This is a short video describing a current search I have in Continous Improvement Director-. Contact Info: Bill Ritchie Partner Management Recruiters Indianapolis North (317) 582-0202 ext 1226 888-906-0202 ext 1226 britchie@mrindianapolis.com www.mrindianapolis.com

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Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance

Introduction

Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance is the first of Robert M. Pirsig’s texts in which he explores his Metaphysics of Quality. The 1974 book describes, in first person, a 17-day motorcycle journey across the United States by the author (though he is not identified in the book) and his son Chris, joined for the first nine days by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, ethical emotivism and the philosophy of science.

The book sold over 4 million copies in twenty-seven languages and was described by the press as the most widely read philosophy book, ever. It was originally rejected by 121 publishers, more than any other bestselling book, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

In the book, Pirsig explores the meaning and concepts of “quality” (a term which he deems to be undefinable). In later works Pirsig expands his exploration of quality into a complete metaphysics which he calls The Metaphysics of Quality, which, as the title suggests, has to do with a non-intellectualizing, non-conceptualizing, Zen-like direct viewing of the Universe. Yet Pirsig departs from Eastern thinking by arguing that Western rationality is just as important in seeking understanding. Pirsig’s thesis is that to truly experience quality one must embrace both and apply them as befits the requirements of the situation. According to Pirsig, this would avoid a great deal of frustration and dissatisfaction common to modern life.

I’ll explore the main themes below:

The Necessity of Reconciling the Classic/Romantic Split

This theme is reinforced at frequent intervals throughout the book in various direct and indirect ways. The Narrator directly deals with it often in his Chautauquas and he asserts that unless the split was healed, civilization was bound to continue in a downward spiral into more technological ugliness and increasingly brutal warfare. Objectivity gone wild, especially as represented by value-free scientific perspectives, would continue to move the world to ugliness and discord. Naive rejections of technology would not be viable, either. Blind action and reaction resultant from a lack of receptivity to the guiding urgings of Quality need to be replaced by right living cultivated through caring attentiveness.

The Importance of Spiritualizing Everyday Life

Image via Wikipedia

The Narrator develops this theme in several ways. His Chautauquas directly speak of the unpleasant consequences of work done by people who are in thoughtless, uncaring states of mind. He speaks at length about everyday principles of right living in his prolonged explication of gumption traps. He traces the critical connection between peace of mind and beautiful products and relationships. He compares and contrasts people who have and who do not have this peace of mind throughout his observations in the various locales of the physical journey. He compares and contrasts himself to his former self as Phaedrus to illustrate the importance of establishing a vigilance concerning adhering to the principles of right living. This theme quite clearly is reflected in the book’s title. Meditation, or Zen, is clearly intended to address spirituality; and motorcycle maintenance is most definitely representative of daily life. The message intended by the juxtaposition is to devote caring attentiveness, a meditative attitude, to the details of daily living so that Quality can express itself through your actions and relationships.

A Genuine Search for Truth

This theme is developed directly through the exposition regarding Phaedrus’ own early educational career, his teaching experiments at Bozeman, his approach to his studies at the University of Chicago, and his passionate pursuit of the ghost of rationality that lead to his mental breakdown. The clearest exposition of this theme occurs in the prolonged exploration of the evolution of his teaching methods at Bozeman. He abolished grades and did everything that he could to engage and empower his students so that genuine creativity and passion would result. Furthermore, his ten years studying Oriental philosophy and spiritual traditions in India suggest an uncommon devotion to finding out what is what. He is shown to be disturbed by, and very uncomfortable with, playing the game or going through the motions. Finally, the scope of what he considers and attempts to integrate into his worldview–Western and Eastern philosophy, religion, and spirituality; scientific methodology; and theoretical mathematics–indicates a mind intent on a comprehensive integration addressing first and last things.

