Applying PDCA to a Lean Deployment

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Anyone who has read many of the posts on this blog will probably notice that I'm a little obsessed with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.  There is good reason for this. I believe that understanding and internalizing PDCA is an absolute necessity to have any chance of achieving a sustained lean transformation.

It surprises me when I see a lean deployment plan that doesn't incorporate PDCA at its core. When this happens, the implementation often lacks the flexibility to address the unforeseen issues that can stall or even kill the effort.

Although there are some elements common to virtually every lean transformation, there is no magic formula.  People, organizations, and business environments differ, and it's impossible to understand and take them all into account when developing the deployment plan.  Also, since people internalize and adopt the philosophy at different rates, flexibility is necessary to continue moving forward.  The PDCA cycle naturally builds continual checks and adjustments to assure the effort succeeds.

 

HOW TO DO IT

 

Besides increasing the probability of a successful transformation, applying PDCA to a lean deployment is an excellent way to demonstrate how the cycle is used to accomplish a major business initiative.  The steps, based on a Hoshin Kanri approach, include:

PLAN As with any improvement effort, a lean deployment plan must begin with clarifying the objectives and vision, as well as an idea of the current state of the organization to understand the gaps that need to be addressed so a plan of action can be developed;

DO  The plan must include clear steps, responsibilities, and timelines in order to be implemented effectively;

CHECK  Understanding whether the action plans are proceeding on schedule, as well as their effectiveness in enabling the stated objectives to be met are necessary to keep the transformation effort on course;

ACT  Based on the results of the CHECK step, the plan continues as designed or adjustments are made to address areas of weakness.

Modeling and coaching behavior are perhaps the most important aspects of leading a lean transformation effort. Attempting to get people to adopt PDCA thinking in their daily work without utilizing it as part of the plan will lead to frustration, confusion, and disappointment with the deployment altogether.

Strategy Deployment: Hoshin, PDCA & Drucker

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NOTE:  This blog is moving!  Please read future posts at http://leadingtransformation.wordpress.com 

In another chapter from the book of simple concepts that are difficult to implement comes the story of strategy deployment.  Over the years, I have seen some great business plans that failed to deliver because of the inability to stay focused and drive them into the organization.

Hoshin kanri is a process focused on setting direction, developing plans, and managing implementation.  Progress on the plan is continually reviewed to understand when adjustments are needed to achieve success.

There have been many books written about Hoshin Kanri that cover the subject in great depth.  And since I could never adequately cover the topic in detail in a short blog post, I’ll try to hit on what I consider to be the high points of the process.

Hoshin & Drucker

Much of the hoshin process appears to be aligned with Peter Drucker’s method of strategy deployment.  I have always considered the strength of Drucker’s approach to lie in his technique of continually asking a few simple questions to get people focused on what’s truly important.

What are we trying to achieve?
How are we doing?
What are we doing about it?

Hoshin Kanri follows a similar approach through the application of the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle to business planning.  Deploying strategy requires an obsessive focus on the few high-level objectives that are critical to success.  Utilizing Drucker’s simple questioning technique within a PDCA framework helps maintain focus by increasing understanding of the following:

PLAN:  What are our objectives?
DO:  What are our plans to meet objectives?
CHECK:  How are we doing?  Are our results meeting objectives?
ACT:  What are we doing about it?

Another benefit of PDCA in strategy deployment is that it drives home the idea that business planning is not a once per year exercise.  It is an ongoing process that needs continual reflection and adjustment to succeed.  There is no "new" plan each year - there is only a new revision that has been adjusted to account for progress and changes in the environment.

Deploying Strategy

 The initiatives that are developed from the business plan also go through the PDCA process to assure they continue to progress.  When doing the CHECK on each of the initiatives, the team should follow the general approach listed in the exhibit.  By creating the initiatives, the team is predicting that completing them will result in meeting one or more business objectives.  Because of this, it is important to review whether the initiative is progressing as planned and, if so, whether or not it is driving the desired results.

Although the Drucker questions appear simple, the answers can get fairly complex.  The key is to provide enough time to reflect on the answers in order to keep people focused on objectives.  The effectiveness of leadership, after all, lies in the ability to simplify complexity.  Whether using Hoshin Kanri or some other method, it is critical to utilize some type of framework that enables this to occur.