by Lee Fried, on 27 Feb 2008 10:12 pm
The Journey
The Foundation of Standard Work
Yesterday was a great day. Not only did I get a chance to host a webinar with two of my favorite people in the world, which Ted described in the last post, but I also got a chance to visit the Model Line area to see their progress since I had transitioned out. As I walked the floor of the Model Line stopping to talk with all the folks I had worked so hard with over the last year I was energized. It made all of the hard and stressful days worth while. It really has become a different culture and the progress is so impressive. The knowledge had deepened so quickly across all of the teams.
Standing in the gemba I replayed in my head many of the questions asked by the audience during the webinar. Everyone in the audience worked in the healthcare industry and many of whom are just getting started or interested in Lean. During the webinar I described the strategy behind the Model Line and I spent a lot of time talking about our focus on standard work to build a stable foundation. When we began the process we knew it was important, but I don’t think we grasped just how important. For several years we had been applying Lean tools and principles through rapid improvement events, but we had never been able to integrate them into our management system. Nor had we figured out how to integrate Lean thinking and behaviors into our daily work.
With the focus on standardizing all processes, including the process of management in the Model Line we had unlocked a powerful force. If applied correctly standard work gives teams the foundation for innovation and improvement. It makes visible the opportunities and it quickly separates facts from ideas. It breaks down barriers between teams by encouraging sharing. It provides a common language and method for improvement. And finally, it allows you to apply all of the other Lean tools and principles in a way that can be measured, sustained and the effect understood.
So to all of you that listened to the webinar and are now here reading this post the best advice I can give you is to focus your Lean efforts early on in implementing standard work. Study the TWI methodology and read about the Daily Management system in the Total Quality Management literature. You don’t need to worry about all of the other Lean tools to start with, those can come later. Invest in putting the stable foundation in first.
on 28 Feb 2008 at 1:03 am 1.Matt Handley said …
Lee
As we have witnessed and participated in the evolution of Lean thinking (and acting) in our organization I think that we all share the perspective on the importance of standard work - the challenge is how to shorten the path from the start of the journey to the recognition and commitment to standard work. As an early proponent I recall with great clarity the challenge of starting our Lean work without an adequate foundation in place. As the driving force for the first and most visible “flame-out” in our early efforts to sponsor lean throughout the organization I welcome thoughts on how to get there faster.
Two cautionary tales:
First, I drove the organization to sponsor an RPIW on the final hardest aspect of the work (as one of our first forays into lean) - expanding the capacity of the organization to adopt and spread innovation. That work, ahead of our foundational work with our leadership group to understand lean - failed dramatically. It demonstrated the “black hole” effect - when there is language from the highest level of the organization about encouraging lean, and empowerment of front line leadership through an RPIW - but without the necessary understanding about the implications of lean in an organizational culture focused on management by objective. All my errors,and ones that didn’t set us back tooooo far - but an important stumble. We have since learned that without leadership understanding that there is more to lean than the toolbox we will not be very effective.
Second - standard work is many things to many people early on in the discovery of lean as a management system, and even now still often offered up as a panacea for what ails the organization. I myself regularly fall into the trap of defining a solution to most problems as standard work for the clinical teams whose performance we are trying to improve. While I am confident that standard work is the rising tide that lifts all boats, I am more sanguine about the length of the journey to bring both leadership and front line teams to this resolution. Pragmatically, standard work does not exist if there is not a management system to support it.
We are likely in agreement on all points (with your having witnessed one of my failed attempts), but I think it is important at all points to call out the importance of preparation and alignment of leadership in moving the work forward.
Matt
on 28 Feb 2008 at 7:29 am 2.Ted Eytan said …
Matt,
Thanks for adding your experience in your role as “Ted’s great boss.” We didn’t anticipate that sharing the journey at our level would stimulate our leaders to do the same with us. I think we (I) are still looking over our shoulders a bit as we write about what we’re seeing, given the opaqueness of our industry. The participation in this space is an important milestone. I hope this sets an example for others - bring your great bosses online with you!
Lee,
Just when I think I have a reasonable knowledge base, I find that I need to learn a little bit more based on your experience.
Back to the books, and thanks again, both of you,
Ted
on 28 Feb 2008 at 11:17 pm 3.Lee Fried said …
Hi Matt and Ted,
Thanks for the comments. Matt I agree 100% to all your comments. First, while the RPIW that you sponsored may have set us back in the short-term I think it was a key learning point for all of us. Being the consultant on that work I learned a lot that I have incorporated into my work moving forward as did many others. Sometimes mistakes open up doors of opportunity that would not have opened otherwise.
In terms of your comments on standard work and a management system, I believe that they are very much related and dependent. When we started in the Model Line we had as many management systems as we had managers. We also realized that we could not ask others to create standard work unless the leaders did so as well. Thus the standardization of management processes in alignment with Lean principles became much of the focus of the work as well as the driver of results.
I do agree very much that we need to be careful in making standard work a silver bullet. Putting it in place takes dicipline, hard work and a whole lot of good leadership. Especially when it is leaders standardizing their own processes.
Thanks for the comments! I love the fact that we can have this exchange in public. I look forward to more in the future.
Take care,
Lee
on 17 Mar 2008 at 2:23 pm 4.Bryan Lund said …
Hi Ted,
I missed the seminar. Do you have a link to it? Thanks for the link to the TWI Service!
Bryan Lund