3 Tips on achieving Fast, Effective, Sustainable change

Next weeks Business901 podcast guest is Sara Lewis, the Managing Director of Appreciating Change, a psychological change consultancy focused on helping leaders and managers achieve positive change in their organizations. She is the author of Positive Psychology at Work: How Positive Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry Create Inspiring Organizations and one of my favorites, Appreciative Inquiry for Change Management: Using AI to Facilitate Organizational Development .

This is an excerpt from the podcast:

Joe:  If you had three pieces of advice for leaders for achieving fast, effective, sustainable change what would they be?

Sarah:  “I think one would be you don't have to do it all alone. Draw on the collective intelligence of your organization. They want to survive as much as you do, they want to help. There may be some issues in the way they've been treated in the past but it's as important to them as it is to you that this organization continues to do well. One would be don't feel you have to do it all alone. The second would be, humans have evolved in such a way that they need more carrot than stick to be at their best. Because we over‑weigh negative things and under‑weigh positive things, we actually need three times as many good experiences as negative experiences to start to enter the enchanted place of creativity, connectivity, generativity, synchronicity and all the good things that help organizations to move much faster and much more efficiently.

Yes, you need to obviously keep a minimum line on things. But what most organizations need a lot more of is the good stuff pumped into them, so that positivity thing.

I think the third piece of advice, which is a much more generic one, is it's becoming increasingly clear that the leaders who are able to have the most positive impact in their organizations, whatever their style may be, the key thing is this thing about authentic leadership. Part of authentic leadership is being open and transparent in ‑‑ that's the other thing ‑‑ a managed way.

I remember some of the London Business School people said that after all their analysis, the art of leadership boiled downed to five words, which was, "Be yourself more with skill." All of those words are important.

So things like doing difficult things and asking for forgiveness, being humble about the fact that this is not doing it on your own. Everybody here has contributed to what we've achieved this year. Those old‑fashioned in a way is being grateful.

Everybody who comes to your organization helps to create it, does something that moves it forward. There's something about allowing that side of yourself to come through to people, because people do respond and emotions are very contagious, virtuous circles.

If we see people being heroic, we're more inclined to be a little bit more heroic ourselves the next time the opportunity arises. If someone is helpful, we see someone being helpful or someone is helpful to us, we're more likely to do it to somebody else.

You can set off these virtuous circles of very positive interactions, which just have not escalating, but the virtuous circle gets bigger and bigger benefits in terms of performance and productivity in the end.”

Related Information:
Getting Resistance to Appreciative Inquiry?
Lean Engagement Team Book Released
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving
The Difference In Lean Problem Solving for Sales and Marketing

Finding your Vision, It may be as simple as Tapping your Shoes

There are several purposes to the Balance Scorecard. One of the most important is to create measures that are forward looking and proactive. This way the Balanced Scorecard can be an effective agent of organizational change. However, we can never start any forward thinking without a vision.

I use to think that Vision and Mission Statements were a consultant/academic type exercise. I did them but I have to honestly admit, it may have been more of an exercise than a real vision. In recent years, working with such a variety of companies, I have shifted my thinking. Without vision, you seldom provide a unifying theme of purpose. All of your objectives, all the measures, all the targets, etc. become disjointed. In a recent interview for a future Business901 Podcast, Ari Weinzweig, CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, MI said, “Vision comes from the heart”. That statement sums it up perfectly.

Recently, I have participated with organizations using Hoshin Kanri and the Balanced Scorecard. These approaches have a remarkable similarity and both are driven by the vision and strategic goals of the organization. These approaches will highlight a lack of vision. You will find great difficulty in completing the process without a crystal clear view of where you want to go. It’s that Why, Simon Sinek explains in his book, Start with Why.

Whether you call it Why or Vision, there is not anything else more instrumental to your success. Do you believe your organization has a heart? Does that mission pulsate throughout the entire organization? It’s not an iterative process. It is not anything that is cloudy or mysterious to your organization. It is Why you get up in the morning and go to work. With Vision, With Why, a unifying theme of purpose exists. All of your objectives, all the measures, all the targets, etc. become aligned.

It’s very similar to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz! She was running away from home for a better life. They did not understand her. She lacked a vision. Linda, the good witch came back and told Dorothy, “You have had the power all along; you just had to find it.” I encourage you as a business to find your vision and identify with it. Tap those shoes together: Find the Vision, the Why of your organization.

P.S. How long should you plan for? I think vision is something that will extend many years out and would venture to say for even young companies that 5 years is a minimum period. Most mature companies should paint a vision and strategic direction for at least a 10 year period.

Related Information:
Is the Balance Scorecard being revived?
Driving Profit through People and Processes
PDCA Cycle of Zingerman’s Deli
It’s the Who, not the Why @simonsinek

Does ROWE solve some Lean problems?

