The Loneliness of the Small Business Owner

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

A colleague of mine is launching a small business - a comic book, craft & memorabilia store in Toronto's West end.

John is a splendid artist and draftsman, as well as, a gifted renovator of houses.

But he wants to do something a little different.

Over a drink the other day John described some of the obstacles he faces:

• Taxation (& double taxation) - on his lease, insurance, inventory, renovations etc.
• Municipal, provincial and federal business taxes - Toronto's business tax is among the highest in North America
• Multiple building permits - long delayed because the Permit Office lost the first set of drawings
• Multiple licenses - which face similar hassles & delays

It'll take John at least 6 months & a ton of investment just to open his doors.

Are there any lessons here?

A cynic might say, "Never start a business. Instead, get a job in the Permit Office. It's indoors & no heavy lifting."

Libertarians might say, "The power to tax is the power to destroy. We have starved government of money and power."

Lean thinkers might say, "Government has to reduce the waste in the small business launch process."

I'm with the Lean thinkers. If we agree that small business is the engine of growth, we have to reduce the hassles people like John face.

(According to BusinessWeek, business owners of all stripes cite RED TAPE is their single biggest hassle.)

How might we reduce the waste & hassle John has experienced?

A 'provision' map would be a good place to start. A provision map is essentially, a value stream map from the customer's point of view.

(See Chapter 12 of The Remedy for more.)

Our map would

• Define the steps in the small business launch process & related process data (e.g. total lead time, quality, value added time etc.)
• Illuminate the information flow, and
• Identify hassles & possible countermeasures

To take such a step, our various governments have to accept that their job is to help, by reducing hassle.

Mr. Biden, Mr. Trudeau, are you listening?

Best,

Pascal



In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

What is Courage & How does it relate to True North?
Lean, Leadership & Ethics, Part 1
The Work of Leaders
Why is Lean So Hard? – Organizational Elements

Economy I and II - Never the Twain Shall Meet?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

In a previous blog I introduced the idea of Economy I & II

The former comprises private sector companies like Apple, Amazon, Toyota and GE.

These companies face withering competition every day.

As a result, they're wonderful at creating value, but not so good at creating jobs.

Economy II, by contrast, comprises government and quasi-government organizations like schools, universities and hospitals.

These organizations face comparatively little competition (or in the case of government agencies, none at all.)

As a result, they're wasteful and inefficient -- but good at creating 'jobs', of a sort.

But Economy II is bankrupting America (and Europe, for that matter). Economy I can no longer create enough off-setting value and wealth.

What to do?

Conservatives argue that Economy II can only be mended by applying the disciplines of Economy I.

Essentially, this means enabling and applying Lean thinking:

• Understanding your customers, and thereby, value & waste,
• Visual management and 5 S,
• Standardized work,
• Jidoka (building quality into the process,
• Heijunka (level loading), and
• Point, flow and system kaizen

Enablers to this approach include education and health care vouchers that put choice into the hands of the customer.

Liberals ("progressives") argue that the philosophies & techniques of Economy II are not necessary and wouldn't be effective in any event.

A better approach, they argue, is to elect capable, charismatic political leaders, who can reform Economy II by force of personality.

They cite Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago, as such a leader.

What do I think?

Being an engineer and a businessperson, I'm naturally inclined to the practices I learned at Toyota.

Over the many years, our Lean Pathways team has applied them with great success in a variety of industries.

Toyota thinking is rocket fuel. Stick to the recipe and wonderful things happen.

This is the evidence of my eyes and whole being.

The liberal/progressive argument seems, forgive me, to entail 'magical thinking'.

Even if it were based in fact, how many Rahm Emanuel's are there?

The broken processes mean a rapid regression to the bankrupt mean.

Sorry,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Strategy is Not About Doing What’s “Important”
Agriculture - The Next Frontier?
Lean Thinking in Software Design
Problem Solving and the Worlds of Reflection & Experience

Lean/TPS in the Public Service – Part 3 – Obstacles & Countermeasures?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

In my last blog, I noted that morale in the US and Canadian federal governments is at all-time lows, and that the growing gap between performance in the private and public sector fuels a corrosive cynicism and disengagement.

