from Mark Hamel’s Gemba Tales blog: http://kaizenfieldbook.com/marksblog/archives/821
Several days ago, during a health care value stream analysis, I was impressed with the team’s bias for action. Now we know that value stream mapping is typically a “paper” activity, but it was refreshing to see that one of the future state’s kaizen bursts, identified as a “just-do-it,” couldn’t wait. The team completed the just-do-it right before the wrap-up presentation. Outstanding!
Kaizen is founded on certain principles, one of which is a bias for action. This bias for action is largely a behavioral thing, but it can be facilitated by effective coaching, formal training, and the application of lean management systems and related visual controls that should absolutely scream for action.
- Think PDCA and SDCA, the basic scientific methods.
- Go to the gemba; observe and document reality.
- Ask “why?” five times to identify root causes.
- Be dissatisfied with the status quo.
- Kaizen what matters.
- Have a bias for action.
- Frequent, small incremental improvements drive big, sustainable improvements.
- Be like MacGyver; use creativity before capital.
- Kaizen is everyone’s job.
- No transformation without transformation leadership.
Plus – Do everything with humility and respect for the individual.
The combined dissatisfaction with the status quo (eyes for waste “see” the current state and the ideal state) and the existence of explicit performance gaps that are targeted for closure (kaizen what matters) should be unbearable enough to drive action. And, our action should be focused on appropriately and economically (Macgyver was a creative cheapskate) addressing the root causes (5 why’s and PDCA thinking) and then sustaining the performance (SDCA).
So, I’ll leave you with another bias for action story, surprisingly also within a value stream analysis backdrop. Tony, the plant manager, was participating in a combined value stream analysis/plant lay-out/3P activity for a brand new line. As we developed pro forma standard work and were doing table top and plant floor simulations applying, among other things continuous flow, he had a eureka moment. Actually, I noticed that he was becoming quite agitated and then…he disappeared. Over an hour later, Tony returned. He informed the team that he couldn’t stand it when he realized that the same principles needed to be applied to existing lines. So, right away, he made sure that the other lines (granted, without standard work at the time) stop their evil batch and queue ways and go to single piece flow. By the next day, the old lines had demonstrated an 18% productivity improvement. Now, that’s bias for action!
By the way, there’s a good chance that Gemba Tales is looking like an HTML file – no pics, no nice looking template. That’s because my web host, Network Solutions has continued to have problems. They keep promising to fix it, but I’m feeling more and more that their last name should not be “Solutions.” Thanks for your patience
from Mark Hamel’s Gemba Tales blog: http://kaizenfieldbook.com/marksblog/archives/821
Lean Learning Revolution! 
