Is Relationship Mapping the new Critical Path?

How good are you at managing the relationships that your organization builds? As we move from a Product Dominant to a Service Dominant market, the relationships we create are at the core of our business model. However, how many of us understand these relationships? How many of us know what collaborative networks the other members of our team or organization are creating? Can we be successful, can we be social without this understanding?

Our world is increasingly more collaborative driving changes in the way decisions are made. Our organizations need to change to a more collaborative structure but the question is, where do we begin? I am always amazed how Lean happens to be there when I am ready to use it. It reminds me of the old Buddhist proverb, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Back in 1976, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) saw the need for tools to promote innovation, communicate information and successfully plan major projects. A team researched and developed the seven new quality control tools, often called the seven management and planning (MP) tools, or simply the seven management tools. Not all the tools were new, but their collection and promotion were. They are:

1. Affinity diagram
2. Relations diagram
3. Tree diagram
4. Matrix diagram:
5. Matrix data analysis
6. Arrow diagram
7. Process decision program chart (PDPC)

Recently my use of the relationship diagram in particular has started to increase. Maybe not in the traditional sense of cause-and-effect relationships but the input/output connections between selected parts of the organization and the value that is created. The eerie part of this is that after creating several of these and one rather elaborate relationship map; I compared it to the Value Network modeling that had been introduced to me by Verna Allee, M.A., co-founder and CEO of Value Networks LLC. It was strikingly close to her model depicted below. (Verna Allee, M.A., is co-founder and CEO of Value Networks LLC introduced me last year to Value Network Mapping through this Business901 podcast, What’s behind Collaboration and Value Networks?).

From Value Networks and the true nature of collaboration by Verna Allee with Oliver Schwabe is a digital edition book located at http://www.valuenetworksandcollaboration.com.

One of the items that has intrigued me a great deal over the summer has been The Last Planner® System (LPS). The Last Planner® was created by Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell co-founders of the Lean Construction Institute. In long term building projects, they have found that managing relationships is the important part of project management. Last week, I had a post that discussed this, Crucial & Collaborative Conversations for Predictable Design & Delivery and tomorrow; I have a podcast with Alan Mossman of The Change Business where we discuss this relationship style of project management. An excerpt from the podcast follows.

Joe: One of the things that you mentioned is “Collaborative Short Term Production Planning," and the promise conversation cycle. Can you explain to the audience what that is?

Alan: This promise cycle is completed entirely in language. There is a request, there is the negotiation, there is a promise, there is a declaration of completion, and a declaration of satisfaction or dissatisfaction as appropriate.

What is missing, in my view, in a lot of construction, is that because of the critical path method, there is not enough time spent on managing promises, managing commitments. It's all coming from directives. You will do this. You will do that. So the project manager is telling people what to do rather than ensuring that the people on the project understand what needs to be done, so that they are in a position to make offers and to make promises about what they will do.

The collaborative planning, collaborative programming, make ready, are foundations for Last Planners to make promises about the work that they will do next week, because they've got direct involvement in preparing the work to be done.

As our world changes, it seems that these relationships, these value networks and person to person interactions will not be decreasing but may be our critical path to success.

You may be interested in the Lean Service Design Trilogy Workshop.

Are you Lean? Is the Pope Catholic?

I always find it interesting when Lean Organizations seek me out to help them with their sales and marketing. They typically have found me through the several zillion ways that you reach people but mainly because I am known for Lean Sales and Marketing or just Lean Marketing. I commend them that they are so committed to Lean and Lean Thinking that they do reach out to me. The reason they are reaching out is typical of any other company. They have a problem or a need.

I respond in typical fashion by asking what is your need or problem. Rocket science it’s not! Very often, they tell me the problem and many times describe to me what is needed. After all, they know their business better than I do.

This all said tongue-in-cheek so don’t crucify (no pun intended, I was raised Catholic) me for this as I am just making a point. However, there is a little truth in what I am saying.

The typical consulting approach is to agree and start discussing how we may be able to do that for you better than anyone else, our specialty! After you build credibility and trust, you make minor changes to their initial statements so that you can perform at your capabilities and make a little money doing it. The client may even ask you for a design proposal on what you would do and just like completing a resume you are silly not to repeat back what they have said to you. People like to hear their own words.

