Listen to answers like this in part 1 of 2 of the podcast;

Joe:  What makes sustaining them so difficult for people? You put a process in, this is what we are going to do from now on. What makes that tough?

Lonnie: I get asked that question frequently. It seems to be almost obvious that people would say “Well, OK, we made this gain, now let’s sustain it.” It’s a whole lot better to build on progress than deterioration. The truth of the matter is that people in real life, people have tremendous, tremendous problems sustaining the gains. I think the single, biggest thing that I can put my finger on is the business’ attitude towards problems. I find, particularly in the West, and I don’t like to make a Japanese/Western dichotomy, but at some level there is.

I find, in the West, that we look at problems as a royal pain in the “tush.” We don’t want them. The fewer problems we have, the happier we are. Some of my Japanese clients, when they find a problem they almost celebrate it. They recognize they found a weakness in the system. The system is, therefore, deficient and now we have got a way to improve it.

They look at problems as opportunities to make their system better, and I think that carries over into then, how they finish up those problems. Once you have solved the problem: To sustain it, there’s a whole series of activities you need to do. You need to maintain it. You need to standardize it. All of that is just good old fashioned hard work.

To me, that is the most fundamental thing that I find that makes people, makes companies, shy away from sustaining issues, is first, how they view the problem. I think the second thing is that once a problem gets fixed, it’s very easy to jump to the next problem, because you don’t have any more symptoms.

What happens is you take on the next problem. Everybody’s interested in progress, so they want to make more and more progress. They forget that the last thing they fixed maybe isn’t fixed completely. It’s fixed enough so they don’t have any current symptoms, but it’s going to reappear at a later date. That discipline that it takes to think through the possible future problems, put fixes in place for things that haven’t even gone wrong; anticipate what might happen. That just isn’t quite as sexy as moving onto the next problem and solving it.

The third thing that I find that really prevents sustainability, is our system of goals and objectives. You’ll very often find out that companies have all kinds of production and financial goals and profits, and those are far more important than quality goals. One quality goal we implemented in one place that was particularly progressive, was the goal of zero for things we really didn’t do that well.

They made a list of the problems that reappeared and put them on the list of “things we didn’t do really well.” Then they made that a highlighted issue within the company. That company was the very best of any that I’ve ever worked at in my 40 years at sustaining the gains.

.Part 2 of the Podcast: Implementing Lean

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My Sunday blog post is typically from a Business901 affiliate. This week I would like to use the opportunity to highlight a Lean certification program designed by three organizations – the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), and The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing – this alliance has established the standard for continuous improvement and Lean practices. My post is not intended to add any fuel to the fire on whether certification is needed. If certification is something that needs to be debated these three organizations have at least step forward and started to establish some criteria for certification. So if certification is around the corner will we have Bronze, Silver and Gold belts. If not belts, maybe shoes. We do walk to Gemba!

From the SME site:

This Lean program is the benchmark for achievements and personal growth in Lean.

Individual Benefits: Why begin the Lean journey?

• Develop career planning milestones
• Gain a portable, career credential
• Share and gain Lean knowledge through mentoring others
• Align to the Lean knowledge and competency standard
• Attain abilities recognized across the industry
• Develop a portfolio of your experience

Company Benefits: Why have employees begin the Lean journey?

• With an established Lean standard, companies enjoy a clear understanding of the capability of their resources.
• Provides the opportunity for significant training and development.
• Mentoring is a fundamental part of the Lean program, helping to mold new Lean experts
• Standardize Lean practices within organizations, regardless of size or industry

KNOWLEDGE + EXPERIENCE = LEAN STRENGTH

Do you have any thoughts on Lean Certification?

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Improve by finding win/win solutions. It is a 2-way street. There aren’t many sellers markets left, take advantage of them. Also, consider your vendor’s perspective because that is the way you may get their attention and their trust. In other words, it is about the only route to being successful..

One of the great sources of waste is your own operations, Get efficient NOW. I cannot remember how many times I have seen companies in trouble that spend half their time returning and trying to use parts that were not correct. Get real, give your people the right parts at the right time with the right information. Guess what it WORKS!

In today’s, world it is amazing how much a supplier will do for you. Don’t look only at price concessions but look for engineering assistance, stocking programs, consignment, freight concessions and even PR .

Resist making major changes till the bleeding stops. The next person is always going to offer better solutions and service but that is seldom the case. Unless you find gross negligence, work with current suppliers for concessions and help.

Commit to an accurate schedule and be relentless about quality and speed in the administrative side.

Ditch the losers. If you are not making money on any product raise the price immediately.

Take a look at your special orders. Nothing elevates a supplier more than exceptional emergency service. You must do this to save customers. But they should pay extra, they may not even see see it as special until it is priced appropriately.

Getting leaner will pay off in huge dividends, the biggest one may be survival.

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You can vividly see the correlations I used and maybe some of the inaccuracies in the process. I felt that the Lead Conversion system should be moved under Lead Generation and into the Develop stage. But overall, I felt the analogy used in my post made a strong case that this marketing system followed sound principles and could very well be considered as a Best Practice.

