Change is Inevitable

Basic Business Cents

“It is not necessary to change; survival is not mandatory.”

W. Edwards Deming

The world around us is changing rapidly and we must change in order to stay in business and prosper. Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” It is no longer possible to stand still; we either go forward or we regress. Three areas of change are crucial; process improvement/innovation, strategy, and culture.

The biggest breakthrough in management thinking is to change focus from the product/service to the process that produces the product/service. Certainly problems occur with products/services, which demand attention, but it is important to reach a balance of one’s time between problem solving and process improvement/innovation. Typically, managers have the responsibility to create and improve processes and employees do the best job they can within the process they are given. Employees can be involved in collecting data and, if trained in process improvement techniques, they can start to analyze the data and make suggestions to management. Management must also be trained in the improvement/innovation techniques to develop new or improved processes with the input from the data of existing processes.

Strategy is also in need of change. Robotics in manufacturing, electronic communications in marketing and training, and advances in distribution are impacting everyone. The aim or dream for the future needs to be identified and shared by all employees so they can work together to accomplish it. Whatever might stop the organization from achieving that aim should be identified along with opportunities available and a strategy identified to achieve the collective aim or dream. A leader should be selected to be responsible for the achievement of each strategic action and report regularly on progress. Words without action are useless and follow-up is key to accomplishment of the strategy.

Culture change is also important. Gone are the days of cracking the whip over employees and are being replaced by leadership. Business is so complex today that one, or a few, brains aren’t enough; we need the brainpower of all employees to succeed. Leaders aren’t drivers but more leaders, being out in front, setting the example. They embrace the minds of the employees. Trust and respect must be exemplified at all levels, up, down and across the organization. Training must be provided at all levels and a growth path for employees should be visualized. Leaders should display enthusiasm and a positive attitude because negativity will rub off on the employees and morale will tail off.  Leaders lead!

Why change? It provides opportunities to grow and flourish.  Change is exciting, rewarding, and provides a sense of accomplishment for all.

Fix the Right Stuff

Basic Business Cents

We only have so much time, energy, and emotional drive; we need to deploy it wisely. It is much harder to regain momentum in the organization after a false start than it is to initiate it. Following are three areas in which we need to constantly remind ourselves to avoid missteps.

Fix the Problem, Not the Blame

Few people deliberately make mistakes. They want to be proud of their work and their organization. Blame is demoralizing and counter productive. Blame wastes time and money and delays customer satisfaction. We want and need an environment where people feel free to identify problems without experiencing repercussions. It can cause employees to hide problems and stifle innovation. Fixing the problem is constructive use of your energy; fixing blame is destructive to the organization. Focus on fixing the problem; it gets solved and the employees are happier.

Fix the Cause, Not the Symptom

If you spend time compensating for the symptoms of a problem, it doesn’t go away. The problem continues to exhaust time and effort. Fixing symptoms is just rework, over and over again. Instead, spend your time digging for the real cause of the problem and eliminating it so you can go on to more productive activities. When you break your arm, you don’t just take pain killers to mask your discomfort, you treat you arm in order to heal and reduce the pain. The same holds true for work, you should not just mask the pain and continue doing the same thing without removing the cause.

Fix the Process, Not the Product/Service

All work consists of a series of processes that produces our products or services. Bad processes, not by people doing something wrong, cause most problems. Two world leaders in the field of performance improvement shared thoughts on the percent of fault for problems. Joseph Juran stated that in his experience, he found 80% of the time it was a process problem and only 20% of the time was it people at fault. W. Edwards Deming said he thought 90-95% of the time it was a weak or faulty process that led to the problem. Again, don’t blame people, they are doing the best job they can with the processes they are given. Typically, management’s job is to create and improve the work processes and the people’s job to follow the processes. The ideal is to create processes that are incapable of producing bad products.

By focusing on the right things, fixing the right stuff, we can conserve our time and energy and get the best results. This results in happier and more fulfilled customers, employees, and managers.