November, 2007 E-zine
Hello and Happy Thanksgiving! We are wrapping up our events for the year. Read on to learn more about our exploration of Measuring What Matters for Innovation and Growth, Training Within Industry, and Creating Cultures of Excellence in Credit Unions. But up first, we've begun our drive for 2008 Member Best Practices. Sharpen those pencils! | |
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 It's time again for Members to tell us about all the great things they've been doing! Best Practices submissions are due by January 31, 2008. Many Scanlon Leadership Network members consider the annual Best Practices book to be one of their most important member benefits. The Best Practices program has greatly enriched the Scanlon community through the spread of good and great ideas among Members. It is your opportunity to "shine" through your submissions, and to learn from some of the finest companies in America today. Take a look at your organization with an "outsider's eye." You may be amazed at what you see. Many of the practices you take for granted could be virtual gold to another member company. Write them up and send them in. Also look around for some really BAD IDEAS! This year, for the first time, we are also looking for your WORST PRACTICES. We often learn some of our most valuable lessons from our failures. Share some of yours (we all have plenty) so your fellow Members can avoid some of the pitfalls you have encountered. Now you have the ability to learn from each other's successes AND failures. Watch for a package from the Scanlon Leadership Network office with more details and the forms to use for your submissions. You can also download the forms by clicking the link below. | |
| Download the Best Practices guidelines and submission form | |
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 In an exciting example of Scanlon Principles being applied beyond the manufacturing industry, Loyola University and Filene Research Institute will host a colloquim entitled "Building a Culture of Credit Union Excellence." The event will take place at Loyola's Water Tower Campus in downtown Chicago on December 14. In the first quarter, 2007 issue of WorldatWork Journal, an article describing Watermark's experience with Scanlon was published. The case study was authored by Dow Scott, Ph.D. of Loyola, Paul Davis, and Chuck Cockburn, President/CEO of Watermark. This led to an interest by the Filene Institute - the think tank for credit unions. The event is another piece of the Scanlon Leadership Network's focus on innovation. In particular, this event will highlight Watermark's experiences using Scanlon to create and maintain a culture of innovation and organizational excellence. In discussing how the Scanlon Principles impact innovation, Scott said, "Inherent in the Scanlon Process is the quality and drive for continuous process improvement. When you engage the people of an organization, you get a variety of innovations." This is true whether the organization is a manufacturer, a credit union, or member of any other industry. Scott also discussed unique (or maybe not so unique) challenges credit unions face compared to companies in other industries. Since credit unions tend to be smaller organizations and niche players, there is always the need to reinvent themselves. They compete with banks and other financial institutions so have a continuous need to create and offer better & cheaper products and services. Competition is fierce in part because the barrier to entry is lower. Who should attend? Since the event is focused on the credit union industry, senior leaders of credit unions are the target audience. Chuck Cockburn and Watermark's experiences will essentially be a case study for the day. However, presentations highlighting Scanlon's universal principles and processes of success will also be made by Network Member Landscape Forms' President Bill Main and Becky Fulgoni, VP for People, as well as Paul Davis and Dow Scott. The event will also serve as the nucleus of a white paper commissioned by Filene, so that all cedit union leaders in North America can learn from Watermark and Landscape Forms. For more information on the event, or to register, visit the following website link below. | |
| To the Filene Institute event... | |
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 November 12 was the culmination of a year's worth of collaboration and planning of an event to take an in depth look at how measurement contributes to innovation. Or, if used wrong as it often is, how measurement can inhibit innovation. (Pictured are Aaron Holb and Paul Mordue from the SGS Tool delegation) The event's two primary presenters, Jahn Ballard of Performance Management Institute, and Praveen Gupta, President of Accepler Consulting and widely published author, lifted the curtain on many of their most profound insights and knowledge from many years of research, study, and experience. In addition, the room was graced by the presence of some of the foremost and influential thought leaders in the field of measurement. Dean Spitzer of IBM, and author of Transformational Performance Measurement made significant contributions to the discussions. (His book is a definite "must-read".) Robert "Doc" Hall, founder of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) and editor of AME's journal "Target" brought in thought provoking questions and insights. David Veech, Executive Director of Institute for Lean Systems, and a powerful keynote speaker from the recent Lean Accounting Summit, contributed valuable insights from his work with executive teams. The event was hosted by