Lean Blog

Well Mike, you've got quite a challenge and I wish...

2008-07-24T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well Mike, you've got quite a challenge and I wish you the best of luck on it. Partially to my point, you're not in the middle of the succession planning, you're at the end of it, because the need is already evident. The beginning and the middle happen long before the need is recognized. We either manage that time period or we don't. It sounds like your firm did not and now you're paying the price for it. It's a tough situation and I hope you get through it as well as possible. Thank you for sharing.

"Does this speak more poorly about the salesman or...

2008-07-24T16:05:00.000-05:00

"Does this speak more poorly about the salesman or the buyer?"...well, it speaks very poorly for the buyers, if these executives indeed made the software decisions without properly involving their own manufacturing people and other functional experts. And if they *had* involved their own experts, I'd think that any lack of real knowledge on the part of the salesman would have become quickly apparent.

Also, software companies usually have overlay sales support organizations, such that if the prospect is looking for, say, a shop scheduling system for the aerospace industry, the salesman can bring along a shop scheduling expert and/or an aerospace expert. I wonder if this structure existed at Kuta's company.

My brother may very well be the first lean hospita...

2008-07-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

My brother may very well be the first lean hospital architect. ;)
He recently began a personal lean journey that's effected mostly his approach to doing his design work:
-Standardized template approach to drawings
-Checklists for processes and procedures, including meetings with his customers, the users of the space.
I don't know how much it effects *what* he designs, but lean has resonated with him because his goal as an architect has always been to make spaces that meet the users needs. Often times in renovating a lab or surgical space you are tearing down an old process, understanding the value added steps and building an equipment layout that is optimized to the optimum process.
I'll be sure to get his opinion on on-stage off-stage.

Our company is in the middle of succession plannin...

2008-07-24T12:29:00.000-05:00

Our company is in the middle of succession planning, as a large amount of experience, both in office and manufacturing, is about to retire. In my opinion, we have not done an acceptable job of preparing for the retirements/loss of knowledge. I've been contemplating how to send Jamie's post to the necessary leaders without drawing critism.

I did, however, send it to some leaders in our organization not directly involved...hoping they might see fit to forward it to the necessary people.

It could be that "lean" will be the new buzzword f...

2008-07-24T07:58:00.000-05:00

It could be that "lean" will be the new buzzword for anything and everything in healthcare. I blame you, Mark!! :-)

I think the service corridor is a great concept, b...

2008-07-24T07:54:00.000-05:00

I think the service corridor is a great concept, but often requires new construction to make it happen. Going through a typical hospital main cooridor, it's not fun to dodge powered vehicles pulling carts with food trays or maintenance carts... it's not fun as a working visitor to the hospital, it sure couldn't be fun if you were using a walker and a truck came racing around the corner (ignoring the "standardized work" of slowing down or stopping, or using the mirrors up above the cooridor intersection.

In another instance, I know of a hospital that designed a U-shaped set of emergency department bays. The rooms were accessed by staff and patients from the inside of the U (with a nurses' station in the middle). Supply restocking and other activities took place in a hallway around the outside of the U. The E.D. rooms could be restocked from the back, by people who never entered the E.D. room or interfered with patient care (loading supplies from the back, the way milk is loaded at the supermarket).

Delaying completion or "partial completion" is a s...

2008-07-24T07:48:00.000-05:00

Delaying completion or "partial completion" is a slippery slope. On a recent vacation trip to Cairo Egypt, one of the most visible things (other than the pyramids) was all the partially completed apartment buildings. In addition to funding problems and overly ambitious construction plans, the building owner starts to pay property tax on the completion of a building, go guess what? ... The government recently changed the tax code to to start taxes three years after electricity is first hooked up if the building is not completed by then. The grandfathered buildings will start paying taxes 15 years after construction was started.

