Projects do not define a lean company
No organization can become lean just from running lean projects and events. One organization did over 14,000 lean projects and still failed as a company, because they relied entirely on those events. Some of the problems include:
- If the methods, tools, and behaviors are not consistent with lean, project results will have a half-life. The old mindsets eventually recreate the old process.
- People become depending on projects, holding off on improvements waiting for the next project to move forward.
- Projects require resources, momentum, and energy. Most improvements can be accomplished with much less effort than a project requires, and much more will get done when we focus beyond projects.
- Projects are easier to kill. Because there are so many “good” excuses, from now isn’t the right time to so-and-so isn’t on-board, it is easy once something has a name and a charter to put that on a shelf. Smaller improvements are harder to kill because they aren’t as visible.
Our focus coming out of projects is that we ensure both sustainability of the changes made and continuous improvement beyond the changes made. Although these aren’t activities, this checklist can help you choose the appropriate activities required.
1. How will breakdowns or deteriorations in the new process changes be surfaced and correct?
2. Is there process governance in place with clear roles and responsibility?
3. Is there a common vision of what perfection looks like within those using the improved process?
4. Is there mechanisms in place to surface and manage improvements?
5. Is there a reflection process in place to help individuals carry lessons from projects into daily improvements?
Projects alone do not make a lean company.
Amen. Hospitals are also going through this learning cycle – how can they shift from just doing projects to really changing their management system and culture. How do they make lean a matter of daily practice, not a bunch of discontinuous and disconnected “continuous improvement” events.
Amen. Hospitals are also going through this learning cycle – how can they shift from just doing projects to really changing their management system and culture. How do they make lean a matter of daily practice, not a bunch of discontinuous and disconnected “continuous improvement” events.
Amen. Hospitals are also going through this learning cycle – how can they shift from just doing projects to really changing their management system and culture. How do they make lean a matter of daily practice, not a bunch of discontinuous and disconnected “continuous improvement” events.
Another great Flinchbaugh post!
And not only are there the issues you highlight above, but also the more fundamental questions:
1) Out-of-band improvement initiatives (aka improvement projects) suffer from all the afflictions you mention here. Much better to move to an in-band improvement philosophy , with the people doing the work improving the way their work works on a continuous basis.
2) Projects as a concept are just so non-Lean. Single-piece continuous flow (often the Lean acme) of e.g. improvements, and projects in general, rarely mix well.
– Bob
http://twitter.com/flowchainsensei
Another great Flinchbaugh post!
And not only are there the issues you highlight above, but also the more fundamental questions:
1) Out-of-band improvement initiatives (aka improvement projects) suffer from all the afflictions you mention here. Much better to move to an in-band improvement philosophy , with the people doing the work improving the way their work works on a continuous basis.
2) Projects as a concept are just so non-Lean. Single-piece continuous flow (often the Lean acme) of e.g. improvements, and projects in general, rarely mix well.
– Bob
http://twitter.com/flowchainsensei
Another great Flinchbaugh post!
And not only are there the issues you highlight above, but also the more fundamental questions:
1) Out-of-band improvement initiatives (aka improvement projects) suffer from all the afflictions you mention here. Much better to move to an in-band improvement philosophy , with the people doing the work improving the way their work works on a continuous basis.
2) Projects as a concept are just so non-Lean. Single-piece continuous flow (often the Lean acme) of e.g. improvements, and projects in general, rarely mix well.
– Bob
http://twitter.com/flowchainsensei
As a recovering eventaholic I couldn’t agree more with you, Jamie. Although events and projects will always have a certain place, and it’s good to consider them as options when appropriate, the mindsets as a result of them certainly exist. This only further confirms my belief in the need for culture change and daily, small improvement.
As a recovering eventaholic I couldn’t agree more with you, Jamie. Although events and projects will always have a certain place, and it’s good to consider them as options when appropriate, the mindsets as a result of them certainly exist. This only further confirms my belief in the need for culture change and daily, small improvement.
As a recovering eventaholic I couldn’t agree more with you, Jamie. Although events and projects will always have a certain place, and it’s good to consider them as options when appropriate, the mindsets as a result of them certainly exist. This only further confirms my belief in the need for culture change and daily, small improvement.
Haha–“recovering eventaholic.”
I’m a project manager by trade, yet I have to agree with you all. Event-based Lean alone can not be sustained in the long-term. I learned that one the hard way from personal experience.
That being said, I do see an opportunity to make better use of project management in our Lean initiatives. Traditional project management relies too much on top-down push scheduling and large batches of project planning. Conversely, agile/lean project management utilizes pull scheduling, and much smaller and more frequent bursts of project planning. Agile project management techniques, like Scrum or Last Planner, provide a pretty decent mechanism for managing continuous improvement activities.
Yes, there will still be batching of CI activities into events, which is by itself unsustainable. But, the batches will be smaller and the activities will be more correlated to current operational needs.
