| Scanlon Executives will Dive Deep into 'Compression' at Executive Retreat | |
 The business world is just starting to get a feel for how important the issue of sustainability has become. On December 15-16, 2008, Scanlon executives will get a rare chance to examine in-depth the challenges of sustainability and more by studying 'Compression' at the Scanlon Leadership Network Executive Leadership Retreat, which will be held in Lansing, MI.
Coined by AME founder Doc Hall, the term Compression refers to how we can "globally create at least the same quality of life as in industrial societies today, while using less than half the energy and virgin raw materials, and cutting toxic releases to nearly zero." It takes sustainability to a whole new level.
Doc has literally written the book on Compression, which will be published soon. The book will serve as the conversational springboard to a greater exploration of how these concepts impact our lives and businesses, and how employing the Scanlon Principles will help us march closer to the goal. Chapters from the Compression manuscript will be emailed bi-weekly to leaders from within the Scanlon Community. Reading the manuscript in advance will enable everyone to hit the ground running on December 15.
Doc Hall will serve as the main presenter. David Veech, Executive Director of the Institute for Lean Systems, will facilitate. (See more about the Institute for Lean Systems)
The Network is also thrilled to have secured a tour of Christman Co. in downtown Lansing. Christman, a commercial construction corporation, is a leader in sustainable/high performance buildings. In fact, they were awarded the worlds only double-platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for their recently renovated headquarters. This will provide participants a close-up view of how Compression can be accomplished.
The table of contents and introduction to Compression is attached here.
| | | Building a Tacit Knowledge Capture and Leverage System to Support the Integration of the Scanlon Principles | | 
by Jahn Ballard
The 4th column in a series on Compression as the new reality that has replaced expansion, and how to function in this new world. To be explored in depth with the author of the book by that title, Robert "Doc" Hall in December at the Scanlon Executive Retreat.
What if the tacit knowledge of every member of the team can be elicited, recorded and made transparently available to everyone? What would it mean for a business if the core knowledge of its people were accessible as a more and more coherent whole? One can only imagine the kinds of satisfaction, creativity, productivity and profitability generated in such a situation. However, if we agree that the consistent transfer knowledge is the core challenge as written in the Harvard Press book Deep Smarts, then we also have to accept Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman's assertion that 'People-Centric Lean' is the only way to go, because all tacit knowledge is found in individual human beings.
This is actually what people-centered lean practices are doing. Standard work evolves as existing and new tacit operational knowledge becomes explicit. Now, if we are to have a complete and sustainable transformation, the challenge is to apply lean principles to the domains of Strategy and Finance, plus all the back-office support functions, in addition to continuous improvement in Operations. In the August Scanlon E-zine (link?) I described how a 'Captain's Reality Check' could allow the CEO to lay out the border and the pieces of the multi-thousand piece jigsaw puzzle that is a business enterprise. I also briefly discussed the practice of Nimiwashi, which could be translated as 'preparing the soil for transplanting the seedling'. This highly developed set of practices for internal diplomacy among functions creates a policy environment where the groundwork for a decision is laid so thoroughly that when they actually get in the room to make the policy, the process is easy, rapid, and consistently optimized.
JM Juran, one of the founders of Total Quality Management, noted in 1948 that "To be in a state of Self-Control, a person must know what is expected of them; know how well they are doing; know what resources/options are available to improve." If any of these three are lacking, Juran wrote, "a person can't be held responsible." Yet all too often enterprises hold people responsible without equipping them to be responsible.
Gil Friend, founder of Natural Logic, says it this way -
"To be successful, one needs to have AND know the:
- Goals and Aspirations for oneself and one's organization
- Results created and Metrics for measuring them
- Resources to carry out the tasks and Capacity to do them
This means fully integrated Strategy, Feedback, and Implementation/Execution."
When, and if, in the 'C' Suites and manager's offices, North American companies figure out how to succeed at Gil's challenge, we will enter a new era of business self-management, and start to fully compete with the new standard Toyota Motor Company has set over the last few decades.
