Creativity & Innovation

By Al, Norval,

In a previous blog I wrote the problem of organizations pushing products out to customers rather than having customer problems pull products from Designers. As a countermeasure to this, Lean Innovation needs to:

 

• Develop a deep understanding of Customer problems through direct observation of the customer experience
• Eliminate waste from our Product Design processes  
• Carry multiple alternative deeper into the design process to allow time to explore alternatives

 

Doing this allows the creation of an environment that fosters creativity and innovative solutions to customer problems can come alive.

But how do we become creative all of a sudden? Many times I’ve heard it said, you can’t schedule an invention.

We start by “thinking like a twelve year old”. Why think like a twelve year old? We invoke our twelve year old mindset since it was one of curiosity that wasn’t encumbered by the structured learning process adults go through. An unfortunate by-product of this learning process is that adults stop asking why and how. To think like a twelve year old, we must unlearn many of things we learned becoming adults.

To help us with this new way of thinking we look for seven alternatives for any problem we are faced with. Why seven alternatives? Developing a couple of alternatives is easy but developing seven is difficult. This causes us to stretch and begin to think out of the box. To further assist us in our creative thinking we look for inspiration from nature. Natural designs are elegant in their simplicity. Understanding this and applying them to our problem leads to creative alternatives we would never have come up with before.

Developing seven alternatives is one thing but we must then quickly turn them into working prototypes. Not fancy and costly prototypes but quick and crude physical mock-ups. We need to make the intangible concepts into something people can look at, touch, feel and even listen to and smell. We activate all of our senses to help us learn more about the prototype. We call this type of learning “Trystorming”. It’s brainstorming with a practical, physical application that accelerates the learning process which becomes a platform for even more creative ideas. We use the learning from several prototypes to refine our designs and converge on an optimal solution.

All the while we’re practicing PDCA and with rapid experimentation and feedback.

Can we schedule inventions? – No, but we can certainly accelerate the process of designing creative value added solutions for our Customer problems.

Paying more than list price.

Target Conditions vs Random Acts of Improvement.

What can we do vs what do we need to do.

 

 

 

Lean and the Excellence Authors

By Pascal Dennis,

Over the past two decades the "Excellence" authors, Jim Collins, Peter Senge et al have produced a series of helpful books (Good to Great, The Fifth Discipline and others).

How do these relate to the Lean movement?

The Excellence authors basically got it right in my view. Their work is congruent with Lean -- (I continue to refer to them.)

But the "Excellence" books are (necessarily) academic.

The Lean movement has brought these ideas into the messy world of practice -- a great and continuing contribution.

Imagine a messy changeover kaizen in an Indiana stamping plant. The team stands glaring at you with their arms crossed.

Can we cut changeover time in half? Can we teach these jokers how to sustain & make further improvements?

(Will they kill us?)

Our revered and scary gemba -- where the proverbial rubber hits the road...

That's why I write business novels.

Hopefully, The Remedy, and its prequel, Andy & Me, in some small way give people a sense of what transformation looks and feels like.

Waste in Hospitals – Healthcare

By Al Norval,

I had an interesting case recently to observe firsthand the waste in some typical Healthcare processes.

My son enjoys playing rugby and plays on the school varsity team. I have to admit, it’s a sport I don’t understand as I never played it as I grew up. To me it’s players bashing each other back and forth trying to score a “touch” all with no pads and little stoppage in the action. In any case, the boys love it and that’s the main thing.

Like any parent, I went to the games to support the home team. At the last game of the season my son broke his thumb making a tackle. So, we iced it up and off we went to the local hospital’s Emergency Department. As we arrived I called my wife and said we’d be back home in about five hours. Surely, it can’t take that long to X-ray his thumb and set it in a cast. We’ll see I said.

As we entered the waiting area I noticed a short line up in front of the triage nurse. After a short wait it was our turn to answer the questions and fill out the forms after which we took our places in the appropriately named waiting room. Without getting into all the details, I’ll highlight the Value Added steps:
- Thumb examined by Emergency Department (ED) physician.

- Thumb X-rayed by ED technician

- X-rays read by physician

- Broken thumb set in a cast

Needless to say, there were many other steps in the process all of which were waste. Some were necessary steps and the waste was necessary such as the initial filling out of forms, answering questions and even having the thumb re X-rayed in the cast to ensure the bone had set properly. Others such as waiting for the X-ray to be taken and read, waiting for the physician to examine the thumb and answering the same questions several times were pure waste.

As I pondered this during one of our many waiting steps, I realized the key to improvement in Healthcare is no different than any other process. We need to divide the process steps into Value adding, necessary waste and pure waste. We then need to engage our team members in:

- Reducing the necessary waste, and

- Eliminating the pure waste

The overall measure of how much improvement we are making is through examining the Lead time of the process. As we eliminate waste, the Lead time of the process will go down.

How much Lead time did it take for my son’s broken thumb to set in a cast? Five hours...

How much of that time was value added? One hour...

Therefore the waste in the process was about four hours. Fertile ground for making improvements indeed.