On the other hand, I have a habit of getting an A3 piece of paper out and drawing a line down the center. I write the problem in the upper left-hand corner and in the appropriate column, write down what they have told me and what they are asking of me; what I think we should do, how much will it cost, how long will it take, etc. In a fairly short time, we have completed the right side of the A3. Left all by itself is the problem on the left side. The next step I take is asking, “How much is it worth to complete the left side?” I think this is the difference between a typical Marketing Consultant and a Lean Marketing Consultant.

Now remember, most organizations that contact me have found me as a result of being a Lean company and practicing Lean. But now is when you find out if the Pope is Catholic. The answer that is given tells you, are they a collection of Lean tools or is the culture of Lean embedded within the organization. Every Lean company gets what I am saying. Every Lean company will tell you that they are. But will every Lean company be at the plate and willing to make the offering? Is the Pope Catholic?

If you need to re-energize your Catholicism or are Protestant, non-denominational, or something else and would like to learn how to be Lean in Sales and Marketing, check out… Lean Sales and Marketing Workshop

P.S. If you still have the money for an internet connection, and use the latter approach as a Lean Marketing Consultant, I would enjoy hearing from you.

A Lean Service Gemba Walk

Learn about Lean Fundamentals from the First West Credit Union Culture. This contains a basic approach on what to look for in a Gemba Walk in a Service Environment. The actors discuss the touchpoints and eight service wastes of Lean Services.

Check out the Business901 Lean Service Design Trilogy

What type of thinking solves dilemmas?

• What if there are conflicting requirements that ensure that you will be wrong?
• What if you have to pay an extortionist or suffer the loss of someone?
• What if you have to make a choice between resources, fairness, payment?
• What if your choice becomes take it or leave it? 
• What if your choice only have bad results?
• What is your choice is giving money to your child or withholding it to make them become responsible?
• What is more important a short term gain or a long term benefit?

You are just between a rock and a hard place, technically called a dilemma. It is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is acceptable. The simple fact; we face more dilemmas than we care to admit. And most of the time they go unsolved.

One of the best tools that I have run across in handling dilemmas is Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Evaporating Cloud, which is also referred to as The Conflict Resolution Diagram. It was developed to find a solution between two opposing points of view trying to reach the same point of view. You can get dig a little deeper by going into  the other Thinking Processes of the Theory of Constraints. (Check out the Business901 podcast with Bill Dettmer).

Another method for handling dilemmas is The Cynefin Framework. It allows executives to see things from new viewpoints, assimilate complex concepts, and address real-world problems and opportunities. Using the Cynefin framework can help executives sense which context they are in so that they can not only make better decisions but also avoid the problems that arise when their preferred management style causes them to make mistakes. You may also want to view, Using Cynefin for a Lean Transformation.

Does Lean thinking prevail; can I go through the seven step problem solving process of an A3 and find root cause? Can I effectively create counter measures for a dilemma? Is everything black and white? I struggled with a few of these thoughts and always justified my thinking by saying that I was achieving the best possible solution and applying a countermeasure to it. If it did not work, we would go through another  learning cycle, PDCA.

Design Thinking practices seem to embrace dilemmas. They might even try to create them. I use the term EDCA learned from Graham Hill  to designate the Explore aspect of Lean.  I view it as more of Design Type thinking concept that allows for more creative or productive type thinking (When Lean Thinking is not enough!). When you are dealing with a high degree of uncertainty, I believe there still needs to be a process in place. If not, you may end up fighting the process versus working on the problem.

One of my favorite authors is Alex Lowy. He has authored The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix and No Problem (which is the basis for my outline below). Alex outlines a method for managing dilemmas.

