DailyKaizen

In a silo-ed and function driven organization managers tend to think about problems and solutions through a vertical view of the world.   Anyone in healthcare should know exactly what I mean, because I have not been to a healthcare organization that does not fit this profile.  This view introduces all kinds of problems that I could spend months of blog postings talking about.  At the forefront of my mind right now are the challenges this view brings to an organization that is working hard to solve very large and important problems with high stakes if the results don’t follow.  More specifically, with a vertical view you tend to try and solve symptoms of the problem.   Rather then understanding the cause and effect thinking that comes with the process view of the world leaders tend to jump to the solution, which very often involves changing structure first. 

Recently myself and my colleagues are working very hard with leaders throughout our organization to teach them to see and think process.  It we want to lead the organization toward improved results we need to change the thinking first.  One of the most important ways to change this thinking is through a process view.  It is often funny to watch the look on people’s face when we introduce the concept that “everything is a process.”  Yet, once leaders begin to see and think process it can be enlightening to them.  What seems simple can be very powerful.  A process view leads to not only a much better understanding of where the root causes are, but it also allows them to see a different set of means to test and solve for them.  Additionally, process thinking allows the members (customer) voice to be easily translated into everyone’s work.  Which brings meaning to the mundane and allows staff to rally around a cause far more important then doing the job.  A big challenge will be how quickly we can teach the organization to adopt this new and improved view of the world!

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