With formal origins dating back to the 1930s, continuous improvement
or CI has been around for almost 90 years now. The story began with Sakichi
Toyoda, founder of Toyota, who manufactured automatic looms at the time.
Sakichi began making small, continuous improvements adding up to major benefits
for Toyota. By the 1950s, Toyota implemented quality circles leading to the
development of Toyota’s unique, Toyota Production
System, that focused on continuous improvement
within quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety,
and leadership. He claimed their CI efforts would result in faster delivery,
lower costs, and greater customer satisfaction—and they did! In the 1980s,
Masaaki Imai introduced the concepts of CI to the western world. His book, Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive
Success, became a world-wide phenomenon. At the philosophy’s core, the
primary objectives of CI are to identify and eliminate “muda” (waste) and “kaizen”
(literally translating to “change good”), improve/standardize processes by
re-engineering work flows thus making a task simpler, easier to perform, while accommodating
demands, increasing speed and efficiency, improving product quality, and maintaining
a safe work environment and excellent company culture.
Though there is a plethora of information for organizations
to learn about CI and its techniques, professionals are still struggling to
grasp the concept of CI and its benefits. What’s even worse is that there have
been several preconceived notions or myths about CI in the industry that’s
affecting organizations to shy away from the initiative. So, here I am today,
busting those myths for you!
“Continuous Improvement is only for manufacturing organizations”—No way!
You don’t have to implement CI methodology word for word. It’s
not a crime to tailor CI techniques to your organization. Many professionals
assume CI has a rigid methodology that doesn’t make sense for their
organization. While some Lean Six Sigma and quality techniques do make more
sense in a manufacturing environment, that doesn’t mean they can’t be customized
for transactional processes. We need to begin to make a culture shift about CI
and think about continuous improvement in a more subtle, flexible approach that
can be adapted in any environment.
“Management does not
understand/support Continuous Improvement” – Unfortunately, sometimes…
Management teams typically tend to support/respect CI
initiatives in public. Why? Because it paints a pretty picture! While some may
initially be fired up about implementing CI, many leaders will admit that the
support does tend to yo-yo or drop at times. This is because management is
generally concerned about the bottom line and day to day business execution.
They are typically impatient and unable to see the prize in CI as its benefits
aren’t always quick wins. My recommendation? Understand CI and its full range
of capabilities and your organization’s current state thoroughly. If you decide
to implement CI techniques into your organization, start small and asses how’s
it working while keeping in mind that CI will not always be a proponent of
instant gratification. With the right knowledge and expertise of implementing
and maintaining CI initiatives, any organization can reach a new level of
maturity and performance capability.
“My area does not need process improvement” –Are you sure?
Many times both the staff and or leadership team aren’t
aware of their own internal issues. This could be for many reasons ranging
from: lack/poor communication throughout the organization, KPIs/metrics are not
being tracked/reported/analyzed correctly, sheer denial a problem exists, or
they are simply operating on a baseless assumption that their organization is
performing at its peak. There is also a possibility the staff/leadership is
opposed to or uncomfortable with change. They could be accustomed to running
the business a certain way and don’t want to change it. Before you rule out a CI
initiative, big or small, understand your organization at all levels. I suggest
a “Gemba” (direct translation, “the real place”) walk. A gemba walk essentially
involves taking the time to watch how a process is done and talking with those
who do the job. This will allow you to talk to the people in the front lines of
your business. They are such a critical part to any work force and more likely
than not, you will discover the pain points in your organization after speaking
with them.
“Continuous Improvement is only for large organizations” –Nope!
Many professionals assume that CI isn’t needed for small
organizations—that it’s too big of an investment for a small or mid-sized
company. This assumption is derived from the thinking that companies need to
have a designated department/budget to take on these initiatives and that’s not
true at all. All organizations may not have the business case for a CI or
operational excellence resource/department but that doesn’t mean they can’t
implement a CI culture or work stream within their existing teams. Creating a
culture of CI will allow your workforce to develop professionally and empower
your staff to find efficient solutions to everyday problems. You’ll be
surprised at how innovative and strategic a tactical staff can become when you
create a conducive environment for them to blossom.
“Continuous Improvement is too expensive” – False!
Effective CI should pay for itself or in the long run yield
you benefits far more beneficial than the upfront investment. The goal is to
implement activities that are sustainable and can ensure you long term savings while
reaching the pinnacle of performance.
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