Haha–“recovering eventaholic.”
I’m a project manager by trade, yet I have to agree with you all. Event-based Lean alone can not be sustained in the long-term. I learned that one the hard way from personal experience.
That being said, I do see an opportunity to make better use of project management in our Lean initiatives. Traditional project management relies too much on top-down push scheduling and large batches of project planning. Conversely, agile/lean project management utilizes pull scheduling, and much smaller and more frequent bursts of project planning. Agile project management techniques, like Scrum or Last Planner, provide a pretty decent mechanism for managing continuous improvement activities.
Yes, there will still be batching of CI activities into events, which is by itself unsustainable. But, the batches will be smaller and the activities will be more correlated to current operational needs.
Haha–“recovering eventaholic.”
I’m a project manager by trade, yet I have to agree with you all. Event-based Lean alone can not be sustained in the long-term. I learned that one the hard way from personal experience.
That being said, I do see an opportunity to make better use of project management in our Lean initiatives. Traditional project management relies too much on top-down push scheduling and large batches of project planning. Conversely, agile/lean project management utilizes pull scheduling, and much smaller and more frequent bursts of project planning. Agile project management techniques, like Scrum or Last Planner, provide a pretty decent mechanism for managing continuous improvement activities.
Yes, there will still be batching of CI activities into events, which is by itself unsustainable. But, the batches will be smaller and the activities will be more correlated to current operational needs.
I’ll add my comment to Mark’s: hospitals seem to be following the same path that manufacturing did, often influenced by either the industry around them or industry transplants who, for one reason or another, have jumped over into healthcare. We really need to steer them down the right path; communicating it is the key. Even the examples we “hold out” for success in healthcare (Virginia Mason et al) have tried the “counting projects + (ahem) savings” pathway. Those who hear their story are imitating. I double-dog dare someone to go visit those places with real eyes to see and check for sustainability…
I’ll add my comment to Mark’s: hospitals seem to be following the same path that manufacturing did, often influenced by either the industry around them or industry transplants who, for one reason or another, have jumped over into healthcare. We really need to steer them down the right path; communicating it is the key. Even the examples we “hold out” for success in healthcare (Virginia Mason et al) have tried the “counting projects + (ahem) savings” pathway. Those who hear their story are imitating. I double-dog dare someone to go visit those places with real eyes to see and check for sustainability…
I’ll add my comment to Mark’s: hospitals seem to be following the same path that manufacturing did, often influenced by either the industry around them or industry transplants who, for one reason or another, have jumped over into healthcare. We really need to steer them down the right path; communicating it is the key. Even the examples we “hold out” for success in healthcare (Virginia Mason et al) have tried the “counting projects + (ahem) savings” pathway. Those who hear their story are imitating. I double-dog dare someone to go visit those places with real eyes to see and check for sustainability…
Not to dump on Virginia Mason, as lean does seem to be fully integrated into their organizational strategy and culture, from the CEO on down. They have published a paper that says their sustainment rate on kaizen events was only 40%. This isn’t a problem just for VMMC. Other hospitals have had to go and “do over” many events. It’s waste if the kaizen event doesn’t lead to culture change and sustainable results.
I’m not a huge fan of kaizen events as THE lean strategy. I’m not a “Kaizen Kowboy” personally, as some would call them.
I’ve only seen the VMMC gemba once, for 1/2 a day. I have no claim to inside information about them.
You’re right that we DO need to teach hospitals so they can learn from the mistakes made in other industries.
Not to dump on Virginia Mason, as lean does seem to be fully integrated into their organizational strategy and culture, from the CEO on down. They have published a paper that says their sustainment rate on kaizen events was only 40%. This isn’t a problem just for VMMC. Other hospitals have had to go and “do over” many events. It’s waste if the kaizen event doesn’t lead to culture change and sustainable results.
I’m not a huge fan of kaizen events as THE lean strategy. I’m not a “Kaizen Kowboy” personally, as some would call them.
I’ve only seen the VMMC gemba once, for 1/2 a day. I have no claim to inside information about them.
You’re right that we DO need to teach hospitals so they can learn from the mistakes made in other industries.
Not to dump on Virginia Mason, as lean does seem to be fully integrated into their organizational strategy and culture, from the CEO on down. They have published a paper that says their sustainment rate on kaizen events was only 40%. This isn’t a problem just for VMMC. Other hospitals have had to go and “do over” many events. It’s waste if the kaizen event doesn’t lead to culture change and sustainable results.
I’m not a huge fan of kaizen events as THE lean strategy. I’m not a “Kaizen Kowboy” personally, as some would call them.
I’ve only seen the VMMC gemba once, for 1/2 a day. I have no claim to inside information about them.
You’re right that we DO need to teach hospitals so they can learn from the mistakes made in other industries.
Thanks everyone for great comments.