I noted three major obstacles to Lean/TPS in government. What are the possible countermeasures?

Obstacle 1: Government is culturally predisposed to making decisions for political reasons

In Lean/TPS terms, governing parties frequently jump to countermeasures to ill-defined problem, and make a mess.

Possible Countermeasure: I’m stumped. Is this an endemic failure mode in democracy?

The skills required to win an election are very different from those required to govern wisely (see the ending to old Robert Redford movie, The Candidate).

New governments and leaders bring with them an army of new staff who are bright, ambitious, inexperienced and too often, arrogant. Pity the poor government engineer, manager or executive working to develop rationale countermeasures to clearly define problems!

Obstacle 2: Absence of customer or client feedback

Possible Countermeasure: Another tough one. Government agencies are usually monopolies isolated from, and too often, indifferent to the customer. (Where you gonna go?)

How to amplify the voice of the customer? Could independent performance rating organizations, like J.D. Power, provide annual, widely publicized ratings of government agencies based on detailed customer feedback, as they do for other industries?

Obstacle 3: No Continuity of Leadership

Possible Countermeasure: This one would require a wholesale change in government Human Resources practices – not dissimilar to the changes enlightened companies have implemented the past decade.

Senior government leaders and bureaucrats would be rewarded and promoted based on the footprint they left – i.e. the management systems they built, and the capable successors they’ve groomed – rather than on the tired old ‘get your ticket punched’ routine.

(The current practice of shifting senior managers every few years actively discourages the development of the management systems and culture required to sustain Lean/TPS.)

None of these countermeasures are easy, reflecting the scale of the challenge.

Are there others? No doubt – I’d love to hear from senior leaders in the public service. What do you all think?

The stakes are high for public service members, and for the public.

Best regards,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Lean/TPS in the Public Service – Part 2 – What are the Obstacles?
Is Lean/TPS Possible in the Public Service? – Part 1
Henry & Edsel Ford – the Pride & the Sorrow
Ethics Enables Leadership

Is Lean/TPS Possible in the Public Service? – Part 1

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Senior public sector leaders asked W. Edwards Deming asked this question in the early 1980’s.

His approach was working in companies around the world. Would it work in the public service?

“I don’t know,” Deming said.

Some diligent leaders ran experiments – with decidedly mixed success.

Adapting Total Quality Management (TQM) to Government,

Quality Comes to City Hall

As a general rule, government departments most similar to private sector operations had the greatest success – (e.g. a city’s motor equipment division which maintained & repaired its cars & trucks).

But the literature suggests that even those areas were unable to sustain continuous improvement, which as we know, entails building a supporting management system.

That said, our colleague, Gary Vansuch, has cited encouraging activities in the U.S. Department of Transport. Well done, folks, and please continue.

What are the obstacles to Lean in government? I’ll explore this question in upcoming blogs.

There’s a great deal at stake. Good people are giving their all to continuous improvement in government. Why shouldn’t civil servants have the opportunity to develop what Deming called ‘pride of workmanship’?

Why shouldn’t they be involved in developing and improving their work processes? Why shouldn’t their work be fun and motivating?

In fact, morale in the US and Canadian federal governments is at all-time lows.

Good news: Federal worker morale has finally bottomed out. Bad news: It’s still terrible.

Morale In The Public Sector

Moreover, the growing gap between performance in the private and public sector fuels a corrosive cynicism and disengagement – surely the last thing we need nowadays.

More to come.

Best regards,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Henry & Edsel Ford – the Pride & the Sorrow
Ethics Enables Leadership
Leadership in Times of Crisis
More on Walt Disney

Lean/TPS in the Public Service, Part 3 – Obstacles & Countermeasures?

By Pascal Dennis

In my last blog, I noted that morale in the US and Canadian federal governments is at all-time lows, and that the growing gap between performance in the private and public sector fuels a corrosive cynicism and disengagement.

I noted three major obstacles to Lean/TPS in government. What are the possible countermeasures?