In next weeks podcast, I have David Kasprzak, of the popular blog, My Flexible Pencil discussing  ROWE a concept developed by Jody Thompson and published in her book, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution.

An excerpt from the podcast:

Joe:  That's a very interesting point, because that's what always frustrates me is that when people get into Lean, they just say "Oh, it's a cultural change." They create this atmosphere that you have to have, that you're supposed to have blind faith going there. That it's going to happen. Does ROWE solve some of those problems?

David:  I think it does. I think it does it in a very interesting way. I think ROWE is very much aware, and having talked with Jody directly, those folks are very much aware that businesses have a higher purpose. We can talk mission and values, but above that is a higher purpose. I think a lot of us are familiar with the example of the gentleman sweeping the floor at NASA, and they ask, what is his job? He said, oh, I helped to launch the space shuttle. So there is NASA's mission. Their higher purpose is to put a man on the moon or win the space race, or one of those things. There's a higher purpose involved.

We're looking to get people to that higher purpose, gives them a greater ability to focus on just what they need to do to accomplish that purpose, and that's where the culture change begins. Wait a minute, if I'm at home today right now and not doing what I would otherwise be doing if I was in the office ‑‑ which might be nothing more than hanging out at the water cooler ‑‑ am I detracting from the purpose of the organization?

Or they may have worked in a daycare as well, and they believe their higher purpose is to create a greater society, and the way they create that greater society is through proper education of young children.

If I decide to go and get my hair done today, and I don't have someone to cover for me, am I helping to achieve that higher purpose? No, clearly you're not. However, if you're given the responsibility for making sure someone covers your time and it does not detract from the higher purpose, then you are free to do what you feel you need to do that day.

That's why I say the responsibility only aspect of ROWE... I think there are sort of three Rs in ROWE. There's Results Only, Responsibility Only, and Respect Only. I think if you accomplish those things, people intrinsically start to see the need for efficiency, because not only does it benefit the business, but let's face it, people want to benefit themselves, too.

More information about Dave and Rowe can be found:
ROWE, Lean and the Shingo Model
“Results Only” means “Value Only”

Related Information:
Games maybe your only chance to attract the best and brightest talent,
When Efficiencies and Innovation no longer work, is Customer Centricity the answer?
Improving Human-Centered Design: Achieving Resonance

The Uniqueness of Hoshin Kanri

The “Hoshin” is developed at each layer of management clarifying strategies and targets to assist in reaching the preceding layer’s targets. This results in both a macro and micro PDCA. This greatly increases the line of sight and shared responsibility to each other in achieving these goals. Kanri is defined as a method to efficiently achieve purposes through PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act).

What makes Hoshin so unique over other planning methods is the effort that is put into the cascading effect of the Hoshin plan. This effect is called “Catchball”. Catchball drives the strategic planning process into every level of the organization and every employee and provides them the opportunity to define how they will contribute to that success.

Catchball(PDCA) works like this:

• (Plan) Leaders set the strategies and targets. The team members, made up of the people closest to the work to be improved, put a plan together to make it happen. Ideas are tossed back in forth and open debate is encouraged and expected. Agreement is reached and a plan comes together with a defined course of action and responsibilities.
• (Do) Continuing dialogue takes place. "Are we on track? Do we have the time and other resources required? What are we learning that needs to be incorporated into the plan?" Changes are made as a result of this dialogue.
• (Check) The leader or the preceding layer monitors and is responsible for the outcome. The leader resolves confusion and helps at key points acting very much like both a coach and a manager during the process.
• (Act) Continuous review and discussion will keep the team on target. The goals are accomplished as a result of interaction not because of a prescribed method.

This is the secret of Hoshin Kanri and I believe the preferred method for engaging change. Most processes are built around the existing organizational structure depicted in the structure on the left. Targets and measures are set and many times with a mandate on how we will achieve them. Hoshin Kanri through the use of catchball develops a more collaborative structure and as a result an easier method for change and even more importantly sustainability.

 

This is not about relinquishing control. It is about gaining more control over implementation. Collaboration does not insure the best answer gets enacted. It typically insures that something does get enacted. It takes away that paralysis from planning. No longer are we trying to gather buy-in to get something accomplished, but rather change is being driven from the bottom up with a sense of joint accountability.

Can Hoshin Kanri work in your organization?

Related Information:
Is the Balance Scorecard being revived?
Tricks from the Trenches on applying Hoshin Kanri
Become a Learning Organization through Relentless Reflection
What’s new in Business Model Generation? Customer Value Canvas and more

Tricks from the Trenches on applying Hoshin Kanri

Anthony Manos is a Catalyst with Profero, Inc., where he provides professional consulting services, implementation, coaching and training to a wide variety of organizations, large and small, private and public, in many industries focusing on Lean Enterprise and Lean Healthcare. Mr. Manos has extensive knowledge of Lean and quality in a wide range of work environments.