Quotes

• What is in mind is a sort of Chautauqua–that’s the only name I can think of for it–like the traveling ten-show Chautauquas that used to move across America, this America, the one that we are now in, an old time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer. The Narrator, p. 7
• Each machine has its own, unique, personality which probably could be defined as the intuitive sum total of everything you know and feel about it. This personality constantly changes, usually for the worse, but sometimes surprisingly for the better, and it is this personality that is the real object of motorcycle maintenance. The Narrator, p. 42
• I told Chris the other night that Phaedrus spent his entire life pursuing a ghost. That was true. The ghost he pursued was the ghost that underlies all of technology, all of modern science, all of Western thought. It was the ghost of rationality itself. The Narrator, p. 78
• But there it was, the whole history of science, a clear story of continuously new and changing explanations of old facts. The time spans of permanence seemed completely random, he could see no order in them. Some scientific truths seemed to last for centuries, others for less than a year. Scientific truth was not dogma, good for eternity, but a temporal quantitative entity that could be studied like anything else. The Narrator, p. 108
• He became aware that the doctrinal differences among Hinduism and Buddhism and Taoism are not anywhere near as important as doctrinal differences among Christianity and Islam and Judaism. Holy wars are not fought over them because verbalized statements about reality are never presumed to be reality itself. The Narrator, p. 136
• She came trotting by with her watering pot between those two doors, going from the corridor to her office, and she said, “I hope you are teaching Quality to your students.” This in a la-de-da, singsong voice of a lady in her final year before retirement about to water her plants. That was the moment it all started. That was the seed crystal. The Narrator, p. 175
• Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thing ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to and end but a unique event in itself. The Narrator, p. 198
• “The sun of quality,” he wrote, “does not revolve around the subjects and objects of our existence. It does not just passively illuminate them. It is not subordinate to them in any way. It has created them. They are subordinate to it!” Phaedrus, quoted by the Narrator, p. 234.
• He read on. Line after line. Page after page. Not a discrepancy. What he had been talking about all the time as Quality was her the Tao, the great central generating force of all religions, Oriental and Occidental, past and present, all knowledge, everything. The Narrator, p. 248
• The way to solve the conflict between human values and technological needs is not to run away from technology. That’s impossible. The way to resolve the conflict is to break down the barriers of dualistic thought that prevent a real understanding of what technology is–not an exploitation of nature, but a fusion of nature and the human spirit into a new kind of creation that transcends both. The Narrator, p. 284
• The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be “out there” and the person that appears to be “in here” are not two separate things. They grow toward Quality of fall away from Quality together. The Narrator, p.319
• The mythos. The mythos is insane. That’s what he believed. The mythos that says the forms of this world are real but the Quality of this world is unreal, that is insane! The Narrator, p. 346
• Quality! Virtue! Dharma! That is what the Sophists were teaching! Not ethical relativism. Not pristine “virtue.” But arête. Excellence. Dharma! Before the Church of Reason. Before substance. Before form. Before mind and matter. Before dialectic itself. Quality had been absolute. The Narrator, p. 371
• In all this Chautauqua talk there’s been more than a touch of hypocrisy. Advice is given again and again to eliminate subject-object duality, when the biggest duality of all, the duality between me and him, remains unfaced. A mind divided against itself. The Narrator, p. 395
• We’re related to each other in ways we never fully understand, maybe hardly understand at all. He was always the real reason for coming out of the hospital. To have let him grow up alone would have been really wrong. In the dream too he was the one who was always trying to open the door. I haven’t been carrying him at all. He’s been carrying me! The Narrator, referring to his son, p. 403-404
• Trials never end, of course. Unhappiness and misfortune are bound to occur as long as people live, but there is a feeling now, that was not here before, and is not just on the surface of things, but penetrates all the way through: We’ve won it. It’s going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things. The Narrator, p. 406

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I’ve been reading a number of posts on other blogs on Lean Leadership.

For me leadership is about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. As such leaders not only have to build superior processes and systems but also help their organisation become profitable and successful. Obviously, one way of doing this is for a company to purse lean across the enterprise.