I like the “eventaholic.” Executives can be that as well. Let’s face it – they are addictive. You end on both an emotional high – “look at what we did” – and a performance one (at least perceived). It’s natural to react “gimme more.”
I used to despise events. I saw them as distractions to real, grinding, daily performance improvement. I probably advocate them more now that I used to, because they can break momentum, pull groups together that don’t work together, and generate interest through internal marketing. But make sure they are the minor part of your continuous improvement efforts, not the majority part.
Thanks everyone for great comments.
I like the “eventaholic.” Executives can be that as well. Let’s face it – they are addictive. You end on both an emotional high – “look at what we did” – and a performance one (at least perceived). It’s natural to react “gimme more.”
I used to despise events. I saw them as distractions to real, grinding, daily performance improvement. I probably advocate them more now that I used to, because they can break momentum, pull groups together that don’t work together, and generate interest through internal marketing. But make sure they are the minor part of your continuous improvement efforts, not the majority part.
Thanks everyone for great comments.
I like the “eventaholic.” Executives can be that as well. Let’s face it – they are addictive. You end on both an emotional high – “look at what we did” – and a performance one (at least perceived). It’s natural to react “gimme more.”
I used to despise events. I saw them as distractions to real, grinding, daily performance improvement. I probably advocate them more now that I used to, because they can break momentum, pull groups together that don’t work together, and generate interest through internal marketing. But make sure they are the minor part of your continuous improvement efforts, not the majority part.
Well, Dave, I TRIPLE dog dare ya! (Just kidding. Thinking back to one of my favorite movies, “A Christmas Story.” The pressure was truly on with triple dog dare.)
Well, Dave, I TRIPLE dog dare ya! (Just kidding. Thinking back to one of my favorite movies, “A Christmas Story.” The pressure was truly on with triple dog dare.)
Well, Dave, I TRIPLE dog dare ya! (Just kidding. Thinking back to one of my favorite movies, “A Christmas Story.” The pressure was truly on with triple dog dare.)
What a great term, ‘event-aholic’…as I reflect on my early years this would really define me. As I have internalized the “Thinking”, my thoughts and advocacy of events have fallen way off. Like Jamie, I see them as a way for momentum break/boost, ability to change a groups mindset.
Mark brings up an interesting question on How Healthcare can change its management system, etc..
My belief is the Teaching Hospitals need to take the lead on this. A lot of the behavior I witnessed while working in the Hospital environments could be tied to which Hospital the RN’s & MD’s were trained at.
In regards to Healthcare overall, What Universities or Hospital’s teach any of these principles?
What a great term, ‘event-aholic’…as I reflect on my early years this would really define me. As I have internalized the “Thinking”, my thoughts and advocacy of events have fallen way off. Like Jamie, I see them as a way for momentum break/boost, ability to change a groups mindset.
Mark brings up an interesting question on How Healthcare can change its management system, etc..
My belief is the Teaching Hospitals need to take the lead on this. A lot of the behavior I witnessed while working in the Hospital environments could be tied to which Hospital the RN’s & MD’s were trained at.
In regards to Healthcare overall, What Universities or Hospital’s teach any of these principles?
What a great term, ‘event-aholic’…as I reflect on my early years this would really define me. As I have internalized the “Thinking”, my thoughts and advocacy of events have fallen way off. Like Jamie, I see them as a way for momentum break/boost, ability to change a groups mindset.
Mark brings up an interesting question on How Healthcare can change its management system, etc..
My belief is the Teaching Hospitals need to take the lead on this. A lot of the behavior I witnessed while working in the Hospital environments could be tied to which Hospital the RN’s & MD’s were trained at.
In regards to Healthcare overall, What Universities or Hospital’s teach any of these principles?
Glad you liked the eventaholic term, guys. I must confess that blogs such as this one, leanblog, gemba tales, evolving excellence, lean insider, got boondoggle, gotta go lean, gemba panta rei, learning about lean, lean reflections, lean.orgshook, and the lean edge are part of my 12-step program for recovery.
Glad you liked the eventaholic term, guys. I must confess that blogs such as this one, leanblog, gemba tales, evolving excellence, lean insider, got boondoggle, gotta go lean, gemba panta rei, learning about lean, lean reflections, lean.orgshook, and the lean edge are part of my 12-step program for recovery.
Glad you liked the eventaholic term, guys. I must confess that blogs such as this one, leanblog, gemba tales, evolving excellence, lean insider, got boondoggle, gotta go lean, gemba panta rei, learning about lean, lean reflections, lean.orgshook, and the lean edge are part of my 12-step program for recovery.
So in simpler way – it’s all about the last phase of the project (so often neglected) moving it to business as usual and creating a standard way of doing this.
So in simpler way – it’s all about the last phase of the project (so often neglected) moving it to business as usual and creating a standard way of doing this.
So in simpler way – it’s all about the last phase of the project (so often neglected) moving it to business as usual and creating a standard way of doing this.