Bill Hewlett got to the crux of the matter as clearly as anyone- "If you want me to tell you how somebody's going to behave, tell me how they are measured". In addition to the see-with-your-own-eyes reality of processes on the floor (known in lean circles as the Gemba), we also need a method to consistently discover the Organizational Design, Strategic, Operational and Financial Gemba as a whole. This see-with-your-own-eyes reality has to live in consistent and constructive conversation and collaboration among all the stakeholders in every discipline and reporting level of the organization. Or as Doc Hall would say, as a "functioning high-velocity learning culture."
This kind of virtually-impossible-to-imagine cooperation and whole system stewardship of resources may only be able to happen if the people who lead and do the actual work become the drivers and co-architects of an evolving measurement system, with the CEO, CFO and senior leadership providing the environment in which it that continuous design and testing process can flourish.
Laying the foundation efficiently and effectively for building a Tacit Knowledge Engine (capture and leveraging system) requires a launch sequence of highly focused whole system measurement design and dialogue. The first step is a 1 -2 day CEO (Captain's) Reality Check, which lays out the puzzle border in the form of a draft transparent model of how the organization's behavior becomes the financial results, as well as defines and prioritizes business mandates.
Following that, in two half-day Measurement System Kaizens (collaborative problem-solving events), capacity for growing shared business acumen is developed through the people who lead operations and do the actual work. These people create together a model of how the enterprise is actually functioning, guided by the CEO and CFO's outputs from the Reality Check. As this is happening in the room, the CEO and CFO are drafting a 'sacred glossary' of shared language and core practices that add all the disconnects in hand-offs through the overall value chain, behavior scoring options and intangibles to existing language about core intellectual property, core capital, values & mission.
Iterating the model as a team six times in weekly or monthly 'Huddles' sets up a working Key Performance Indicator (KPI) matrix in which hypothesis creation, assumptions definition and testing, and then KPI refinement, can be conducted using the scientific method. When the whole team creates its own model and define its own language, the connection of results to behavior begins to consistently be more clear to everyone, so it becomes possible to consistently leverage the biggest 'bang for the buck' on constrained resources as well as for aligned initiative to be taken at all levels, thus installing the foundation for whole-organization Nimiwashi.
Further Development Steps are then prioritized and driven by launch sequence to fully execute the integration of Equity, Participation, Identity and Competence. These include:
· Rationalizing the total company conversation through meeting grid and meeting map development, as well as facilitation specifications for a participative culture.
· Specifying decision-support linkages to legacy IT infrastructure
· Cascading basic acumen foundation through whole system practical transparency practices to all stakeholders - the floor and the board, the bankers, investors and accountants, and then the customers and marketplace as appropriate.
Read Jahn's previous articles here:
Compression: Dealing with a Changed World
Compression: What is the Difference that will Make a Difference?
Why Do a Captain's Reality Check?
Jahn Ballard enables Owners/Entrepreneurs/CEOs and their senior teams to design their ideal jobs, focused primarily on fully leveraging the talent available and evolving the business' value. Employees spend more of their time doing what only they can do for the good of the enterprise, and their time overwhelm and distractions are transformed.
| | The People Side of Lean in Las Vegas | |
by Marge Holata-Burton, Director of Associate Involvement, SGS Tool Co.
 On September 15-17, I was given the honor of representing the Scanlon Network at their exhibit booth at the Lean Accounting Summit in Las Vegas. This 4th annual Summit focused on the "People" aspect of Lean. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss the values of Scanlon.
I was impressed by the number of participants, probably 500 or more. I spoke with many attendees, especially after Bob Chapman's keynote address. Bob is the Chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller and spoke primarily about the people side of Lean. He was a very motivational speaker and I could see that he really had the attention of the audience. He shared many great examples of Identity, Participation, Equity, and Competence at his company. Although he used different terms, I was able to convey to the many people that stopped at the Scanlon booth that the Network could help them turn their organization into one like Bob spoke about. Many people also grabbed the Network informational brochures.