I believe that senior managers are willing and eager to do all that is required of them to lead their portion of an organization to success. Difficulties arise not because senior managers lack energy, but because they don’t always fully understand how and why many required actions are necessary. The mechanics of lean systems (kaizen, pull systems, flexible cells, and so on) are simple in concept and thus appear easy to implement. Yet, few organizations are able to implement “lean” the first time they try. The most important implementation insights involve overcoming resistance, establishing a common set of tools and approaches that everyone uses, and dealing with implementation issues every day, hands-on, at the work group level

My question then is what makes effective Lean Leaders?

Image by Krypto via Flickr

Characteristics

1. Patience – You can change the software program or change the configuration of machine to give you the expected result. But when it comes to human-beings, you have to patient to implement, wait and analyse, correct and implement again. One step at a time, make it a iterative process.

2. Clear Vision – Before bringing change at an enterprise level, as a lean leader you must know what strategic figures you want to achieve?

3. Delegate – If you think you will direct people to stop waste – print on both the sides of paper or practice austerity – fly economy class etc, you are quite likely to fail. Why? Because you haven’t won support of your colleagues but you are imposing a rule on them. You haven’t set any target for them to achieve. But you want them to achieve something which no one knows. Therefore, delegate. Make heterogeneous teams across the organization and ask them to create goals. Each team consisting of resources from all the departments in the organization Operations, Sales, Accounts, Administration etc and they need to come back with lean program.

4. Qualitative vs Quantitative – A lean leader would never say – let us stop wasting paper, let us switch off PCs before leaving the work place because these are the qualitative measures, which do not give any idea what is the value of the goal to be achieved, to what extent the value of the goal is achieved and by what value they are lagging behind etc. Therefore, a lean leader would go for quantitative measurements of his/her lean program.

5. Perseverance – Usually most of the long programs succumb to other high priority projects. An effective leader knows – what is the long term value of “lean” in the organization. Bearing that in mind he would press or release the pedal from the activities.

6. Courage – Courage to defend the decision is key for all the leaders, be it a lean leader or any other.

Lean Leadership – the differences?

The effective Lean leader must also be a good teacher as Lean is about shared thinking along common philosophy, ideas and principles.

He needs to be a source of bubbling energy that galvanizes organization into action. He will need to create tension not stress; the tension for the gap between the current reality and the ideal state. i.e. positive tension.

He must be an innovator and a risk-taker as lean culture involves action, experimentation and new thinking – all of which involves an element of risk.

He should be able to lead through visible participation and not by mere proclamation.

The Lean leader should be able to take a good look at their own practices—starting with standardization—developing clearly structured processes, designing a structured flow for their own time, and becomes more predictive.

When he coaches and teaches effectively, builds creative tension, eliminates fear and comfort, actively participates in the transformation of the business, and applies Lean to everything, he becomes an effective Lean Leader.

Image by lumaxart via Flickr

McKinseys Definition

McKinsey has identified the 6 habits of Lean Leaders:

1. A focus on operating processes (do you wander around on the shop-floor and chat with the ones who really work?)
2. Root cause problem solving (use problems as teaching opportunities)
3. Clear performance expectations (and compatible with the existing performance framework if any. This is so important, so touchy, so hidden…)
4. Aligned leadership (across silos… which means across budgets too… nasty one again)
5. A sense of purpose (is this new?)
6. Support for people (if front workers create value, be there to support them… yes bring them coffee if that helps.)

So it’s very much like shifting attention of the line managers away from firefighting and giving them room to coach.

My reason for saying that is because by attaching the “lean” handle to “leader” you imply a degree of technical knowledge. That takes the desired characteristics away from the realm of effective generic leader and makes it more discipline specific

In general other more generic leaders become leaders simply when they are followed. It is a role bestowed by the followers, as a leader without followers isn’t leading anyone. What is more they often have little technical understanding of the clever stuff that may go on around them, but somehow they have the ability to get the best from people

So I’m not sure whether this “lean leader” is actually “a leader” as such or a good project manager, as a project manager generally gets things done and is held accountable for delivering a specific outcome (although I do note that at least one other contributor feels there is a clear distinction)

Their awakened consciousness is the foundation for the development of a new status quo. Organizational development requires leadership that inspires others to offer more of their discretionary energy to the evolving workplace.