1. Map Symptoms: What are the effects of the dilemma? Dilemmas tend to be messy and difficult to define. It often helps to begin at the end by looking at the consequences or symptoms of the dilemma. Identify symptomatic patterns to define the underlying dilemma.
2. Identify the Core Dilemma: What is the core dilemma? This is very challenging and he recommends two steps: Generation of trial dilemmas applying symptoms, metaphors and brainstorming to identify aspects of the dilemma and synthesis by making sense of material by naming, testing and constructing scenarios.
3. Analyze, Model and Redefine using the Archetypal Dilemmas: What else is going on here? He cautions that when we get to the core dilemma that it is harder to think creatively and see new options. He defines eight recurring archetypal patterns of dilemmas and by applying the archetypes to the core dilemma; you gain new insights that advance understanding and progress.
4. Resolve Gaps: What need to change so that we can successfully handle the core dilemma? He discusses the change and development gaps that need to be managed; social and technical.
5. Plan and Implement: How do I ensure successful follow-through? Implementation is easier if you have a plan that everyone supports. He forewarns that most change in dilemmas do not happened immediately.

I found Alex’s approach is very understandable and comfortable to use. He turns the process into solving through his specialty of a 2 x 2 matrix but that is ok, I like matrixes.  Next time you are stuck between a rock and hard place, No Problem may be you answer. 

Are you waiting for the end of the rainbow?

Lean Thinking continues to be one of the best resources for understanding "What is Lean".  Simply because it describes the thought process, the overarching key principles that must guide your actions when applying lean techniques and tools. From the Book description:

Womack and Jones recommend that managers and executives embarking on lean transformations think about three fundamental business issues that should guide the transformation of the entire organization.

The three fundamentals are:

• Purpose: What customer problems will the enterprise solve to achieve its own purpose of prospering?
• Process: How will the organization assess each major value stream to make sure each step is valuable, capable, available, adequate, flexible, and that all the steps are linked by flow, pull, and leveling?

• People: How can the organization insure that every important process has someone responsible for continually evaluating that value stream in terms of business purpose and lean process? How can everyone touching the value stream be actively engaged in operating it correctly and continually improving it?

In Lean Service Design, I have found these three fundamentals surfacing time and time again as we work through the Customer Experience Journey and designing the service. The Process and People parts are easily understood, but the Purpose is the one that keeps surfacing. Not at the 10K level for organizational theory but at practically every step of the journey.

I typically ask, what customer problem will we solve to achieve a reason to continue? Why should we continue the journey? I go on to elaborate that this needs to be answered for both parties, our organization and the customer. We may not be able to answer this on every step of the journey but certainly at any moment of truth (A critical or decisive time on which much depends)?

Houston, we have a problem?????

What did that fundamental principle of purpose say? What customer problems will the enterprise solve to achieve its own purpose of prospering? I think this is forgotten while in the moment and the thrill of design. Are we just looking at the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? The company (and hopefully the customer) has to prosper to make this journey plausible. Do we need an exchange of some type of value to validate our journey? Maybe not, but are we being short-sighted not looking or asking for one?

Is Lean Thinking outdated? The rainbow is a very long journey with many paths and detours. Do we need to find a few bread crumbs, a few nuggets along the way? Do we?  

Related Story:  Did Maroney and Douglas deviate from Standard Work?

Have you considered the Lean Service Design Trilogy Workshop?

Opening Appreciative Space Process 1

The energy and creative generated in the Appreciative Inquiry process is shapes the interaction in a dynamic Open Space session where participants generate the agenda for a series of working sessions where concrete actions are identified. This process has been used with small groups to organizations with thousands of members. This is part 1 of the 2-part podcast.

 

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download this episode (right click and save) or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

John Steinbach has combined the approaches of Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space into his dynamic and positive Opening Appreciative Space process .This process starts with Appreciative Inquiry; a positive approach to change that can be used by individuals, teams, organizations, and communities.  Through an interview process that focuses on strengths and high-point experiences, Appreciative Inquiry helps participants discover and create a desired future.  This dynamic and uplifting process has been used by Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations, youth groups, world leaders, and communities.

John Steinbach has worked to Open Appreciative Space in a wide variety of organizations including GTE, Verizon, Hughes Electronics, Nationwide Insurance, Boeing, Raytheon, GE, Cardinal Health Systems, United Way, American Red Cross, Purdue Extensions services and dozens of non-profits, churches and youth-serving organizations.

Can we drop Product and add Value to Development or Innovation?

I think the terms Product Development’ and Product Managers have become obsolete. This is not new thinking on my part, see past blog posts:  Do You Know the Right Job For Your Products? or Will Product Managers embrace Open Innovation? or not even, so I can promote of Lean Service Design. 