I found several ways to get acceptance as a best practice which were rather rigorous and probably not needed for small business. But more interesting, I found out how ingrained the use of the term has become in the language of marketers, salespeople and industry. So, where do you turn for better definitions, customers! Marketing Operations Partners recently polled marketing leaders to find out: Four factors that survey participants said had contributed significantly to their Marketing Operations success:

1. Clarity and consistency across the organization—shared practices, a well-defined road map and enabling infrastructure, reinforced by clear and pervasive communications that keep everyone on the same page.
2. Executive advocacy and support to champion the value of the Marketing Operations function in achieving the organization’s objectives.
3. A culture of accountability and alignment that fosters buy-in at all levels and rewards productive behaviors consistent with the desired vision.
4. Processes and technology that are fully leveraged to achieve and sustain operational excellence.

What jumps out to you when you read this poll? What I see is the need for a system or marketing practice that is definable, measurable and easy to implement. Now my polling may not be scientific, but I believe the principles of Lean(customer centric, removal of waste) and Six Sigma(quality) are also components that are needed in today’s processes. Marketing Plan Pro just about works right out of the can for these needs!

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Best practice, I always wondered who determined that?  NIBAC’s President Craig Crook was Joe Dager’s guest on his show Connecting Your Passion. Craig’s company is a Learning Center and as Craig calls it -Learning faster than your competitors is the only sustainable advantage.

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Lead Generation is how we change the marketing process. We take the strategies that we have created: Ideal client, Target Markets, Remarkable Story and how we are going to judge success(measurements) and put them into a plan through our lead generation trio. The trio is simply Public Relations, Referral and Advertising. Categorize all your efforts, events, ads, articles, and even social media. Social Media may force us to create the Lead Generation trio into the L.G. Quad but we will save for another Blog post. I typically ask people their expectations of the event and that in itself can be a measurement of sorts. To simple, yes than it is better than running an ad and having no expectations at all. After that it is typically justified as a branding attempt or that we are just creating awareness. Have a measurement for everything and do not accept less. If it doesn’t work justify it with data and stop doing it.

Now think about this a little bit from the Duct Tape Marketing Perspective , a basic marketing plan consist of Advertising, Public Relation and Referrals.

Other Related Post:

1. What is Six Sigma?
2. Lean Six Sigma Marketing
3. Lean Six Sigma Marketing – Define
4. What is Lean Six Sigma?(video)
5. Lean Six Sigma Marketing – Measure
6. Does a process stunt creativity?(video)

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Craig Crook was Joe Dager’s guest on his show Connecting Your Passion. Craig’s company is a Learning Center and as Craig calls it -Learning faster than your competitors is the only sustainable advantage.

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1. Define the problem or requirements
2. Measure the process and gather data associated with the problem or requirements.
3. Explore the data to identify a cause and effect relationship between variables.
4. Develop a new process so that the problem is eliminated and the new results meet the new requirements.
5. Implement the new process under a control plan.

Now think about this a little bit from the Duct Tape Marketing Perspective , a basic marketing plan consist of….

1. Marketing Vision …………….Definition
2. Ideal Customer ………………Definition
3. Remarkable Story ……………Explore
4. Product Service Innovation …Explore
5. Lead Generation …………….Develop
6. Lead Conversion……………. Measure
7. Service Experience ………….Implement
8. Critical Numbers …………….Measure

Ok, some of them are a little out of place, and yes, the measurement needs to be right after the Def inition to see where you are starting form, but all and all you can see the correlation. My point to all this is by starting with a basic small business marketing plan, the Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing Box that is, you can adhere to the most recognized quality program in the world.

The whole point is that through this process you can develop structure and yes, reduce variances, cut costs and streamline processes. Is that something you would like to do in tough times?

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1. Focus on the Customer: Simply understanding your customer can lead to monumental improvements. Six Sigma improvements are measured by customer satisfaction and value.
2. Fact-Driven Management, not estimating Six Sigma clarifies key metrics that gauge business performance success. Then problems can be effectively defined, analyzed and resolved, permanently.
3. Focus on Process. Six Sigma focuses on the process rather than the end result. The most powerful part of Six Sigma is: by mastering the process, companies are able to build competitive advantage in delivering value to customers.
4. Proactive Management. Being proactive is the opposite of being reactive. Instead of reacting to change, management shifts to being proactive by defining ambitious goals and reviewing them frequently.
5. Boundaryless (no borders) Collaboration. A term coined by GE’s CEO Jack Welch. All parts of the organization including vendors and partners need to keep their focus on the customer in mind. If everyone works towards the same goal, the boundaries will disappear.
6. Strive for Perfection, Tolerate Failure: Nothing new ever comes without risk. If people are afraid of the consequences of mistakes, then they’ll never try.

Sounds like some good ideas for a marketing plan. I will be discussing Six Sigma for the next week and encourage you to follow these post. Also Craig Crook of the TQM Network appeared on my TV show. Watch an excerpt of the show on Lean Six Sigma. We will also explore how Duct Tape Marketing follows similar principles.

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This is an excerpt from a rather wordy blog post of mine over a year ago.

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