Lean Connections

I coined the term “Kaizen Kowboys” a few years ago (Lean Culture: Collected Practices and Cases).   Since Bill Wadell was kind enough to reprise its use in his blog yesterday I thought I’d provide a little historical background.

The company involved was a new executive search client and they were running into problems with their Lean implementation.  Turns out they had been working for over a year with an outside consulting firm to assist them in the transformation process, but they didn’t seem to be making any real progress.  And they weren’t really sure why that was the case. My client contact, the CEO, called me in to discuss the problem and propose solutions.

Part of the standard work I do when beginning a new search (I created a trademarked search methodology called pdcaSearch(R) in which we use Lean principles to drive the executive search process) is to uncover the root cause of the problem I’m being asked to solve. In this case it became very clear that there were ”multiple internal owners” of the Lean initiative, but there was no clear accountability for its success or failure.  The VP of Manufacturing had a small team of the outside consultants assigned to his “projects” and so did the VP Engineering. As did the VP of Supply Chain; and the VP Finance, and so on. 

The CEO had given each executive broad latitude and they were running with it. But all too often it seemed that an “improvement” in one area of the business soon became undone as another “improvement” elsewhere changed the overall operational dynamics of the organization. What Manufacturing improved became “unfixed” by the latest Kaizen event conducted in Engineering the following week. So naturally, Manufacturing Kaizen teams came back to the same area in subsequent weeks for a do-over.  This had been going on for almost a year and had devolved into an embarassing “Keystone Kops-like ” effort which I initially dubbed “catch-and-release Kaizen.”  The trout fishing devotees among you will immediately know what I mean.

Well, I fixed the company’s problem by recruiting a new VP of Continuous Improvement, an individual skilled in the principles of operational excellence and policy deployment. He quickly helped align objectives, resolved competing priorities and turned the focus of the improvement initiative onto value streams instead of functional silos.  Kaizens became more strategic, value-added events.  The new Lean VP continued to rely on a select group of outside advisors who could complement his own expertise, but he very rapidly sent the majority of the Kaizen Kowboys packing back to the ranch from whence they had come.

And that’s the way I see it.  Adam Zak

It’s that time of the year again when many of us Lean Thinkers, and even those who are still perhaps among the  ”Muggles” of the Lean community, are driven to at least a bit of reflection on the year (decade?) which is passing and will soon be a distant memory.  And it’s also not surprising that we who so diligently adhere to PDCA principles and utilize A-3 forms in our day-to-day work activities might be prone to applying a variety of similar tools and processes to our  thinking and planning for the year ahead.

I’d like to offer a suggestion to help you with this task.  Keep this one guiding word in mind:  “simple.”

I believe that by keeping things simple, as simple as possible, in both your personal and professional life, you will be able achieve “simple excellence“ in everything towards which you strive. “Simple excellence”  is a key theme to which I will return again in 2010 and throughout the coming decade in my speaking, writing and of course, my Lean executive search practice.

As a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder of many years, I’ve been listening to Warren Buffett for a long time. My notebooks are filled with his words of wisdom gleaned from annual meetings I’ve attended. My bookshelves are weighed down considerably with books and magazine articles by and about him.    While I’m certainly not the first to have uncovered some of Warren’s ”secrets” to investing, I’ve also discovered a treasure trove of his thoughts on human nature and the non-Wall Street side of life , which he’s shared with us through quips and comments over the years.  Guess what?  There’s a lot of simple excellence here. 

So without further delay, some quotes from the Oracle of Omaha to help keep our 2010 New Years’ resolution making simple and excellent.

 “The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund.”

Simple investing leaves you time to do other things in your life.  Allow professionals to do for you what they’re better at doing than you are. Yes, there is truth in the concept of core competency. And no, not all outsourcing is bad. But it takes thought and purpose to achieve simple and excellent results, in operations and supply chain as well as in investing.  Berkshire Hathaway is itself something akin to an index fund. Thanks Warren, for keeping it simple to understand what you (and therefore I) own. But I’ve got to ask, are you really, really sure about the Burlington RR thing?

“I want to be able to explain my mistakes. This means I do only the things I completely understand.”

I’ve never heard about Warren employing the “5 Whys” technique, but he is legendary for drilling down to root cause. In all his investment decisions (and, even more importantly, in his decisions not to invest) Buffett focuses on breaking complex businesses into simple, understandable components. In setting out our objectives and making our resolutions for 2010, how can we more effectively focus to gain true understanding?

“Making money isn’t the backbone of our guiding purpose; making money is the by-product of our guiding purpose. If you’re doing something you love, you’re more likely to put your all into it, and that generally equates to making money.”

As Lean Thinkers we are called to deliver value to our customers, both external and internal. Isn’t that really the simple and excellent underlying purpose of all the principles and practices we espouse and adhere to?  Are we thinking the same way about our careers and also the lives we lead outside those careers? Simple, focused goal setting  – on the right goals, for the right reasons – makes sense and leads to excellence.  A business, or an individual, who sets goals and objectives on delivering value will be rewarded financially when others benefit from their receipt of that value.

And, finally, how often do we consider that the simple pleasures of life might perhaps offer us deeper and more lasting satisfaction than we could ever hope to derive from the many gadgets and gizmos and toys we’ve been accumulating in an attempt to achieve happiness and fulfillment?  Are we truly engaged in something?  Are we respecting those who surround us in our personal and professional lives?  Hey, are we having fun?  Some final thoughts from Warren:  

“I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill [Gates] and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone”.“ 

and…

“I just naturally want to do things that make sense. In my personal life too, I don’t care what other rich people are doing. I don’t want a 405 foot boat just because someone else has a 400 foot boat.“

 And that’s the way I see it.  Happy New Year.  Adam Zak

Check out my recent phone interview with the Lean Insider.  Today’s Lean Executive must focus on clear targets to land that next executive role…

http://leaninsider.productivitypress.com/2009/06/finding-lean-jobs-today-rifle-not.html