I would like to make an observation because we, as human beings are limited in building “superior systems”; systems that we built are maybe working today, and maybe a few will stand-up until tomorrow. Assessment of our systems’ creation should be performed after extensive time!

Several situations occur in majority cases (similarities):

• Any system requires people who are not 120 % occupied with daily routine; majority have tasks that used to be done during good times by 3-4 people.
• Some other ones, have Lean leaders who manage all relationships plus process changes without much of Senior Management involvement (today’s word for Senior Managers who do not know where they go is “dealing with ambiguity”).
• In some other cases the Organizational Chart (reporting system) is not business conducive.
• Company’s culture issues
• One person responsible for changes who does not have power of authority over processes & people will not be able to complete Lean’s implementation regardless of his/her personality and “good will”.

Conclusion

I guess in conclusion I’d have to say that if the “Lean Leader” is actually “a leader” then he or she is the type of leader that derives at least part of the respect they earn from technical knowledge and ability, which is not always true of other types of leaders.

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Originally posted 2009-04-15 20:45:41.

This simple problem recently puzzled me one night, to the point where I couldn’t sleep. This made me a slave to coffee until I solved it:

How do I overlay two normal curves that have the same mean, but different standard deviations?

For example, I wanted one curve to use the within-subgroup standard deviation and the other curve to be based on the overall standard deviation, as in a Capability Analysis.

Solution
Suppose the mean is 500, the first standard deviation is 0.6, the second standard deviation is 0.57, and C1-C2 are empty.
1. Choose Graph>Probability Distribution Plot>Two Distributions.
2. Under Distribution 1, choose Normal. In Mean, enter 500. In Standard deviation, enter 0.6.
3. Under Distribution 2, choose Normal. In Mean, enter 500. In Standard deviation, enter 0.57. Click OK.

All is revealed in these screenshots:

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Six Sigma is about numbers. Six Sigma produces a flood of data about your process that are critical to your success. If you don’t measure it and understand what you are measuring, you can’t manage it. Six Sigma’s clear strength is a data-driven analysis and decision-making process not someone’s opinion or gut feeling.

The value of statistical analysis cannot be underestimated. Through an analysis of all of that data, you begin to understand your process and develop methodologies to identify and implement the right solutions to improve your process. Statistical evaluation of the data identifies key areas which can have an adverse effect on product quality if not controlled. Once you have identified these key areas you can focus your process improvement efforts.

Given the importance of intelligently handling all of this data, you need to find an efficient and powerful method of crunching the numbers. Naturally, you want to avoid the drudgery of manual calculations and save a whole lot of time by using a statistical software application. You may be tempted to use Excel or another spreadsheet application as a calculator and database to store your statistical process control data. However, you will quickly find out that a basic spreadsheet is too cumbersome to handle the volume and sophistication of the data keeping and analysis you need to perform in a Six Sigma project.

Advanced statistical software such as Minitab, Statgraphics, or Dataplot (free!) are very useful if not essential for gathering, categorizing, evaluating, and analyzing the data collected throughout a Six Sigma project. Both Minitab and Statgraphics are powerful full standalone statistical process control software applications for performing statistical analysis. Both are highly recommended for Six Sigma use as they are tools that can help you utilize one of Six Sigma’s biggest advantages: the ability to make better decisions based upon data.

However in the Six Sigma arena, software is like a crutch. Six Sigma practitioners must realize that numbers don’t represent the total information about an event and statistical software doesn’t solve problems.

I’ve seen practitioners who have mastered Six Sigma statistical software. They know the software inside-out. If you give them some numbers, they spit out a solution in no time while convincing you of the correctness of their solution. These people may actually be dangerous because they can initiate a process change based on software, and produce no gain whatsoever for their company. They can use statistical software to justify anything.

