Archive for Lean Six Sigma
Creating Lead Measures with Kanban
Posted by: | CommentsIn the post about #LSSC12 Turning your Conference Learning into Action, it was used as a starting point for turning a conference experience into actionable items. The post assisted you in picking one or two objectives that you would like to implement within your organization. The objectives should make an improvement that will reflect in a meaningful contribution to your organization. Set your goal with a measurement and a time. I recommend stating them by the current state to the desired future state (the goal) by a certain date. A weight loss program is the most frequent example. My current weight is 175 lbs. and my future state is 165 lbs. by July 1st (4 weeks away). This is a lag measure – an outcome.
We have a tendency to rely on lag measure. The problem with lag measures is that they are just that lagging. They give you little information to determine whether you are on the way or off track in achieving your goal. You need leading measures. More importantly, you need leading measures that you or your team has control over.
We typically start breaking down our problem into intervals:
Does this tell us enough? Would we need a daily reminder to achieve these outcomes?
Does this do anything for us except make the lag measures more current. How are we going to achieve this? What happens when we don’t lose the weight?
We have only addressed the When and What with leading measures (the Why was addressed when this was tied to an existing Strategic Initiative of the organization). We must also address the How and that is where Leading Measures come into play. Leading measures are not easy to create. Many times they are only known by the people doing the work. Another way to think about this is that leading measures are at the level of individual or the team’s process, the activity that they do.
What would be a leading activity for weight loss? Calories burned and consumed are the first two that I think of. But how do we control that? Stopping short of a book on weight loss what we can see from this exercise is that we need a more compelling scorecard for us to measure ourselves against. Even when we take it down to the next level such as in a given day we need to burn 1800 calories and consume 1200 calories (believing this will give us a needed weight loss of 0.5 pounds a day) does not give us enough information to achieve our goal.
We can divide up a Kanban board with 2 swim lanes: Calories Consumed and burned. These are labeled with a description of our activities and the food we intend to eat for the day. If the Consume cards and Burn Cards are labeled with calories, you pull as needed till we total our day’s consumption or burn.
These are the types of lead process indicators that are needed; visual, easy to understand and leading. We can recognize problems almost immediately. What happens if we do this for several days and no weight loss occurs? We may have to consume less or burn more (I know this is an over simplification). But the message is that we are working in the Now versus waiting to see results at the end of the day or week.
Why go through this elaborate explanation? Most organizations do not leave the team or individual take the responsibility for the How. This exercise demonstrates the importance of having control of the How at the process level. Having this control at the process level, creates ownership and the ability to make the needed adjustments in the NOW zone. It is Leadership responsibility to provide strategic direction and the Why. It is the process owner’s responsibility to move that strategic direction with the How. It is also the process owner’s responsibility to report the outcomes at the desired intervals to leadership and work with leadership if the outcomes are not being achieved. This way if more resources are needed like that “exercise machine” or a coach, it can be approved and allocated. Leadership should not dictate the How but has the right and responsibility to “veto” your How if it does not agree with the overall goals of the company.
Related Information:
Developing a Learning A3
Turning your Conference Learning into Action
The Starting Point for Lean Sales and Marketing
4 Disciplines of Execution – Lean Simplified
Developing a Learning A3
Posted by: | CommentsMatt Wrye is a Lean Implementer that has a passion for continuous learning on all subjects related to business and lean. He is the author of the popular blog “Beyond Lean,” which centers on evolving leadership and changing business. 
Our discussion center on his development of a Learning A3. From his blog post Learning A3:
A3s are used for solving problems, developing proposals and everything else. Why not for laying out a plan to show what people are expected to learn during a project or coaching session. Layout a standard or plan so expectations and progress becomes visible.
Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.
Below are several formats for your use. I recommend viewing one before or during the listening of the podcast.
Learning A3 Blank Template PDF
Learning A3 Blank Excel Template
About Matt: Matt has a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University in Industrial Engineering. Among his other accomplishments are Lean Principles and Kaizen Certification from Lean Learning Center, Lean Coach/Mentor, Proficient in Lean tools and concepts, Shainin Red X Certified Journey and Master Candidate, and a ProModel Simulation Software expert. He is proud to have played a large and significant role in starting the Smith County Lean Consortium in Tyler, TX.