If you have not been under a rock in Product Development, you will recognize how Eric Ries’s, The Lean Startup has been all about Customer Development and product/market fit. The classic “Pivot” may be more about adjusting product to fit market than it is market to fit product.

Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's DNA and The Innovator's Solution to name just a few of his books, talks about the “Job to be Done.”

Product and customer characteristics are poor indicators of customer behavior, because from the customer’s perspective that is not how markets are structured. Customers’ purchase decisions don’t necessarily conform to those of the "average" customer in their demographic; nor do they confine the search for solutions within a product category. Rather, customers just find themselves needing to get things done. When customers find that they need to get a job done, they "hire" products or services to do the job. This means that marketers need to understand the jobs that arise in customers’ lives for which their products might be hired. Most of the "home runs" of marketing history were hit by marketers who saw the world this way. The "strike outs" of marketing history, in contrast, generally have been the result of focusing on developing products with better features and functions or of attempting to decipher what the average customer in a demographic wants.

Thomas Koulopoulos on a Fast Company blog post said:

We are at the tail end of an era that has focused almost entirely on the innovation of products and services, and we are at the beginning of a new era that focuses on the innovation of what I like to call “behavioral business models.” These models go beyond asking how we can make what we make better and cheaper, or asking how we can do what we do faster. They are about asking why we do what we do to begin with. And the question of why is almost always tied to the question of how markets behave.

He goes on to say:

The greatest shift in the way we view innovation will be that the innovation surrounding behavior will need to be as continuous a process as the innovation of products has been over the last hundred years. The greatest shift in the way we view innovation will be that the innovation surrounding behavior will need to be as continuous a process as the innovation of products has been over the last hundred years. It’s here that the greatest payback and value of innovation in the cloud has yet to be fully understood and exploited.

If you are reader of this blog, you know that I believe most of us are defined not by their products but the services they offer. Let’s admit it, your product has zero value in it. You cannot build value or even create it through clever marketing. Value is only created when a customer puts it into use. This is Service Dominant Logic Thinking (Vargo and Lusch (2006).

The internal thinking of product development hinders us more than what we care to think. If we viewed our products as “enablers of use” or in SD-Logic the “Value in use” the opportunities for development and innovation would skyrocket. In many Lean Organizations there are no longer Product Managers, they are Value Stream Managers. Why do we continue with Product Developers or Produce Development? Should we not have Value Development or Value Stream Developers? I know you may think it is just a word thing, but it isn’t. When people think about products, they automatically internalized their thoughts. Think about where you work and depict a product or service. Do you picture it in use? Now think about something you own. Do you think about it being used?

What if we started thinking about it from the perspective that we own this product. If we begin viewing first how our customers use our products and how we might extend that use or make it easier. Maybe, we need a lesson on Empathy Development? Maybe, we all need to use the products we work for?

Process Thinking in Lean Services

#ServiceDesign and #Lean #Services have been a large part of my efforts this year, both researching and implementing. It is a result of the work that I have been doing in Lean Marketing. Just about in every case, we have had to work in the area of services both internal and external at the beginning of the project. Most people and organizations, especially ones seeking help are not delivering on what they say they're going to deliver. Lean Services is the quickest enabler of this delivery.

In my research, I came across Debashis “Deb” Sarkar. Deb is one of world’s leading lights in the space of service Lean. He has been researching, experimenting and working on how to successfully implement the Lean principles to service companies. Deb is also credited to have pioneered the enterprise-wide deployment of lean to service businesses in Asia in early 2000s.

 

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

Mobile Version of Business901 Podcast

Deb has led large number of Lean service transformations and his efforts have led to the pioneering contribution to service lean comprising: A) The DEB-LOREX™ model, B) holistic approach for service lean implementation and C) blueprint for 5S implementation in service companies. His work is encapsulated in books such as: Lean for Service Organizations and Offices: A Holistic Approach for Achieving Operational Excellence and Improvements and 5S for Service Organizations and Offices: A Lean Look at Improvements.