I’ve seen people performing process analysis without even knowing what the process is all about. Statistics is about correlation, while engineering is about causation. Correlation doesn’t mean causation, although causation may lead to stronger correlation. Therefore, Six Sigma practitioners must gain process knowledge before they can interpret a statistical analysis correctly. Besides, statistical software can analyze the data using many techniques and produce an analysis summary that can give a false perception of one’s process expertise.

With a good understanding of the process at hand, practitioners can solve many problems using statistical software. However, if there’s a lack of process knowledge, it’s hard to be sure of what’s going on in the process, or what the statistical analysis is revealing. Process knowledge also expedites statistical analysis, because it allows for Six Sigma experts to know which tool would be effective for performing the desired statistical analysis.

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According to Manufacturing Talk:

Root cause analysis is now becoming well established as a structured method for investigating equipment failure and coming up with a sustainable solution.

One of the main tools I’ve used to establish the root cause of issues is the 8 Disciplines (8D) approach,sometimes also referred to as “Team-Oriented Problem Solving” (TOPS). This approach was developed within Ford Motor Company in the 1980s. As the names imply, the approach involves a cross-functional team following eight guidelines (or steps) that have been designed to enable the team to understand a problem, resolve it and take steps to prevent the same or similar problems from recurring in the future. The approach consists of the following 8 Disciplines (8Ds):

1. Use Team Approach: Establish a small group of people with the knowledge, time, authority and skill to solve the problem and implement corrective actions. The group must select a team leader.
2. Describe the Problem: Describe the problem in measurable terms. Specify the internal or external customer problem by describing it in specific terms.
3. Implement and Verify Short-Term Corrective Actions:
   Define and implement those intermediate actions that will protect the customer from the problem until permanent corrective action is implemented. Verify with data the effectiveness of these actions.
4. Define and Verify Root Causes: Identify all potential causes which could explain why the problem occurred. Test each potential cause against the problem description and data. Identify alternative corrective actions to eliminate root cause.
5. Verify Corrective Actions:
   Confirm that the selected corrective actions will resolve the problem for the customer and will not cause undesirable side effects. Define other actions, if necessary, based on potential severity of problem.
6. Implement Permanent Corrective Actions:
   Define and implement the permanent corrective actions needed. Choose on-going controls to insure the root cause is eliminated. Once in production, monitor the long-term effects and implement additional controls as necessary.
7. Prevent Recurrence: Modify specifications, update training, review work flow, improve practices and procedures to prevent recurrence of this and all similar problems.
8. Congratulate Your Team: Recognize the collective efforts of your team. Publicize your achievement. Share your knowledge and learning.

You can view a flowchart of this process here and can grab a copy of a Global 8D form here.

DMAIC-8D Integration

Opinions vary regarding the feasibility of integrating the DMAIC approach with the 8D methodology. In the book Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods the authors state that:

Tools normally associated with the Six Sigma DMAIC method, for example, Design of Experiments (DOE), could be referenced within the 8D process to help identify and then verify fixes to problems as part of the validation process.

David Hoyle in his book ISO 9000 Quality Systems Handbook suggests that the 8D approach helps to address the measurement, analysis and improvement section of ISO 9001. Whereas Revelle, in the book Manufacturing Handbook of Best Practices: an Innovation, Productivity, and Quality Focus: An Innovation, Productivity, and Quality Focus states that:

8D has not been a major part of management strategy; instead it is controlled closer to the teams.

I personally believe that the 8D approach can be integrated with the DMAIC framework. However as stated above, there has been a lot of discussion on whether this is possible or not. It has been suggested that although quick wins are allowed within the DMAIC methodology, management impatience requires more flexible solutions, depending on the situation. This is where the emergency response actions and interim containment plans detailed in the 8D program would be of benefit.

This graphic explains how the eight stages of the 8D approach and the DMAIC framework could be integrated:

What do you think? Is integration possible? If not, why?

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In this post I’ll be exploring the differences between ISO 9001, Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma, along with how both 9001 and TQM could be combined with the power of Six Sigma.