A lot of people took advantage of their Pre-Conference Workshops ... probably 200 or more. Considering these workshops were anywhere from $300 to $500, and the current economy, this spoke well of the session's value. I had the Scanlon booth set up early on this first day, so I was able to meet and greet many of the people attending them.
I believe the Summit as a whole was very valuable, and all companies should consider sending a small "cross-functional team" to the event; e.g., a person from manufacturing, accounting, QA, and the like. In my opinion the company would get a lot more for their money than if they only send their accountants. The whole Lean issue needs to be embraced by everyone; getting more people involved would be of much more benefit.
Opportunities to exhibit at events such as the Lean Summit are an excellent way to get the Scanlon organization out there in front of companies that are looking for any help they can get developing their people skills so desperately needed for "Lean" and many other organizational improvement programs.
I appreciated the opportunity to go and represent Scanlon and work with Jahn Ballard, the Scanlon consultant from Performance  Management Institute, Inc. (Marge and Jahn are pictured above)
We owe great thanks to Summit organizer Dwayne Butcher (pictured right) for providing the opportunity!
| | The Business of Innovation and Scanlon Studied at IIT | |
 On September 8 - 10, 2008 Innovation thought leaders and businesses from around the world gathered at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Rice Campus in Wheaton Illinois. The Business Innovation Conference brought entrepreneurs, engineers, executives, academia and government together to share their methods, challenges, and lessons learned as they collectively raised the understanding of the innovation process. (Praveen is pictured above left, with Brett Trusko of the Mayo Clinic)
The conference was organized by Accelper Consulting, and hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology. Praveen Gupta, the driving force behind the event, commented that "the conference turned out to be a great event because of the great speakers, the participant's hunger for learning innovation, and the academic environment at IIT. I salute everyone who invested their precious time and resources in promoting innovation and helping others better themselves." Praveen is a long time Scanlon supporter and Consultant, and is author of Business Innovation in the 21st Century.
Scanlon Steward and Consultant Paul Davis led a breakout session  on "Creating Cultures of Innovation", which has been a hallmark of Scanlon Members for decades. The Network's information booth was manned by Scanlon President Wayne Lindholm (pictured right), who spent many years working for 3M, which is widely considered one of the world's most innovative companies.
Other conference attendees offered these opinions:
"It was a smashing success! Not only was it extremely informative and useful, the caliber of the speakers was top notch and the networking opportunities were extremely beneficial." Milt Hayes, Director, CIT Planning, Abbott Labs
"It was the very best business conference I have ever attended in my 35+ years in the business world. The speakers were truly business innovation experts as were many of the attendees. The atmosphere was genuinely optimistic. People were willing to share their successes and failures so that everyone could benefit." Terrence Luczak, Six Sigma Black Belt, formerly with Siemens Building Technologies
"I felt like my synapses have been touched by a live wire. I went home buzzing every day with ideas I generated while I was at the conference." Brenda Hernandez, Allstate
Network staff and consultants continue to spread the word on how to create innovative organizations. Praveen has launched the international journal of innovation, the Network's innovation Simulation was recently facilitated by Kim Johnson at Johnstech in Minneapolis, making learning about innovation fun and interactive. Paul Davis will be spreading the Scanlon message of innovation to the Prestressed Concrete Institute's International Conference, where he will be leading several workshops with the CEO's of the concrete industry on how to create truly innovative organizations.
"It is interesting that people do not realize how truly innovative Joe Scanlon's ideas were and how innovative they still are. Almost all the experts on innovation mentioned how important it is to create trust in organizations for innovation to succeed. Scanlon methods are the most proven and innovative ways to build trust. That is why innovative companies from around the world are interested in Scanlon methods," said Paul Davis.
The next Business Innovation Conference has been scheduled for Oct. 5 - 7, 2009 at the same venue. | |
2 Comments:
leadership tips thank you
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