"The
most important things cannot be measured." - W. Edwards Deming
The other day, I was asked my opinion about assessments to measure an organization's progress on a lean journey. Although I generally don't use assessments,
I really hadn't given the subject much thought before our discussion.
The idea behind a lean assessment is to identify the gap between the current state of the organization and where it will be when it is "fully
lean." Although it should make
perfect sense to assess the current state to better understand the gaps and whether or not the deployment is progressing, I have never seen
assessments result in any real value for an organization.
Organizational transformation is a complex
undertaking, and attempting to improve the process by formally assessing
progress can actually drive the process off track. When using an assessment to gage progress, the
focus can easily become the score rather than true culture change. Also, attempting to objectively measure change
by assigning a number or score to the effort is still very subjective.
Some of the problems I’ve encountered in the
past when using an assessment tool to gage and drive progress toward a lean transformation
include the following:
1. Disintegration
with the Business
Assessing
lean separately from the business can strengthen the belief that it is another
flavor-of-the-month initiative that has nothing to do with actual business
results. Companies exist to serve customers, and if it is not absolutely clear
that the objective of pursuing lean is to help do it better (more safely, with
better quality, and lower costs), it doesn't matter what the assessment is
showing; the effort will fail.
The real assessment occurs during the
reflection of business results and target conditions during the annual planning
process. Creating an effective annual plan requires developing an
understanding of the reasons for the gaps between what the organization tries
to accomplish and what it actually accomplishes. Besides the fact that this process is itself
a lean effort, taking action to close the gaps can be used to further drive
lean behaviors and systems. Developing a
plan that fails to address the big issues, attempts to take on too many
priorities, or is ignored throughout the year shows a problem with the lean
deployment – and you don’t need an assessment to show it.
Whether or not the effort is referred to as
“lean” does not matter - people will see that it as a way to improve business
results and be much more likely to join the effort.
2. Subjectivity
Regardless of how clear the assessment
questions or elements appear to be, the process is still subjective. Attempting
to increase the clarity of assessment questions generally requires additional
effort, training, and time, and you have to ask if this is really where you
want your lean resources to spend time.
Another issue with the subjectivity of
assessments shows up when people are held accountable for the rating number or
grade from the process. When assessment scores are used for performance
reviews or bonuses, the focus becomes the score rather than the application of lean
thinking to improve performance. And arguments around the scores is nothing
but waste.
3. There
is no End
Deploying lean is like climbing a mountain
that has no peak. Since there is no end to the journey, there is no way
to clearly define the target. If a team scores a 5 out of 5 in kaizen
activity, for example, does it mean that they have no room to improve? This type of thinking is the complete
opposite of what a lean transformation is trying to accomplish.
4. Change Requires Dealing
with People
Building sustained success with lean requires
continual coaching, developing, and stretching of people. Changing the
way leaders and team members think is critical to the process and unfortunately
there is no set formula for change. Besides the fact that people learn at
different rates, each team member will have different levers for transformation, and what is successful with one will not necessarily work with
another. Because of this, it is not possible to standardize the change
process. Successful organizational transformation
requires an understanding of W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound
Knowledge. One of the four elements of
profound knowledge is psychology.
Leading a lean transformation requires an understanding of people – how they
think, how they learn, and what motivates them to continually improve. Attempting to standardize the process by
tying it to an assessment ignores this and relying on the tool to drive change.
5.
It’s Still About Gemba
Assessment
processes often turn into office exercises where an auditor meets with a
supervisor or manager in an office to discuss the area being assessed. Even if the assessment is conducted in the
actual workplace, it is generally nothing more than a snapshot of how things
are working at a specific point in time.
Afterwards, some type of report is written that may or may not be read
by the organization’s leaders. Even if a
leader reads the assessment report, it is not possible to develop the level of
understanding needed to lead the change without regularly going to where the
work is done. Assessments shifts
leadership from a face-to-face coaching and development process to one of
judging and grading – definitely not a lean leader behavior.
In
the end, it’s important to remember that the effort is about continually improving
toward perfection rather than “adopting lean.”
Using an assessment to gage progress on the journey can easily shift the
focus away from this and toward the idea that lean is another trendy business
initiative that will eventually go away.
Letting an assessment take the place of everyday interactions –
including meetings, one-on-one discussions, and observation – misses valuable coaching
opportunities that are the basic responsibilities of leadership and much more
effective in changing behavior.
