It is time to update the blog i think. Since last time I have had several events that made this blog not so good to update. That has changed.
stay tuned
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Another step forward
Ok, it is time to regroup and make another push forward. Several weeks have gone by now in where the adaption to new methods have goten time to settle. Not that it is settled, but enough time has passed regardless. It is very interesting how a group of inteligent people, who say they have the same thoughts, to improve business..." but are not following up. How many times must the boxes be out of place, how many times are we ommitting the system, how many times...? It seems that when something new is implemented, the "new car smell" wears off pretty quick. When something new is implemented the amount of time it is able to work before it is altered seems to be as short as a pizza will last at a weight watcher convention.
Seriously, if only we would spend as much time on making things work as we are not justifying why it will not work we would all be better. I'm not saying that we don't make things work, we do. We have a lot of people that tries hard to make the wheel go around. But i think that if we followed up with the ones that either works against it or at best do nothing would benefit us. I guess i'm looking for accountability. Simple but yet seemingly hard to do. People are busy and sometimes very busy, however it seems that we are busy correcting things that should have been done correct in the first place. boxes in the correct spot, walking away from machines, long breaks, not replenishing parts, etc. The list is long. What if we stood up and said enough is enough and help people accountable? Maybe set a date in time where expectations are starting or being held to what they are. I personally spend atleast 30 % of my time correcting things that are commonly known. Moving carts, putting things away, replenishing, etc.
What i am trying is to lead by example. by not accepting that things are not right. by taking the time to move things, by speaking up. Not always like for sure! However, some employees are slowly starting to see that taking action and not being passive works. This parth is long, very long, but i firmly believe that it is the most benefitial. Any others have input?
Seriously, if only we would spend as much time on making things work as we are not justifying why it will not work we would all be better. I'm not saying that we don't make things work, we do. We have a lot of people that tries hard to make the wheel go around. But i think that if we followed up with the ones that either works against it or at best do nothing would benefit us. I guess i'm looking for accountability. Simple but yet seemingly hard to do. People are busy and sometimes very busy, however it seems that we are busy correcting things that should have been done correct in the first place. boxes in the correct spot, walking away from machines, long breaks, not replenishing parts, etc. The list is long. What if we stood up and said enough is enough and help people accountable? Maybe set a date in time where expectations are starting or being held to what they are. I personally spend atleast 30 % of my time correcting things that are commonly known. Moving carts, putting things away, replenishing, etc.
What i am trying is to lead by example. by not accepting that things are not right. by taking the time to move things, by speaking up. Not always like for sure! However, some employees are slowly starting to see that taking action and not being passive works. This parth is long, very long, but i firmly believe that it is the most benefitial. Any others have input?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
the soft side of leading
I had the pleasure of finally finding a few quotes that i found very fitting. If you've ever tried to change peoples behavior in an organization you will nod your head in agreance with these quotes:
Command is lonely. You can encourage participative management and bottom-up employee involvement but ultimately, the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization. I've seen too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility. Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely. This quote is by Colin Powell and is pretty fitting from my point of view
Another one that I find very true is;
Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: You'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.
How many people have i met in my time that aim's for mediocrity because they don't have what it takes to stand up and make a difference. I won't go there, but my last manager i had....wow...prime example of it.
Stand up, make changes, reep the benefits and see the entusiasm it fosters. Change take time, sometimes a long time. But it is wortht it for sure. It is almost addicting to see changes and what it brings. I have heard many times the 80/10/10 rule. Your're going to meet 10% of people that hate change and will fight you, 10% who will be very happy to help change and 80% of the people will be in between, they will follow.
How do you coach urgency? there is not a class in the world that teaches that. you have to find the personalities and let them help you. leave the others behind. your're job is to eliminate problems, so people really have a choice in the end... be a part of the problem or the solution. It's a choice really.
Dont get me wrong, please challange the ideas that are brought fourth. There is a large difference between challenging implementation ideas vs. constantly seeing your cup half empty. I'll take a challenging discussion any day and will listen and converse vs a conversation that is about denial and how the worls will end. Bring solutions to the table, not problems.
If people see your consistency, that you are trying to make it better, that you allow people to fail, there will be less issues and you will make better progress.
Command is lonely. You can encourage participative management and bottom-up employee involvement but ultimately, the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization. I've seen too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility. Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely. This quote is by Colin Powell and is pretty fitting from my point of view
Another one that I find very true is;
Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: You'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.
How many people have i met in my time that aim's for mediocrity because they don't have what it takes to stand up and make a difference. I won't go there, but my last manager i had....wow...prime example of it.