Related Information:
Turning your Conference Learning into Action
A Short Course in Design Thinking
4 Disciplines of Execution – Lean Simplified
Why A3, Why Now in Lean Thinking?
Turning your Conference Learning into Action
Posted by: | CommentsI attended an outstanding conference (#LSSC12), The Lean Software & Systems Conference 2012 held in Boston, MA. In addition to the conference there was 2 days of tutorials, Lean Camp (Open Space), Interactive Cooking, Living Room, Lightning Talks, and Lean Coffee. It was an excellent agenda and well-hosted by the Lean-Kanban University. Every attendee that I had a chance to ask, echoed my assessment.
A question that permeated throughout the conference was how do I take what I learned and implement it in my organization. Most of us know that if you do not start immediately a great deal of information will be lost and eventually little if any will be implemented. My efforts this week will be to assist to make this great learning experience turn into actionable items. If we can do this, you certainly will be assured of coming back next year and I might even get another speaking opportunity.
The problem most people face when coming back from a conference is that they soon get inundated with all their regular work again. It’s not that we don’t want to introduce what we learned but there is so much to do and so little time. As part of my presentation, I discussed the aspect of Standard Work. Standard Work can be simply stated as an outline on the way you do things. It is very similar to determining a budget. A budget does not save you money it just allows you to see where the money is going. It allows you to make choices. Standard Work does the same thing. It allows you to make choices. So, the first step is to accept that we will continue to do our Standard Work but have the ability to make choices to implement something new and to allocate time and a budget if necessary to the initiative.
My preferred method of learning is utilizing an A3. If you missed Claude Perrone, the Agile Sensei talk on A3s, I have included a link to a blog post that discusses A3s, Why A3, Why Now in Lean Thinking? Utilizing an A3 will give a structured format for putting your thoughts together and outlining a course of action. Download an outline of a Problem Solving A3.
The work on the A3 should have started before you went to the conference with an outline of the purpose for going and the expectations from both a personal and an organizational perspective. If you did not do that, you can do it in retrospective.
Next determine what you learned from the conference. If you went as a group, I would encourage the entire group to be present for this step. Outline all the different thoughts and how they may apply to you organization.
Can any of these thoughts be completed simply by the stroke of a pen, something that does not require a change in culture? They may be items that are can be taken care of by a simple budget allocation, a new piece of equipment, etc. Separate these thoughts and evaluate them in your next strategic meeting or in the conference overview meeting.
Let’s get back to that cultural part, the difficult part. You have all heard the saying that “Cultural eats Strategy for Lunch.” The first thing you must realize is that you may have come back from the conference with great ideas and breakthrough thoughts. However, there is an existing culture that is going to eat all of them in one big gulp. You may even be the person that swallows the whole thing as you get tied up in all your Standard Work once again. So don’t try to change the org structure or how management thinks. Create a few wins first.
Do you have one takeaway from the conference that you are passionate about? Can you take that passion and demonstrated to the rest of the team? This should be a team exercise, try it out and see what others think.
It is best to take one initiative; one thought (not necessarily the easiest) and focus on this. Ideally, the initiative should be tied to the current strategic direction of the organization. It is your responsibility to clearly define the Why to Leadership. If you cannot, you may want to rethink and choose another initiative. The important thing is to get agreement on one single item. After doing this, set your goal with a measurement and a time. State the current state and the goal (future state) by a certain time.
In addition, you should have the power to spearhead or at a minimum be a significant participant of the implementation. Stay away from discussing the How. The how should be the responsibility of the implementers or the team. Leadership has the power to veto the how. If you are familiar with the Lean term, Catchball, this a good time to play.
I am going to focus my blog on the subject of “Turning your Conference Learning into Action” for the balance of the week. This is an outline of this week’s discussion.
Related Information:
Does Lean create Innovative Companies?
Lean Software & Systems Presentation – Business901
4 Disciplines of Execution – Lean Simplified