the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) at their Business Learning Institute facility in Towson, MD. Tom Hood, Executive Director and CEO of MACPA, presented two powerful case studies. One was from his experiences as CFO of a construction company in a severe and long downturn in the industry. The second highlighted his experience in growing and sustaining MACPA. While the two organizations were in vastly different business scenarios (crisis in the construction example, and financial stability at MACPA), Hood did a wonderful job of illustrating how measuring the right things was the critical component in making success possible in each circumstance. Measuring what matters most created the appropriate focus and resulting behavior change to achieve success in both organizations. A central message from Praveen Gupta from his vast experience with Lean and Six Sigma was to use a "critical few measures." As Hood illustrated, Gupta's "critical few" helps an organization to focus in on the correct items, thereby influencing and channeling behaviors in productive directions. Not only is measuring what matters important, but communication of those results is crucial in realizing positive behavior change. Two powerful tools were presented to facilitate this communication. Participants did homework prior to the event to populate these tools with their actual financial data for use on Nov. 12. One of these tools was software created by i-nexus of Boston, MA. I-nexus President Steve DuBrow and Jan Freyburgher demonstrated the power of this software in being able to track measurement results on nearly a real-time basis, and tools to follow-up and address result, from both positive and "needs improvement" aspects. A second communication tool was provided by Jahn Ballard. Participants received his Financial Dashboard, again populated with their real financial data. Ballard's Financial Dashboard is a result of 10-20 years of research and development in creating a practical line-of-sight for front line people to how their behaviors affect high level financial results. Ballard's Financial Dashboard leads an organization to a common language, or Sacred Glossary, which in turn enables the organization to have the critical conversations necessary to be able to change in revolutionary ways. In other words, by measuring what matters most and presenting this data in a razor focused and easily understood format, the organization is able to quickly get back to doing the activities that create real and practical value. The measures move beyond being an end in and of themselves to being a means to develop the organization to be flourish and be highly productive. Gupta call this the state of "sustained, profitable growth." | |
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 Network member TG Fluid Systems asked Scanlon Leadership Network for information on "Training Within Industry." Paul Davis researched the topic and found TWI Institute in Syracuse, NY. This resulted in Network member companies being offered the opportunity to spend a day on November 6 learning the concepts directly from the institute, and touring a company that has realized great value in use of the practices. Training Within Industry (or TWI) originated in World War II and is one of the roots of Lean. At that time, many of the men who normally produced goods in our factories were off to war. This created an urgent need to get women and other new workers up to speed very quickly. TWI was the solution that developed. Today, we again have an urgent need to train and develop people very quickly. The reason today, instead of war, is intense global competition and the rapid pace of change. Marge Holata of SGS Tools, one of the people who participated in the tour, said "TWI is like a blueprint for how to develop and deliver job training that takes place directly on the shop floor." Holata described the 3 J's of TWI:
TWI uses the knowledge of the people doing the job: you get to train using the best of the best skills and insights. And, because the training is SO close to the site of the actual work being performed, you get an immediate transference of job skills and the opportunity to apply them. Participants on Nov. 6 had the opportunity to see TWI in practice through their tour of ESCO Corp., a manufacturer of turbines used in jet engines. ESCO implemented TWI in 2002 and reduced rework by 75% in just one year. In two years (2002 to 2004), rework was reduced by 96%. The financial correlation of those gains is highly significant. When asked how TWI relates to Scanlon Principles, Holata talked about Joe Scanlon's statement that the person doing the work knows the job best. TWI provides an immediate and practical way of manifesting Joe Scanlon's concept. The knowledge and skill of the best of the best from the front lines lands in training of new people and cross training of current associates. Next steps at SGS Tool are to create a proposal and develop a train-the-trainer model. The TWI tour is yet another example of Scanlon Leadership Network's practice of "bringing the best ideas together." Want to know more about TWI? Click on the link below for the article "The Roots of Lean" by Jim Huntzinger, or call the Network office. Pictured (L-R) are tour participants Bryan Townsend, Wescast Industries; Frank Lanno, Central NY Technology Development Organization; Cliff Kites, INCOM; Marge Holata, SGS Tool Co.; Rick Medeiros, INCOM; and Tom Haessly, TG Fluid Systems. | |
| To "The Roots of Lean" by Jim Huntzinger | |
Labels: November 2007 E-zine
posted by Scanlon Leadership Network @ 11:13 AM
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