Anthony was my guest on the Business901 podcast and we discussed the application of Hoshin Kanri. Since Hoshin Kanri first appeared in the late 1960s, it has become a management system for companies to establish annual policy, pass it down through their organizations and implement it across all departments and functions.Hoshin Kanri is different from what most people think of as strategic planning.
It goes far beyond the typical strategic planning process and implementation.

Mr Manos says, “Hoshin Kanri is for organizations looking for a method to create a thoughtful plan for the future. In addition to helping other organizations learn and apply Hoshin Kanri principles, the company I work for has applied Hoshin Kanri principles for its own operations.” Here is some practical advice and “tricks from the trenches” that might help you and your organization move forward:

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here  or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

Anthony is the co-author of the book Lean Kaizen: A Simplified Approach to Process Improvements and author of many articles on Lean and its allied subjects. He wrote the script for SME’s DVD Total Productive Maintenance Blitz and is the co-editor of ASQ’s upcoming Lean Handbook. He writes commentary on Lean in his blog: blog.5Ssupply.com.

Related Information:
Lean Canvas for Lean EDCA-PDCA-SDCA
Will Product Managers embrace Open Innovation?
Value Chain Thinking is not Rocket Science
The use of Hansei in Lean Sales and Marketing

Traditional vs. Emerging Thoughts on Pricing

In the 1990s, we were led by the process methodologies of Lean, Theory of Constraints and Six Sigma. Better, Faster, Cheaper was the mantra. The goal was to gain a disproportionate advantage by leveraging internal resources to their fullest advantage. Many of us are finding that faster, better, cheaper is not the game changer that it once was. Not only do we have to improve, but we have to improve at a faster rate than our competition. Ref: Is Lean and Six Sigma a waste of time?

Typical pricing is based on research, focus groups, surveys, statistical modeling, and other techniques to get a better understanding of customers identifying trends, costumer preferences, and evaluate the relative strength of competitors' positions. Organizations also organize consumers into segments that enable them to efficiently address consumer needs. The further you can define your segments, the more it is perceived as a competitive advantage. However, organizations can no longer feed products to customers, Kill the Sales and Marketing Funnel. Customers have the ability to access resources and information comparable to their suppliers and choose suppliers by their own definition of value and how that value should be created.

A focus on control and ownership of pricing is giving way to the importance of shared outcomes with customers and suppliers. Ownership is not as important as the way you influence resource allocation within the network. “The goal of the emerging company is not to own all the resources but to influence how resources are allocated by providing intellectual leadership for the entire network. The co-creation process also challenges the assumption that only the firm's aspirations matter. Every participant in the network collaborates in value creation and competes in value” (1).

Traditional (T) versus Emerging (E) thought:

• Unit of Analysis: (T) Organization vs. (E) Collaborative Network
• Basis for Value: (T) Products/Services & Features/Benefits vs. (E) Co-created experiences and Value in Use (SD Logic)
• Interaction: (T) Transactional based and goal to deliver faster, better, cheaper vs. (E) Series of experiences and goal to keep the game evolving
• Infrastructure: (T) Limited by physical, financial and internal knowledge vs. (E) Access to resources through external knowledge and networks
• Boundaries: (T) Limited by features and benefits offered vs. (E) Progressing through knowledge sharing

As we have moved into the Customer Experience Economy and as many feel we are at the threshold of the User Experience Economy. As a result, we have seen the rapid expansion of Design Thinking, Service Design and Lean Agile type methodologies gain traction. Service Design in my thinking being firmly rooted in Service Dominant Logic (SD-Logic) is the most applicable to the area of Sales and Marketing.

SD-Logic use of co-creation of value pushes the perspective on all areas of business to include pricing. Why should pricing be limited to what is available within the organization and their supplier network? Could your pricing structure access your customer communities as well? Organizing to access pricing from an extended network of suppliers, partners and customers to include knowledge, infrastructure, and financial capacity—can significantly expand the notion of available pricing structures.

If we view pricing as an outcome and value from the use of our product or service (SD Logic), should value not be based on the price of the service that the customer receives and our level of participation? Should Net 30 terms be replaced by a co-created funding process that allows for shared risks and greater rewards over the lifetime of the product? Can we co-create pricing with a customer? Are customers already doing it for us?

P.S. Would that not force product/services to strip away all features and benefits that don’t deliver on the needs of the customer? We now receive a “basic” smart phone and only add apps as needed. Realistically, would your life be simpler without every product you own being intelligent?

Book Resources for this blog:
The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value With Customers
The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing

Related Information:
Lean needs Marketing, more than Marketing needs Lean!
Does Lean Marketing deliver what the customer wants?
Do you understand where demand comes from?