Obstacle 1: Government is culturally predisposed to making decisions for political reasons

In Lean/TPS terms, governing parties frequently jump to countermeasures to ill-defined problem, and make a mess.

Possible Countermeasure: I’m stumped. Is this an endemic failure mode in democracy?

The skills required to win an election are very different from those required to govern wisely (see the ending to old Robert Redford movie, The Candidate).

New governments and leaders bring with them an army of new staff who are bright, ambitious, inexperienced and too often, arrogant. Pity the poor government engineer, manager or executive working to develop rationale countermeasures to clearly define problems!

Obstacle 2: Absence of customer or client feedback

Possible Countermeasure: Another tough one. Government agencies are usually monopolies isolated from, and too often, indifferent to the customer. (Where you gonna go?)

How to amplify the voice of the customer? Could independent performance rating organizations, like J.D. Power, provide annual, widely publicized ratings of government agencies based on detailed customer feedback, as they do for other industries?

Obstacle 3: No Continuity of Leadership

Possible Countermeasure: This one would require a wholesale change in government Human Resources practices – not dissimilar to the changes enlightened companies have implemented the past decade.

Senior government leaders and bureaucrats would be rewarded and promoted based on the footprint they left – i.e. the management systems they built, and the capable successors they’ve groomed – rather than on the tired old ‘get your ticket punched’ routine.

(The current practice of shifting senior managers every few years actively discourages the development of the management systems and culture required to sustain Lean/TPS.)

None of these countermeasures are easy, reflecting the scale of the challenge.

Are there others? No doubt – I’d love to hear from senior leaders in the public service. What do you all think?

The stakes are high for public service members, and for the public.

Best regards,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

Is Lean/TPS Possible in the Public Service? Part 1

By Pascal Dennis

Senior public sector leaders asked W. Edwards Deming asked this question in the early 1980’s.

His approach was working in companies around the world. Would it work in the public service?

“I don’t know,” Deming said.

Some diligent leaders ran experiments – with decidedly mixed success.

Adapting Total Quality Management (TQM) to Government,

Quality Comes to City Hall

As a general rule, government departments most similar to private sector operations had the greatest success – (e.g. a city’s motor equipment division which maintained & repaired its cars & trucks).

But the literature suggests that even those areas were unable to sustain continuous improvement, which as we know, entails building a supporting management system.

That said, our colleague, Gary Vansuch, has cited encouraging activities in the U.S. Department of Transport. Well done, folks, and please continue.

What are the obstacles to Lean in government? I’ll explore this question in upcoming blogs.

There’s a great deal at stake. Good people are giving their all to continuous improvement in government. Why shouldn’t civil servants have the opportunity to develop what Deming called ‘pride of workmanship’?

Why shouldn’t they be involved in developing and improving their work processes? Why shouldn’t their work be fun and motivating?

In fact, morale in the US and Canadian federal governments is at all-time lows.

Good news: Federal worker morale has finally bottomed out. Bad news: It’s still terrible.

Morale In The Public Sector

Moreover, the growing gap between performance in the private and public sector fuels a corrosive cynicism and disengagement – surely the last thing we need nowadays.

More to come.

Best regards,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

The Loneliness of the Small Business Owner

By Pascal Dennis

A colleague of mine is launching a small business - a comic book, craft & memorabilia store in Toronto's West end.

John is a splendid artist and draftsman, as well as, a gifted renovator of houses.

But he wants to do something a little different.

Over a drink the other day John described some of the obstacles he faces:

• Taxation (& double taxation) - on his lease, insurance, inventory, renovations etc.
• Municipal, provincial and federal business taxes - Toronto's business tax is among the highest in North America
• Multiple building permits - long delayed because the Permit Office lost the first set of drawings
• Multiple licenses - which face similar hassles & delays

It'll take John at least 6 months & a ton of investment just to open his doors.

Are there any lessons here?

A cynic might say, "Never start a business. Instead, get a job in the Permit Office. It's indoors & no heavy lifting."

Libertarians might say, "The power to tax is the power to destroy. We have starved government of money and power."

Lean thinkers might say, "Government has to reduce the waste in the small business launch process."