Mobile Apps and Lean

By Al Norval,

Like many of you, I’m having to learn a new vocabulary and a new way of managing in this world that seems to be spinning faster and faster every passing day. Years ago, I learned e-mail, then it was texting & IM and now it’s smart phones and apps. It’s interesting to note that every new thing that comes along claims to be able to make our lives more efficient which I translate to mean more waste free. While there is some truth in this, the efficiency gains (waste reductions) are overcome by the amount of information coming at us in an ever increasing torrent.

Some of this information is truly helpful. I have to admit, I like the Sports app which allows me as a long suffering hockey fan to look up the scores for my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, I don’t usually like the score but that’s another story. As a customer, I find value in the way & speed this information is made available to me and so there is value in this app. Likewise for the weather app I use. As I travel many days of the year, I find value in being able to look up the weather in a number of different cities and being able to see it quickly and up to date. Like the hockey scores, I don’t always like what I see.

These apps are great because they do provide value to me the Customer. The information is up to date and provided to me on demand in a way that is visual and so easy to understand. I can quickly get an update and so react appropriately.

In the Lean world, we face the same situation. When we are at Gemba or working with a team, how do we get a quick update on Lean basis? How do we know how to react? How do we know how and what to teach to our teams?

Many times we are away from our workstations and come across a problem or a moment when we could teach teams Lean Mental Models and the basic way of thinking. Unfortunately, we are away from our normal material and need to rely on our memory. We need quick access to the information but don’t have it at our fingertips. The opportunity passes.

Now we can use the same app technology on smart phones. I’d like to introduce the Lean Mental Models app for BB & iPhone. It’s twelve Lean Mental Models contrasted against the Conventional Mental Models that we can use when we are away from our workplaces but still need quick access to the Lean Mental Models.

Like the other Sports and Weather apps, I’m sure you will find value in this app.

Available at:  http://itunes.apple.com/app/lean-thinking-brain-boosters/id450984003?mt=8

Blackberry App: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/20774?lang=en

What are Mental Models?

By Al Norval,

I hear this question all the time and thought it would be a good time to write about it.

Simply put, Mental models are our assumptions about how the world works based on experience, upbringing & temperament. They are the lenses or filters we use in our glasses when we “see” the world but often they distort reality. For example – I’m sitting in a café with a friend, drinking a cappuccino and chatting. We stop and look at the crowd. We perceive different things even though we both saw the same faces in the crowd. Everyone sees the world differently since we all have a different set of lenses. These mental models help to shape our behaviour.

What does this mean in the Lean transformation of an organization?

When we go to Gemba we know we’re supposed to:

- Go See

- Ask Why

- Show Respect

But how can we “Go see” if we’re still using the old conventional mental models. We need to “See” at Gemba using the Lean Mental Models which will cause us to view things differently from before and enable us to truly see the depth of waste we have in our processes. Our role as Leaders is then to teach others to “see” in the same way and to problem solve to eliminate waste and improve value for our Customers. As we adopt the Lean Mental Models, our behaviour changes and become more consistent with Lean Thinking.

In a Lean transformation, we need to learn and master the Lean Mental Models and use them to “see” the organization differently.

There are twelve Lean Mental Models of which I‘m highlighting six below:

- Leader as a Teacher

- Go see for yourself

- Standards for all important things

- Don’t ship junk

- Problems are gold – treasure them

- Everyone solves problems using simple methods

I challenge you to compare these to the conventional way of thinking in an organization. Are problems treated as gold? Do Leaders act as teachers? Are defects passed on through the organization in the hope they will be caught in final inspection? Do only experts solve problems while everyone else sits around and watches?

Think about where your organization is in its Lean journey. How well has the organization learned the new Lean Mental Models?

Like any new skill, we can’t master the use of the Lean Mental Models overnight just as we can’t break any habit we’ve grown up with overnight. To master the Lean Mental Models, we need to practice using them. We need to hold each other accountable when we don’t follow them. We need to teach them to the rest of the organization. Over time, with practice our skill level improves.

To accelerate learning, practicing and mastering the use of the Lean Mental Models, we’ve developed the Lean Mental Model app for Blackberry and iPhone's which contrasts twelve Conventional and Lean Mental Models. These use the same popular images as the Lean Brain Booster pocket card series.

Please see http://itunes.apple.com/app/lean-thinking-brain-boosters/id450984003?mt=8 for more details.

Blackberry App: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/20774?lang=en.

Customer Focussed Innovation

By Al Norval,

Ever notice how many companies push products out to customers rather than first understanding what Customers really find value adding and then designing products to fill that need?

Why is it that organizations do that?

It starts with not taking time to understand the Customer and their needs. Every product design is a countermeasure to a Customer problem. Before we can design the product we need to have a deep understanding of their problems. Not just the things that people will tell you in focus group feedback sessions but the deep, unspoken, unarticulated needs they have, many of which they don’t even realize they have. To do this we need to study our Customers, live in their world, experience their problems through their eyes. This allows us to truly Grasp the Situation and start the problem solving process following the PDCA cycle. It allows us to define the problem in the Customers terms. Only then will we have the insight to design products and services that will provide value to our customers.