Six Sigma builds upon many of the successful elements of the previous quality improvement strategies and incorporates unique methods of its own. Compared to other quality management and improvement systems, Six Sigma stands out as a methodology for identifying the causes of specific quality problems and solving those problems. Six Sigma can often be used to complement other quality management or improvement systems.

Indeed this paper suggests that Six Sigma should be integrated with established quality concepts whereby quality management systems are the most disseminated approaches. However, it notes that,

“… The challenge is to combine conveniently aspects of both approaches to reach a maximum benefit through a targeted application …”

ISO 9001 objectives

ISO 9001 is a Quality Management System, which includes specialized quality management standards for specific industries. A Quality Management System is a system of clearly defined organizational structures, processes, responsibilities and resources used to assure minimum standards of quality and can be used to evaluate an organizations overall quality management efforts. An ISO 9001 certification assures a company’s customers that minimum acceptable systems and procedures are in place in the company to guarantee that minimum quality standards can be met.

Comparison with Six Sigma

ISO 9001 and Six Sigma serve two different purposes. ISO 9001 is a quality management system while Six Sigma is a strategy and methodology for business performance improvement.

ISO 9001, with guidelines for problem solving and decision making, requires a continuous improvement process in place but does not indicate what the process should look like while Six Sigma can provide the needed improvement process. Meanwhile, Six Sigma does not provide a template for evaluating an organization’s overall quality management efforts whereas ISO9001 does.

Combining Six Sigma with ISO

Six Sigma provides a methodology for delivering certain objectives set by ISO such as:

1. prevention of defects at all stages from design through servicing;
2. statistical techniques required for establishing, controlling and verifying process capability and product characterization;
3. investigation of the cause of defects relating to product, process and quality system;
4. continuous improvement of the quality of products and services.

Six Sigma supports ISO and helps an organization satisfying the ISO requirements. Further, ISO is an excellent vehicle for documenting and maintaining the process management system involving Six Sigma. Besides, extensive training is required by both systems for successful deployment.

TQM objectives

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a structured system for satisfying internal and external customers and suppliers by integrating the business environment, continuous improvement, and breakthroughs with development, improvement, and maintenance cycles while changing organizational culture. TQM aims for quality principles to be applied broadly throughout an organization or set of business processes. In the book, What Is Six Sigma? Pande and Holpp state,

“… In the 1980s, Total Quality Management (TQM) was popular. It too was an improvement-focused program, but it ultimately died a slow and silent death in many companies. …”

Why? Well, in the book The Six Sigma Handbook Pyzdek states,

“… In many TQM programs of the past people were unable to point to specific bottom-line benefits, so interest gradually waned …”

So how does TQM compare with Six Sigma?

Comparison with Six Sigma

TQM and Six Sigma have a number of similarities including the following:

1. A customer orientation and focus
2. A process view of work
3. A continuous improvement mindset
4. A goal of improving all aspects and functions of the organizations
5. Data-based decision making
6. Benefits depend highly on effective implementation

A key difference between TQM and Six Sigma is that Six Sigma focuses on prioritizing and solving specific problems which are selected based on the strategic priorities of the company and the problems which are causing the most defects whereas TQM employs a more broad based application of quality measures to all of the company’s business processes.

Another difference is that TQM tends to apply quality initiatives within specific departments whereas Six Sigma is cross functional meaning that in penetrates every department which is involved in a particular business process that is subject to a Six Sigma project.

TQM also provides less methodology in terms of the deployment process whereas Six Sigma’s DMAIC framework provides a stronger platform for deployment and execution. For example, Six Sigma has a much stronger focus on measurement and statistics which helps the company define and achieve specific objectives.

Combining TQM with Six Sigma

Six Sigma is complementary to TQM because it can help to prioritize issues within a broader TQM program and provides the DMAIC framework which can be used to meet TQM objectives.

Is your quality system integrated with Six Sigma or do you apply the principles of TQM in a Six Sigma environment? What have been your experiences? Leave a comment below.

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