by Lee Fried, on 06 Jan 2008 05:57 pm
The Journey
“Use our minds first, not our money”
This is a norm we often set during our Lean training and improvement events to get people to break away from the paradigm that improvement always has a price tag. I have learned over the last couple years just how important it is to set and hold to this norm. It is always surprising to me how strong the mindset is in American culture that there is a cost to every change or improvement. How often have you heard ‘If we only had more money or resources we could improve?” This is a dangerous thinking grown out of complacency and entitlement. I am always impressed by the rare companies like Toyota that have integrated this norm into their cultures. I grew up working in family run, small businesses that also practiced this way of working, simply because we have no other choice, there was no extra money. Scarcity teaches enginuity.
I have been involved in countless planning conversations and brainstorms, at various organizations where every idea for improvement has an associated cost. Just this last week I talked with a group of managers about a major problem in their area of responsibility. They had themselves convinced that the purchase of one of several new technologies (for a lot of money each) was the only possible way to solve the problem. I got a dazed look back from them when I asked if they had explored any options (like simplifying their process) that did not require a large, upfront, investment. While I left the conversation frustrated, I can’t not afford to in the future. I need to help these managers and many others learn how to see waste in their processes and the opportunities that are available to them for no cost, but their time and thinking.
In Healthcare, as well as most industries in this country the luxury of throwing money at problems is not longer viable. Resources are becoming less and less available. Most companies are responding by adding cost controls. Just pick up the newspaper and their are countless examples all over the business page. These may be necessary, but not sufficient steps. More importantly, organizations need to teach people how to do more with less and put incentives in place that lead people to take the right actions. A challenge that we will all be working to solve moving forward…
2 Responses to ““Use our minds first, not our money””
on 08 Jan 2008 at 6:45 am 1.Ted Eytan said …
I like this expression, a lot, Lee, because it doesn’t disrespect the idea of asking for money, and respects people’s brainpower, all at the same time.
I notice that sometimes when these conversations come up, people have become distanced from the impact to the customer.
What I do is bring that back in. For a hypothetical technology that costs $1 million for example, I will say, “Do you think from our members’ perspective that they are willing to add $2 per person to their health care premium to purchase this?” It definitely helps me “Ask why.”
on 09 Jan 2008 at 9:06 am 2.Mark Graban said …
I love that phrase, your title, as it has a nice ring than “creativity before capital” which is the phrase I’ve most often heard.
I also like how you, apparently in a constructive way, challenged people and asked what alternatives they considered. That’s a classic Toyota approach, as I’ve seen taught by John Shook. You never just accept an answer, you probe and ask “why did you choose that solution?” or “what alternatives did you consider?”
A very powerful approach, as long as it is done with “Respect for people” in mind.