Stand up, make changes, reep the benefits and see the entusiasm it fosters. Change take time, sometimes a long time. But it is wortht it for sure. It is almost addicting to see changes and what it brings. I have heard many times the 80/10/10 rule. Your're going to meet 10% of people that hate change and will fight you, 10% who will be very happy to help change and 80% of the people will be in between, they will follow.
How do you coach urgency? there is not a class in the world that teaches that. you have to find the personalities and let them help you. leave the others behind. your're job is to eliminate problems, so people really have a choice in the end... be a part of the problem or the solution. It's a choice really.
Dont get me wrong, please challange the ideas that are brought fourth. There is a large difference between challenging implementation ideas vs. constantly seeing your cup half empty. I'll take a challenging discussion any day and will listen and converse vs a conversation that is about denial and how the worls will end. Bring solutions to the table, not problems.
If people see your consistency, that you are trying to make it better, that you allow people to fail, there will be less issues and you will make better progress.
The start
What is the beginning in implementing lean? Where to one start? Training, kaizen, 5S? These are some of the "million" questions that goes through ones mind when starting the journey. How do you best convey the message that lean will transform the company in the future. In the world of instant gratification, how do you best gain trust from employees that what you are talking about will make a big difference, but at a later time?
Those questions right there is enough to scare away any thought of organizational change.
Well, I started with value stream maps for a few areas of our organizations. Not in a particular order or place, just picked a few functions. Called meetings with people who were vocal and started with a (large)blank sheet of paper. "so guys what happens first?" or "what happens next?" was a common phrase in my vocabulary in these meetings. The start is a little slow until you start pressing for answers or you assume incorrectly. My job from there is fairly easy. Siphering through the opinions was the hardest of my tasks.
Is implementing continous improvement hard? I don't think so, but then again somedays it feels like i just ran 15 miles in 10 minutes. It is at times exhausting. I told my friend Jay that implementing lean sometimes feels like herding cats with a golden retriever.. The most satisfying with implementing lean is to see that moment in people when "the light turns on" and the thinking begins. That is when you know that you have one more employee that will help you make the organization stronger.
Anyway, back to the start of implementing huge changes. For the longest time it seemed like i was stuck in the office finding information about current status of the organization. What parts are we making money on?, what is our capacity? who does what in the organization, how do we measure ourselves, who has the data, etc.
I choose to figure out capacity. How much can we make? how fast? I collected over 300 parts run times to figure out capacity load and how to schedule based upon each individual load. By having this data i can now determine where to place people, where to expect downtime and have actual expectations of people. Wow, what a change that was.... did we know that we underutilize or overload our production by an average of $800 a day? We are throwing away money every day (~$800) and nobody sees it!
Those questions right there is enough to scare away any thought of organizational change.
Well, I started with value stream maps for a few areas of our organizations. Not in a particular order or place, just picked a few functions. Called meetings with people who were vocal and started with a (large)blank sheet of paper. "so guys what happens first?" or "what happens next?" was a common phrase in my vocabulary in these meetings. The start is a little slow until you start pressing for answers or you assume incorrectly. My job from there is fairly easy. Siphering through the opinions was the hardest of my tasks.
Is implementing continous improvement hard? I don't think so, but then again somedays it feels like i just ran 15 miles in 10 minutes. It is at times exhausting. I told my friend Jay that implementing lean sometimes feels like herding cats with a golden retriever.. The most satisfying with implementing lean is to see that moment in people when "the light turns on" and the thinking begins. That is when you know that you have one more employee that will help you make the organization stronger.
Anyway, back to the start of implementing huge changes. For the longest time it seemed like i was stuck in the office finding information about current status of the organization. What parts are we making money on?, what is our capacity? who does what in the organization, how do we measure ourselves, who has the data, etc.
I choose to figure out capacity. How much can we make? how fast? I collected over 300 parts run times to figure out capacity load and how to schedule based upon each individual load. By having this data i can now determine where to place people, where to expect downtime and have actual expectations of people. Wow, what a change that was.... did we know that we underutilize or overload our production by an average of $800 a day? We are throwing away money every day (~$800) and nobody sees it!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
From my view
Well, this is an attempt to bring out the creativity by creating a place to share my experience in implementing something that I enjoy more than anything at work; Lean manufacturing. I finallly got hired into a place where I feel like a kid in a candy store. A place with near endless opprtunities to improve all aspects of business.
I have for many years implemented bits and pieces in all kinds of industries. I now get to lead it from the beginning. I will do my best in sharing ideas, sucesses, failures and progress on an irregular basis to show my involvement in my company's journey to become the best in the business
May the journey begin...
I have for many years implemented bits and pieces in all kinds of industries. I now get to lead it from the beginning. I will do my best in sharing ideas, sucesses, failures and progress on an irregular basis to show my involvement in my company's journey to become the best in the business
May the journey begin...
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