I'm with the Lean thinkers. If we agree that small business is the engine of growth, we have to reduce the hassles people like John face.

(According to BusinessWeek, business owners of all stripes cite RED TAPE is their single biggest hassle.)

How might we reduce the waste & hassle John has experienced?

A 'provision' map would be a good place to start. A provision map is essentially, a value stream map from the customer's point of view.

(See Chapter 12 of The Remedy for more.)

Our map would

• Define the steps in the small business launch process & related process data (e.g. total lead time, quality, value added time etc.)
• Illuminate the information flow, and
• Identify hassles & possible countermeasures

To take such a step, our various governments have to accept that their job is to help, by reducing hassle.

Mr. Obama, Mr. Trudeau, are you listening?

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

Economy I and II - Never the Twain Shall Meet?

By Pascal Dennis

In a previous blog I introduced the idea of Economy I & II

The former comprises private sector companies like Apple, Amazon, Toyota and GE.

These companies face withering competition every day.

As a result, they're wonderful at creating value, but not so good at creating jobs.

Economy II, by contrast, comprises government and quasi-government organizations like schools, universities and hospitals.

These organizations face comparatively little competition (or in the case of government agencies, none at all.)

As a result, they're wasteful and inefficient -- but good at creating 'jobs', of a sort.

But Economy II is bankrupting America (and Europe, for that matter). Economy I can no longer create enough off-setting value and wealth.

What to do?

Conservatives argue that Economy II can only be mended by applying the disciplines of Economy I.

Essentially, this means enabling and applying Lean thinking:

• Understanding your customers, and thereby, value & waste,
• Visual management and 5 S,
• Standardized work,
• Jidoka (building quality into the process,
• Heijunka (level loading), and
• Point, flow and system kaizen

Enablers to this approach include education and health care vouchers that put choice into the hands of the customer.

Liberals ("progressives") argue that the philosophies & techniques of Economy II are not necessary and wouldn't be effective in any event.

A better approach, they argue, is to elect capable, charismatic political leaders, who can reform Economy II by force of personality.

They cite Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, as such a leader.

What do I think?

Being an engineer and a businessperson, I'm naturally inclined to the practices I learned at Toyota.

The past twelve years, our Lean Pathways team has applied them with great success in a variety of industries.

Toyota thinking is rocket fuel. Stick to the recipe and wonderful things happen.

This is the evidence of my eyes and whole being.

The liberal/progressive argument seems, forgive me, to entail 'magical thinking'.

Even if it were based in fact, how many Rahm Emanuel's are there? And what happens when Rahm inevitably resigns as mayor of Chicago?

(Insiders say Rahm is there for one term.)

The broken processes mean a rapid regression to the bankrupt mean.

Sorry,

Pascal

Government – the Land of Waste?

By Pascal Dennis

Canada's legal system is in crisis.

The Seven Deadly Wastes -- delay, over-processing, errors, inventory and so on -- are reportedly at epidemic levels.

As for Knowledge waste, don't even ask...

Are things any better in the US or UK?

My American & British chums tell me it's pretty much the same in their countries.

What's the effect of all the waste in Canada's legal system?

Cases are being thrown out of court because of excessive delay.

Bad guys are getting away with theft, assault and worse.

The situation begs a question:

Can we apply Lean principles to 19th century institutions such as government and its affiliates?

And it's corollary: Can we engage civil servants in continuous improvement?

In my view, we have no choice -- good governance is more important than ever.

Governance, in my view, has always been the "secret sauce" of Western democracies.

As inept as our governments have often been, the alternatives were always much worse.

Historically, we've been able to muddle through, doing just okay, while avoiding the worst.

Given our competitive challenges, Is muddling through good enough today?

Contrary to popular opinion, I believe civil servants are, for the most part, honest and dedicated.

Like most people, they want to do a good job. They deserve the right to pride in their work.

But they're often trapped in antediluvian management systems that lack professional leadership and oversight.

(A senior deputy minister once told me, "There is no Check or Adjust phase in government...")

So, let me ask the question again:

"How will we engage civil servants in continuous improvement?"

Our safety, security and prosperity depend on it.

Cheers,