But knowing this, why is it that many companies still don’t do it?
As I’ve reflected on this, I’ve come up with a few reasons. It takes time and resources to study our Customers both of which are in short supply when designers are pushed into meeting shorter launch time lines and shrinking budgets. It’s often easier to assume we know what’s best for the Customer. This is a type of Hubris or Big Company Disease both of which we’ve written about in previous blogs.

Another reason is we get attached to one particular concept and keep pushing it through to launch even though feedback and data say we shouldn’t. By the time we realize the product is flawed it’s too late since we have nothing else. Again Hubris and arrogance lead to poor product acceptance in the marketplace.

Interestingly enough, the root cause in both cases is a product innovation process that is full of waste.

True Lean Innovation is about taking the waste out of the Design process and carrying several alternatives deep into the process to allow designers time to explore alternatives until the last possible moment. This way we can launch products that deliver more value to customers. Having a process like this allows creativity to flourish since we are not forced to pick the one best idea very early on in the process.

In another blog, we’ll talk more about how to foster creativity as part of our design process and how to look at many alternatives and slowly converge on a solution. But none of this is possible without first and foremost taking the time to truly understand what drives the value proposition for your Customers.

Safety -- Our Window on the Process

By Pascal Dennis,

Why do leading organizations like Alcoa, Dupont, Toyota and others put safety first?

Aren't private organizations about maximizing shareholder value?

Isn't profitability number one? Without it, after all, you're soon out of business, no?

The great Paul O'Neill, former CEO of Alcoa and Secretary-Treasurer coined the title of this blog.

If we can manage our processes such that nobody gets hurt -- quality, delivery, cost & profitability will surely follow.

Safe workplaces are invariable productive. They have standardized work, visual management, good ergonomics, flow and pull.

People understand their jobs, what can go wrong, how to avoid it -- and how to excel.

A health care colleague told me that industry CEOs believe they can delegate patient safety.

He also said that patient safety is not usually in the top 3 priorities of a typical health care CEO.

If so, I believe we have a root cause of the health care catastrophe.

Shingo Prize

By Al Norval,

We hear so much about the Shingo Prize, I thought I would investigate it and share some of my findings with you.

The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence is awarded annually by the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, to companies around the globe that "achieve world-class operational excellence status." It was established in 1988 and is named in honor of Shigeo Shingo and is recognized as the premier award for operational excellence in North America.

The prize has three categories:

- Business

- Public Sector

- Research

In the Business category, prizes are awarded to companies that achieve world-class manufacturing status. Shingo Prize (Gold), Silver, and Bronze prizes exist.

In the Public Sector category, prizes are given to the public sectors that achieve world-class manufacturing status. Shingo Prize (Gold), Silver, and Bronze prizes exist.

In the Research category, prizes are awarded recognizing research and writing regarding new knowledge and understanding of Lean and operational excellence.

It is given in four categories:

- Unpublished papers

- Published articles

- Books & monographs

- Applied publications / multimedia programs.

Who was Shigeo? Shingo that the Shingo Prize was named after?

Shigeo Shingo (新郷 重夫, 1909 - 1990), born in Saga City, Japan, was an Industrial Engineer who distinguished himself as one of the world’s leading experts on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System. Although the myth prevails that he invented the Toyota Production System, in truth he was an external consultant who taught courses in Industrial Engineering at Toyota. He did document TPS and wrote one of the first books on TPS entitled “Study of the Toyota Production System”. He is recognized as being one of the world’s leading experts in improving manufacturing processes.

Shingo is best known for adding two prases to the Lean Glossary:

- SMED

o Single Minute Exchange of Dies

o Enabling small lot size production

- Poka Yoke

o Mistake-Poofing

o Building quality in at the source

The Shingo Prize was named after him in recogition of his lifelong accomplishments and devotion to assisting organizations achieve world-class status.

The Shingo Prizes are awarded at their annual conference with the next one being in Atlanta on May 7-10, 2012. Please join me in congratulating all the award winners with a special acknowledgement to Pascal Denis who will receive his 4th award in Research for his latest book “The Remedy”

See you in Atlanta

Cheers

The Remedy Wins the Shingo Prize

By Pascal Dennis,

The good people at Shingo Prize have seen fit to give The Remedy the nod.

They do important work & I'm humbled and deeply obliged for all their efforts.

It's an odd feeling. After finishing a book, I often forget I what I wrote.

(Maybe because the process is so intense & exhausting -- you need a break from the damned thing...)

"That's the other Pascal," I joke. "I'm his idiot brother."

Still, it's a footprint in time, a nod, a tip of the hat -- a sign that somebody finds your stuff helpful.

For that I am deeply grateful.

Pascal

P.S. BTW ya'll, be sure to attend next year's International Shingo Prize Conference, May 7 - 10 in Atlanta (http://www.shingoprize.com/).


I'll be there for sure!