You have reached consensus and each staff member understands your vision and that change will bring benefits. Key management has committed to the changes required to move forward. You have sought and obtained “buy-in” from the members of your company and clearly defined (WIIFT) what’s in it for them to make and drive change. So, what are the next steps to accomplish the new goal(s)?
You are at point “A” of your journey, the “critical path” forward needs to be defined and structured. Point “A” is the first step to achieving your goals. It’s a time to collaborate, identify, organize, and frame out each intermediate step of the path. It’s a chance to document the goal(s) and define the sequence to achieve the end goal(s). Who will lead and who will participate at each step? What are the resources required? What is the time frame targeted to accomplish each intermediate step and sub-goal, and what tools or format will you seek and implement to support this process?
On the way to developing a critical path, you will address and solve many challenges. One can chase down surface indicators or target root cause problems. Problems at the surface are like the tip of an Iceberg. What is hidden under the surface is always more massive and complex. Surface problems may be caused by a multitude of issues. Diving deeper and seeking the root causes will reveal the com-plexity of the challenge and a greater comprehension of how this problem truly impacts your business. The identifying and defining of root causes can solve a multitude of surface problems and reveal greater understanding.
There are other approaches, but I recommend the use of “Lean” to target root cause issues, drive change, achieve process improvement, and accomplish new goals. Use of the “Lean 5 Why” technique is a method to use to dig away at the symptoms and lead to the root cause of a problem.
For example, consider this.
Problem Statement:
The company did not make a delivery of product on time.
Why are we late?
- Because the product was not assembled on time.
Why was it not assembled on time?
- Because it was not cut in time to meet the assembly schedule?
Why was cutting delayed?
- Because the cutting was not released from the design department on time.
Why were shop drawings delayed?
- Because sales and the customer where still working out a detail on the structure.
Why did Sales push the job into production, before all of the details were resolved?
- Because the customer had a performance schedule that needed to be hit.
What is the root cause of this problem?
Next Month:
How to start using “Lean” tools to accomplish your goals