On the positive side, I received a newsletter in the mail from St. John Health System about their new hospital near Novi Michigan. They boast of technology and process advances that will allow the patient to stay in the same room even if their condition changes. Another feature the have adopted from Disney is the "on-stage" / "off-stage" concept, with dual corridors, so that the deliveries and all the things they don't want the patients and visitors to see is in the service corridor (is this a good thing?).

I tried to find the information online but I could not come across it quickly.

Costco has a similar understand that they can't fo...

2008-07-24T07:27:00.000-05:00

Costco has a similar understand that they can't force prices on customers, from today's WSJ:

Discount chain Costco Wholesale Corp., one of a handful of big chains that had been thriving amid the consumer-spending slowdown, delivered a surprise profit warning Wednesday, saying that its costs for merchandise were rising faster than it could pass along price increases to consumers. The news drove down Costco stock almost 12% and depressed shares of other discounters, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp.

"Retailers don't have a lot of pricing power," says Love Goel, chairman of Growth Ventures Group, a private-equity firm that invests in retail businesses.

Thank you for your comments Tony and Mark. It is m...

2008-07-24T06:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your comments Tony and Mark. It is more complex in a larger organizations, but the two advantages you have are volume (you might lose a few people, but if you have 100 to choose from that's still pretty good odds) and the resources to manage and develop the succession value stream where most family-owned businesses do not.

I also do not like "human capital" any more than I like "people are our greatest asset." People are not assets. They are partners. They are not owned, they make a choice to be there. We put assets on the financial books so we know the liquidation value if things go badly. You can't sell your people in a firesale. Assets depreciate. We certainly hope that our people do not (although too many do by their own accord). Enough of that soapbox.

Regarding your question about GE, I do not know if they have mapped their value stream, although I think they probably understand it that way. Many people have built such efforts - they have mapped HR processes, developed scoreboards right down to the first-pass yield of the hiring process. Yes, there are many intangibles but that doesn't mean we still shouldn't understand the process in a concrete and measurable way.

Does anyone have a case study that they would like to share with Tony?

I like the way you are thinking, as every organiza...

2008-07-23T17:02:00.000-05:00

I like the way you are thinking, as every organization certainly should be considering succession planning along with it's business strategy if it wants to survive. However, I am afraid that it is far more difficult to contemplate and design a succession approach in larger organizations than in the family-run and small businesses that you mention. Some larger organizations have started calling this a Human Capital Strategy or words of similar import. I personally don't like the "human capital" sound, but there is a growing industry acceptance of the term and a number of resources can be found to help flesh out such a plan.

I am a novice at lean, and don't know that much about value stream mapping. Do you know whether GE has documented their HR systems and processes in a Lean manner? Or has any other company done so who might be willing to share?

It seems to me that much of HR can NOT be measured, even though we seem to be rushing headlong towards universal pay-for-performance systems and other metrics of learning and development. Most of this is really is intangible and not represented in standard processes. How do value streams represent intangibles?

For further thoughts on intangibles, please take a look at http://valuenetworks.com/public/blog/207585

Great practical example to get people to "stick wi...

2008-07-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

Great practical example to get people to "stick with it." Thanks for the insight.

Reminds me of this look at "Overcoming the Improvement Paradox" found here:

http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/EMJPaper.pdf

The book Toyota Culture describes something like a...

2008-07-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

The book Toyota Culture describes something like a people development value stream. It seems that Toyota views it that way.

I would love to hear people's comments on this. Ho...

2008-07-23T06:59:00.000-05:00

I would love to hear people's comments on this. How is succession planning done at your organization? Is it treated like an event or a value stream? Please share your ideas.

The FAA is denying the rumor...LINK

2008-07-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

The FAA is denying the rumor...

LINK

Mark, please please please do more posts about the...

2008-07-22T15:29:00.000-05:00

Mark, please please please do more posts about the FAA so you can attract more crackpot comments from this guy. He cracks me up.

Law Office of John J. Tormey III, Esq.John J. Torm...