Deb sits on the global advisory board of Process Excellence Network and has held leadership positions in companies such as Unilever, Coca Cola and ICICI Bank. He currently holds the position of Senior Vice President – Organizational Excellence, Change and Finance Transformation at Standard Chartered Bank Scope International..

P.S. Don’t miss his upcoming book titled: Lessons in Lean Management – 53 Ideas to Transform Services (Westland) to be in the market by September 2012.

Related Information: Lean Service Design Trilogy Workshop

Lean Training and Simulation Tips

@JamieFlinchbaugh, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean discussing simulation games and how the Lean Learning Center designs and uses them. Jamie is an individual and the Lean Learning Center, an organization that practices what they preach, Lean. Jamie’s insightful responses are lessons for any trainer.

I encourage you to check out Jamie’s latest book, A3 Problem Solving: Applying Lean Thinking. I cannot think of how you could spend $7.50 better.

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

Mobile Version of Business901 Podcast

Jamie Flinchbaugh is co-founder and partner of the Lean Learning Center, and bring successful and varied experiences of lean transformation as both a practitioner and facilitator. Under the leadership of Jamie and the Center’s senior managers, the Lean Learning Center has become one of the most recognized and premier lean providers in the world. The JamieFlinchbaugh.com blog is a frequent stop of mine and many other lean practitioners.

This is part of a series of blog posts outlined in A Lean Service Design Approach to Gaming your Training.

Lean Service Design: Closing the Gaps between Perception and Reality

The Maryland World Class Consortia holds regular meetings each quarter for members, potential members, supporters, and guests.  Each meeting is a half-day "mini-conference" that provides new developments among Consortia members, examples of World Class tools in action, and networking with active practitioners. The next quarterly meeting will be held on September 27th, 2012.

I have the honor to speak at the morning meeting on Lean Service Design and that afternoon host a half-day workshop on Lean Service Design. Below is the write up for the presentation.

In many organizations, services were not intentionally designed, but were, instead, "grown and evolved" to sell a product.  Many believe that all they need to do to win is to create better, more innovative products.  But can we really stay ahead by focusing on products alone? 

Even many so-called "service" organizations miss the mark. (Think about your last business service disappointment, or working with a government office or non-profit.) It seems that many would-be service organizations think of service as just a verb, or an activity that is consumed by customers.  They think of service through departments or functions, and they tend to focus on their own activity, versus solving customer problems.

In this presentation, author, blogger, and lean trailblazer Joe Dager will introduce you to the tools and methods of Lean Service Design.  You'll be blown away by Joe's energy and his common-sense approaches to using lean for systematically improving the process of service design and delivery.  Joe has an enormous body of work, and this presentation will just scratch the surface.  Sign up for our Lean Service Design half-day mini-workshop right after lunch!

Tell all your sales, marketing, product/process design, and service/customer support people about this presentation and workshop -- This is one lean leader you don't want to miss!

I would like to thank the Maryland World Class Consortia for inviting me. Through the years, I have heard many good things about the Consortia and look forward to meeting the members and attendees. Remember, you do not have to be a member to attend.

80% of Companies believe they deliver a Superior Service, only 8% of Customers agree.

Lean Service Design: Closing the Gaps between Perception and Reality

Preview the program

Learning with Gamification

After reading The Gamification of Learning and Instruction by Dr. Karl Kapp, I felt that not only did I understand the Gaming world better, but was willing to take a stab at trying a few games on my own. Something the author recommends that we all do if we are serious about Gamification. I have already purchased two copies of the book sending the hard copy to a client and a Kindle version for me to use as a reference tool no matter where I may be. A written excerpt from the podcast: Should you Gamify your Simulations?

I will forewarn you; it is not one of my shorter podcast.

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About: Karl Kapp is a professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. He teaches a variety of courses to include game design and how to design learning courses and environments, Additionally, as the assistant director of Bloomsburg’s acclaimed Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT), Dr. Kapp helps government, corporate, and non-profit organizations leverage learning technologies for employee productivity and organizational profitability. In his spare time, he has authored or co-authored four books on the convergence of learning and technology with his latest being The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.

You can find Karl on Twitter @kKapp  or his blog, Kapp Notes.

This is part of a series of blog posts outlined in A Lean Service Design Approach to Gaming your Training.