identify the best method for mistake-proofing the process or device.
6. Inspect for errors by setting functions.
7. Set signals that alert workers for errors with regulatory functions.

Factors to Consider With Poka-Yoke

We sometimes depend on inspections conducted by workers to be fail safe for mistake proofing. While this does have some validity, humans are flawed and naturally prone to errors, even to the smallest degree. We can overcome these inspection defects through automation of the process. Automation will not accept a defect in the process, or create a defect in the process, or allow a defect to be passed to the next process. As with any other process, you must consider the cost of implementing poka-yoke mistake proofing methods. When determining the value of poka-yoke, you then must consider these expenses vs. the financial impact of defects reaching your customers.

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What Can We See from 30,000 Feet?

If you have flown on a journey of any reasonable length, no doubt your aircraft has climbed to a flight level of 30,000 feet or higher. This is a space where aircraft operate at their highest efficiency. Putting aside an aerodynamics discussion, from the cabin the view can be quiet spectacular. As the scenic landmarks pass away below, passengers are typically mesmerized by the view they are taking in. It’s all encompassing. However, one of the more important views offered at that altitude is mostly seen by the pilots, and it is for the safe operation of the aircraft. That view is of thunderstorms. Besides using advanced radar equipment, the pilots get a long range and accurate view of storms in their flight path. This view allows the pilots to make decisions and adjustments to the route of the aircraft to ensure a safe flight.

Predictive Measurements from 30,000 Feet

The benefits of a view from 30,000 feet in Six Sigma is crucial. The chart provides a means to create a predictive measurement statement, which quantifies what internal or external customers of a process are experiencing over time. Much like the view from an aircraft at 30,000 feet, it allows for timely process adjustments to be made in a timely manner. The metrics will allow flexible response to the natural peaks and valleys of a process. The results of the adjustments can also been seen and interpreted and provide further input to their effectiveness. The 30,000-foot-level chart tracks the impact that this and other process inputs have on the response output.

The Benefits of a View from 30,000 Feet

The view from a cockpit at 30,000 feet is a significant advantage to the pilots as they streak across continents and bodies of water. It allows them ample time to respond and adjust to situations that could present a danger to their flight operations. The 30,000 foot level report with predictive measurements offers the same advantages to a business. It creates a situational advantage for the business to respond to changes in their processes and see how those changes impact the outcomes.

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The Boeing Challenge

Lean Production ‘Toyota’ style is going full throttle at Boeing. As competition heats up between two aerospace giants, Boeing and Airbus, Boeing is looking at every opportunity to produce their new 777X as the most cost effective and highest quality aircraft in production. As with any other highly technical and competitive industry, success in the industry is a “game of inches.” Every improvement can equate to significant savings and quality advancement. To bring this point home, Boeing hired Walter Adisho as VP of Manufacturing and Safety. Adisho was previously with Toyota, where he oversaw manufacturing at their plant in Kentucky.  Boeing’s commitment to change couldn’t be more serious.

The Boeing Plan for Lean Production

The Boeing plan is to use newer and more standardized manufacturing techniques for its new 777X jetliner, paving the way for more significant savings as it gradually feeds the changes back into existing assembly lines. This approach will draw significantly on lean production lessons learned from outside the aerospace industry. It will also provide Boeing the opportunity to significantly impact other production lines. Standardization and efficiency will be the mantra of Boeing moving forward.

Climbing Higher at Boeing

With standardization in the aerospace industry being limited, this is the perfect opportunity for Boeing to take advantage of lean production. Typically aerospace production is at a lower rate and requires significantly more technical and custom production. Boeing’s plane making chief has challenged engineers to think about build quality when designing aircraft so they can be produced more affordably. Boeing says a clean-sheet design for a 21st-century aircraft plant would weave a single thread from the drawing board to the parts cart on the factory floor. If you look at aerospace with market demand rising, Boeing needs to start thinking differently and move efficiencies from the auto industry into this arena.

