Not Invented Here Syndrome and Challenging the Norm

As process based performance improvement professionals, we have come to terms with the fact that there is a long standing epidemic among organizations world-wide.  Almost all of the organizations that have attempted to reduce costs and improve quality, and failed are suffering from Not Invented Here Syndrome (NIHS), or even worse That Won’t Work Here Disease (aka, We’re Different/Special).   Identifying the symptoms is easy for an outsider however; the difficulty is accepting that you yourself may have been infected.

The beautiful thing about Performance Based Process Improvement is that everything we do in life is a process, from getting out of bed in the morning to launching the space shuttle.  There are steps that must be done in order to accomplish what ever goal it is that you are trying to achieve.   Once you have reached the state of enlightenment where you can admit that you need to do something to make your organization more cost efficient and/or reach a higher level of quality, you have overcome the first hurdle.  The difficult part is throwing organizational culture to the wind and starting to ask the really tough questions.

Over the last several postings we discussed going to your process, asking the right questions and preparing to map your process.   Now it is time to start asking the question “do we really need to be doing this (work/policy/regulation/etc.)?”  First with your process as a whole, and then with each step as you map your process.  With many processes or sub-processes you are probably going to find out that the only reason you are doing it is because it is what you have always done.  Even with the advent of technology, many organizations are following the same steps as they always have and aren’t taking advantage of all of the capabilities that reside within their organization.  So, for each process, sub-process and process step (or policy/regulation/etc.), conduct a 5 “Why” exercise.  Ask yourself why we are doing this five times, or more if necessary, to get to a concrete answer as to why you need to perform the activity.  If you arrive at an answer that doesn’t make sense or even “because this is how we’ve always done it”, you have probably found a great place to improve or remove a process, sub-process, or process step.  You may even find a policy or regulation which perhaps made sense at one time, but is no longer appropriate.

Assuming that you are following this Blog like a how-to manual, it is time to start mapping your process.  Be sure to first ask “do we need the process/policy or regulation at all” and then move on from there.  Take your time and do not accept answers to your 5 Whys which do not achieve your goal of reducing cost or increasing quality (rare exceptions like laws and direct orders excluded, although they may be able to be changed down the road).  Use all that you have garnered from your Gemba Walk and remember to listen.

Good luck and Happy Leaning,

David Allway

Prepare to Map your Process

Once you have been to where the work is being done, walked your processes, and listened to your employees (as discussed in the previous two postings) you will have a good idea of what can be improved.  The question now is where do I start?

In order to truly understand your process and identify where improvements can be made, you will need to map your process.  Before this process can begin there is a little prep work that must be done prior mapping.   It is important that you fight the temptation to just jump in and start fixing.   Be patient, you might just find that some of the things you think you can fix might not be needed at all.  Below is a list of additional items that when defined and analyzed, in regards to the process you walked, will help you identify what can be improved, and what you can leave alone:

• What is the Mission (of the organization)?
• What is the Objective (of the process)?
• What aspects are Critical to Quality (CTQ’s)?
• What are the processes constraints?
• Are there any known issues within the process?
• What are the strengths of the process?
• How do relationships with stakeholders affect the process?
• How does the process affect relationships with stakeholders (within the adjacent steps and/or the entire process)?
• Does your organizational structure drive process or does your process drive your organizational structure?
• How is the process affected by your organization’s culture?
• How is your organizational culture defined by the process?
• Who are your suppliers and customers?
• What is you strategic alignment with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders?
• Has the voice of the customer been assessed and level of analysis determined?

When you are done answering these questions you should have a much clearer view of your process.  The next question that you should ask is “do we really need to be doing this?”  If the answer is yes, then the next decision whether key changes can be made to fix the process or if a total restart is necessary.  If the answer is no, shut it down.

When you are done with the exercise and you have identified steps in the process that can be improved, the next step is prioritizing your improvements and deciding what it will take to make the changes.  Is this a just-do-it, a Rapid Improvement Event (RIE), or a full blown project (i.e. Green Belt, Black Belt)?  More often than not, you will be faced with a combination of all three.

If you decide to rebuild the process from scratch, consider using Design for Six Sigma (DfSS) so that you can more easily assess your projects efficiency once you get it back up and running.

While it is tempting when you finish your process walk to just jump in and start making changes, fight the urge to fix it now.  Following the process will give you much greater returns and has been proven for generations.  Once again, none of this should be new, but it is simple.  Maybe even common sense.

So remember, take your time and plan for success.  This extra step does not take that much time when considering the benefits of getting it right the first time.