DailyKaizen

I have spent the last couple weeks immersing myself into our companies strategic planning process with the purpose of developing a transition strategy.  We are at a milestone for the organization where we will begin to shift from a management by objective system to a management by policy system (hoshin).  This first couple of years will be very difficult, because the changes in behaviors and thinking are so large.   Working with leadership teams we are often asked to describe how the new system will be different.  I find this question difficult to answer, because on paper the steps are the same, the difference is in how each step is performed and the behaviors required.   It is hard to explain leadership standard work to a team that has never experienced putting it in place.   So often our answers basically translate into “you will have to trust us and the process”.  As a consultancy we have enough experience now to know that we need to break the process into small steps and help a team get the experience and training through the work until they become more confident.  Soon enough we will be getting out of their way.

What is remarkable to me is how excited almost every leader is for taking on the challenges of putting this new system in place given the change that is required of them.  I believe this is mainly the result of the excitement our Lean efforts have created across the organization by engaging staff and leaders at all levels in improvement.  There is growing buzz across the organization as more and more teams engage in kaizen.  Leadership has thrived off this excitement, but they also recognize that without aligning efforts from the top down through the organization we will not sustain this engagement.  Thus, Hoshin is the logical next step.  In that spirit I chose the following quote:

“One premise of hoshin is that people who are charged with executing a plan should participate in the planning process itself…The benefit of such activity comes from the fundamental belief that people want to do what they believe is right.  Unless they participate in the broader dialogue of the company, they will not know what is right and will tend to sub-optimize, or do what is right according to the perspective of their own”egocentirc” process.”  –Akao

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