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Is It A Good Fit?

Before deploying an effective Six Sigma program, the biggest consideration leaders must consider is whether or not it is a good fit for the organization. While moving through the decision-making process, leaders sometimes lack a complete understanding of what Six Sigma really is, what can it really accomplish and is the organization properly prepared for the process. Reality is that there are serious considerations that must be discussed and a firm commitment to the change process must be acceptable. There is a quote that illuminates this point:

“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.”

-Georg C. Lichtenberg

When implementing Six Sigma, we seek permanent and continuous change to achieve the best possible result.

Measure Yourself For a Fit

As leaders move through the due diligence process leading up to Six Sigma implementation, there are six questions that must be considered:

1. Does your company leadership team understand and embrace their role, and are they willing to learn what lean and Six Sigma are all about?
2. Does your company utilize cross-functional, multilevel teams to get things done?
3. Have you mastered the basic problem-solving tools throughout the company, driving to root-cause corrective actions?
4. Do you have accurate data systems (gauge repeatability and reproducibility) that are easily accessible to the workers closest to the process, and does this data drive your improvement actions?
5. Are the employees empowered to shut a process down if an out-of-control condition occurs, and are there resources instantly available to help the employee identify and implement corrective actions to get the process back up and running?
6. Is the financial community willing to participate in the improvement efforts, assist in the calculation of the financial impact of the improvements, and help reshape the accounting systems to more accurately reflect reality?

How Does It Feel?

Now that you have considered the questions, leaders must ask — is it a good fit? The fact is, without being able to 100% answer affirmatively each of these questions, it just may not be a great fit for your organization. Belief and commitment to a change process of any kind is crucial. The good news is that leaders with open minds and a commitment to quality find these six questions easy to answer. They also lead organizations that are open and willing to make permanent changes in the corporate culture and process. Now that you have a good fit with Six Sigma for your organization, doesn’t it feel good?

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Creating an Environment of Success

Lean leadership is a valuable but sometimes elusive quality in managers. Yes, managers and leaders can completely miss having the necessary skills and still maintain their positions. Some develop these skills through experience and education, but still miss that key element that makes them great. Then there are the few that leadership is a natural skill that is simply multiplied through education and experience. The ability to lead is difficult to quantify. However, we do know that if we create the proper environment, provide educational opportunities and expose people to the proper experiences, leaders naturally float to the top. The trick is to identify and nurture those who just have the right stuff. Our military and many highly successful organizations are leadership factories. They understand the dynamics involved in leadership building and have become very adept at identifying potential very early on and nurturing that potential. These organizations create an environment of success for leaders, and the potential then rises.

Building Lean Leadership

There are some key tenets to building success that must occur to develop true leaders. Organizations that create true leaders understand that to survive and prosper we must improve, and to improve we must change. To change though, they require leaders to affect that change. Change is in fact the cornerstone of the lean practitioner, and lean leadership is at the forefront of that energy. If change is occurring in a lean environment, then someone is leading. Simply, successful leadership is exactly what it takes to create successful change. With that in mind, here are five skills lean leadership must possess to be successful:

1. Must be Technically Competent – There is no substitute for competence.
2. Leadership Presence – Must be present in the organization and go on the Gemba.
3. Teaching and Education – They must be able to comfortably teach and actively promote equation at all levels.
4. Be a Strong Role Model – Leading by example its crucial. ‘Do as I do’ is much more important than ‘Do as I say.’
5. Must Teach Leadership – Leaders have a keen responsibility to grow and develop other leaders.

In a successful organization that inspires and grows leaders, lean leadership is practiced at all levels. It is deeply embedded across the organization and in the lifeblood.

Moving Forward with Lean Leadership

When an organization is practicing Lean principles, then change will occur. How well that change occurs depends entirely on the presence of strong lean leadership. When these leaders possess and practice the five characteristics listed above, change occurs at a much higher rate, with a significant increase in quality. The organization subsequently changes at all levels without tangible disruption.

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