2008-07-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

Law Office of John J. Tormey III, Esq.
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
217 East 86th Street, PMB 221
New York, NY 10028 USA
(212) 410-4142 (phone)
(212) 410-2380 (fax)
e-mail: brightline@att.net

NEWSFLASH! - FAA’S BOBBY STURGELL QUITS!

A copy of this message complete with accompanying photographs, is posted at:
http://ejectsturgell.blogspot.com
http://removesturgell.blogspot.com
http://indictsturgell.blogspot.com
http://SouthwestAirlinesAlmostKilledYou.blogspot.com

The celebratory song by “aerononymous” entitled “Top Gun, He’s Done” is found in click-able mp3 format, at:
http://www.TheHappyHarbor.com

FAA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR “BOBBY” STURGELL EJECTS FROM HIS JOB IN DISGRACE

It’s now confirmed. According to a reliable source from a position high-up in the aviation community, one Robert Allan (“Bobby”) Sturgell recently verbally shared with at least two colleagues the following:

(1) Sturgell has ALREADY given notice that he will be leaving his FAA post as Acting Administrator, by, or in, November 2008; and

(2) Current FAA “Assistant Administrator For Regions And Center Operations” Ruth Leverenz will be “Acting” in Sturgell’s absence – (which quizzically therefore will make her the “Acting, Acting” Administrator!).

This story was scooped by Quiet Rockland, and first broke Friday, July 18, 2008. As of the date and time of this publication, virtually no other news outlets or bloggers have picked it up - but they all eventually will. (Sure – Now!).

The only media that are sure to NOT pick up the story at end of day, are the many aviation websites bought and paid-for by the airline industry, thereby inclined to further cover-up for the many failures of “Bobby” Sturgell’s awful FAA tenure and regime.

Sturgell’s shamed flight from his job, is corroborated by the 2 recent near-misses at JFK airport; FAA payment of US$100,000 bonuses to every Beavis and Butthead who is willing to say “I Was A Teen-Age Air Traffic Controller”; and most noticeably, Sturgell’s apparent recent absence at key FAA events. For example, it is reported that in a recent press conference regarding FAA-claimed safety-related changes to exploding fuel tanks, John Hickey (FAA Aircraft Certification Service, Director, AIR-1) spoke for FAA, with apparently no sign of Bobby Sturgell present. Similarly, it is reported that the July 17, 2008 NY/NJ/PHL Airspace Redesign meeting in D.C. was headed by FAA COO Hank Krakowski, and not by Bobby Sturgell.

While we used to ask, “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” - we can now ask “Where in the world is Bobby Sturgell?”.

The answer? – probably pounding the pavement handing out his résumé and doing that at which he is best - being an aeromercantile sycophant.

Goodbye, Bobby.

And oh yeah – by the way. Who’s “Top Gun” now?

Postscript:

I love how a blog just went up this early morning, July 21, 2008, on the ‘charterX’ website, wherein FAA spokeswoman “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” Adams perpetuated the predictable-enough FAA lie to the media. She denied that Sturgell gave his departure notice [when in fact Sturgell DID already give notice] - and then Marcia pretended not to recognize either my name, or Quiet Rockland’s name.

That’s Big and Rich! Marcia’s the FAA’s new comedienne - just like Ruth Buzzi Leverenz. I’m going to have fun with both of them.

I have the written statements from multiple persons supporting the fact that Sturgell gave notice and identified Leverenz as his successor, physically in front of me as I type this document. The information I have came directly from the persons to whom Bobby The Sturg-Eel spoke.

Bring it on, FAA.

Many American health systems are significantly und...

2008-07-22T10:40:00.000-05:00

Many American health systems are significantly underinvested in quality management Infrastructure, Process, and Organization. In order to achieve breakthrough quality improvements, health systems must develop a "world class" quality management foundation that includes:

Strategy: including a clear linkage of quality and patient safety to the organizational strategy and a Board-driven imperative to achieve quality goals.

