The first type is a company that is looking to improve. It knows that stagnancy and tradition lead to failure. They look for improvements and a change methodology that will make them more competitive.
The second type of company is one whose leaders and managers feel they are too busy to look for ways to improve. They are more worried about “fighting fires” and feel that if they just put out the fires, they will be successful.
The Second Type
As Shigeo Shingo would say, this second type of company is doomed to bankruptcy. Without a methodology for continuous improvement, you cannot get better, and if you do not get better, your competition will run you over.
So many organizations have felt that they were untouchable, and eventually they all paid the price. Examples can be found in all industries. For example, NCR corporation thought mechanical calculators would always be needed, until they were run over by IBM. Then IBM felt that small computers were not feasible until they were run over by Apple and Microsoft. Similarly, in the transportation industry, passenger rail companies thought they would always be a permanent fixture for long distance travel until the airline industry ran over them. Tradition in industry is doomed to failure.
The First Type
That is enough about that second type of company. Let us focus now on the first type of company, the one searching for improvement and ways to stay relevant to customers. One thing certain in the world of continuous improvement is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of consultants out there who all seem to have the perfect answer to what your company needs. Each has developed its own perfect models for change, and there are also hundreds of books published on the subject.
When company leaders begin searching for outside help to begin evolving their organizations toward excellence, they typically end up trying several consultants. They fail with one and then another, often spending years in their search. They may even experiment with the Toyota Production System (TPS), Lean, or Six Sigma on their own and eventually fail because the changes that were identified and implemented did not stick long term.
Eventually, these companies encounter Lean tools like Standard Work, 5S, or Value Stream Mapping. They see spot improvements and are excited about what they see. But as one Coast Guard General in Hawaii once observed, “I’ve had people implementing these tools for years and I still don’t really know if my overall operations are any better.” He experienced spot improvements but wasn’t sure if they stuck, or if they were focused on the big picture of what the organization was attempting to achieve.
The Shingo Model™
Seeing success with various improvement tools but not seeing sustainability or big picture thinking causes leaders to search for the reasons why. That is when many of these searches turn to the Shingo Model. It offers a methodology that strives for sustainable improvements by integrating cultural changes with systems changes, metrics changes, and consistency.
I have included the current version of the Shingo Model here. Follow along with me on the model as I give a brief overview of how it works. Note that at the center of everything is Culture. No matter how strong an organization is in the other elements of the model, if the culture does not support a continuous improvement environment, entropy will ensue and the culture reverts to an inert status with which employees are familiar and comfortable.
To create the necessary environment, the culture of the organization must be transformed. This transformation requires a structure of goals directed at changing the culture by building and improving the systems that drive employee behavior. The redesign of systems and metrics is where tools come in. Tools can help identify the systems transformations that are critical, and the appropriate metrics which will support those systems.
Patience, My Friends
It is easy to think that we need to use tools to redefine systems and then create metrics in support of these changed systems and then, like magic, we will have the cultural transformation we seek. The reality is that this is an enormous effort. It requires careful, detailed planning. The transformation happens over years and progress is not linear. It ebbs and flows.
Transformation occurs in stages. Even the most successful companies experience trials, failures, and numerous steps before they finally find the mix of elements that work for them. And still they constantly tweak and update those elements over time. The improvement journey is neither quick nor easy but it is worth the effort. This is evident in the stories of every organization that receives either the Shingo Prize or any other Shingo award.
Set Your Foundation
Where to begin this critical cultural transformation? We start by defining who we are as an organization. What are the foundational “Guiding Principles” we will use as the reason for our existence? Principles are the foundation upon which we should build everything. The selection of these principles alone can be enough to begin the transformation of an organization.
Principles are universal and timeless. They apply everywhere and always. Principles are not invented, they are discovered through research and study. Principles also govern consequences. Even if we don’t understand a principle, when we violate it we are subject its consequences. These guiding principles should become the touchstone with which we validate everything we do.
Guiding Principles define who we are as a company. They enable us to set our organizational culture, inform our methodologies for continuous improvement, guide us in the top to bottom alignment of the enterprise and in creating value for the customer. These are foundational, unchanging, and should constructively define the direction of the enterprise goals and continuous improvement process, and also help highlight all the pieces that need to be transformed. Ultimately, the Guiding Principles define the desired culture for the enterprise.
Again, as with all the steps of your transformation, this is not an easy process. It takes time and extensive discussion, but once the principles for the enterprise are defined, they should be set in stone and all other decisions should be built upon this bedrock foundation.
Conclusion
I hope you have found something in this article that will help you keep a continuous improvement mindset and encourage you to redouble the improvement efforts at your organization. I also want to encourage you to strengthen your knowledge of the Shingo Model along with your ability to implement it by completing the Shingo workshop series. As a Shingo Licensed Affiliate, HKPO offers the full range of Shingo workshops, along with experienced instructors to teach them. View our schedule of Shingo workshops.