Infrastructure: incorporating effective quality management technology, EMR and physician order entry, evidence based care development tools and methodologies, and quality performance metrics and monitoring technology that enables "real time" information.

Process: including concurrent intervention, the ability to identify key quality performance "gaps," and performance improvement tools and methodologies like Lean to effectively eliminate quality issues.

Organization: providing sufficient number and quality of human resources to deliver quality planning and management leadership, adequate informatics management, effective evidence based care and physician order set development, performance improvement activity, and accredition planning to stay "survey ready every day."

Culture: where a passion for quality and patient safety is embedded throughout the delivery system and leaders are incented to achieve aggressive quality improvement goals.

My firm has assisted a number of progressive health systems to achieve such a foundation, and to develop truly World Class Quality.

Wow, Mark... I am VERY impressed with you. In all...

2008-07-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

Wow, Mark... I am VERY impressed with you. In all my travels to the UK I have never driven and don't ever plan to.

Also, I love the word game and plan to use it going forward. Great stuff.

Be safe my friend, and let's do that dang video sometime in the coming month!

Cheers, mate.

This seems to me to be very basic management stuff...

2008-07-21T21:03:00.000-05:00

This seems to me to be very basic management stuff. What *should* have happened is (a)the GE Money sales organization should have complained that this process was taking too long, (b)the person at the general managment level should have paid attention to the complaint, and (c)asked someone to take a look at the process, after which the process should have been redesigned to fix the problem.

In the spirit of "ask why N times," Gary Reiner should investigate why this wasn't done much earlier. For instance, did sales complain and get ignored? Did the problem get identified but did IT refuse to do the work required to fix it? Dealing with issues such as these would likely do more good than fixing a particular broken process.

I also wonder if the earlier focus on Six Sigma was so intense that people were so busy supporting that top-down initiative that they didn't have time to address certain issues actually critical to their business.

Hey Andrew - I did notice the book is on amazon.co...

2008-07-21T18:16:00.000-05:00

Hey Andrew - I did notice the book is on amazon.co.uk. I'll autograph your copy next time I'm over there.

Been exchanging messages with Seddon's assistant, hoping to meet up or at least do a podcast sometime.

David - I think "Reengineering" was 1993. So 15 ye...

2008-07-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

David - I think "Reengineering" was 1993. So 15 years.

I know, "waste" seems so obvious except to those who don't see it. Right or wrong, the Lean approach *does* help people see waste and delay... driving them to improve value streams instead of functions.

Should GE have realized this earlier? Maybe, but isn't that the case of anyone implementing anything?

Or do you hold GE to a higher standard because of their size, reputation, and the collection of brainpower they have?

"it was taking 63 days from when a retailer contac...

2008-07-21T18:05:00.000-05:00

"it was taking 63 days from when a retailer contacted us saying it wanted to consider using us as a private-label financier until it could conduct the first transaction with our financing. No one had calculated this before we went on this journey"...well, I would say that's fairly pathetic. When did Mike Hammer (in his book on reengineering) first suggest the mantra "staple yourself to an invoice" (or whatever document or action--so you can see how it flows across various parts of the organization and how cycle time can be taken out)--1986? Why did GE Money management have to wait for a new corporate religion in order to do a process flow map on an obviously important transaction type?

As a GE shareholder, this does not make me happy.

You starting your international book tour any time...

2008-07-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

You starting your international book tour any time soon?

:)

Good job. Did you get a chance to arrange a meeting with John Seddon whilst you are here?

You are #13 under "healthcare administration books...

2008-07-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

You are #13 under "healthcare administration books" on amazon - way to go!

We had an interview with Professor Monden who is t...

2008-07-20T08:22:00.000-05:00

We had an interview with Professor Monden who is the author of Toyota Production System. He is a professor of Mejiro University in Japan still working on Toyota Production System.

http://www.lean-manufacturing-japan.com/interviews/toyota_production_system.html