Sustaining Lean: Four Crucial Elements for Enduring Transformation

Sustaining Lean: Four Crucial Elements for Enduring Transformation

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Venturing into the realm of lean transformation, a common question arises: How do we keep lean going? How can we embed lean thinking into our organization's culture, making it a part of our corporate DNA, and motivating the entire workforce to continuously improve processes for the betterment of customers, employees, and society?

To achieve any change, especially one as challenging as a lean transformation, it's all about changing behaviors. So, how do we get the workforce fired up about the behaviors that drive our lean strategy?

I'm firm in my belief that the key lies in integrating four essential components of change:

1. Principles
2. Behaviors
3. Motivators
4. Enablers

On their own, their power might be minimal, but together, they provide the fuel to set off the actions required for creating a culture of continuous improvement. Though not independent entities, these components overlap, are interdependent, and gain their strength from effectively integrating each with the others.

To explore these components and their interactions, let's take a peek at each one and see how they all come together to spur behavior changes for an effective lean transformation.

Lean Principles

Lean principles serve as the foundation for any lean strategy. Consider them the "raw truths" of lean.

Overarching Principles

1. Cater to the customer's needs and wants.
2. Eliminate redundancies and waste.

People Principles

*1. Empower everyone, encourage their ideas*

*2. Acknowledge people's worth*

1. Foster a spirit of teamwork.

Process Principles

1. Focus on process efficiency.
2. Streamline the value stream.
3. Prioritize continued flow.

Improvement Principles

1. Cultivate problem-solving skills (PDCA method).
2. Nurture a culture of continuous improvement.

When assessing any lean activity, it should be based on alignment with these principles. Instead of dwelling on the details and rationales behind each principle, let's focus on their role in shaping the necessary behavior changes for an impactful lean transformation.

Lean Behaviors

Lean behaviors stem from lean principles. For example, the "focus on process" principle defines workforce behaviors related to following and improving standard processes. The "PDCA method" principle defines behaviors related to structured experimentation and enhancing problem-solving abilities. The behaviors derived from the "teamwork" principle focus on collaboration, as opposed to isolation among team members. Additionally, the "empower everyone" principle challenges us to create an environment where every employee is engaged and contributing to the improvement efforts, offering suggestions, pointing out issues, and collaborating with their teammates.

But simply knowing what needs to be done isn't enough. Change is hard, especially when ingrained habits have been reinforced over extended periods. All lean organizations strive for workforce engagement, an emphatic alignment with the "empower everyone" principle. But why do so many organizations find that only a fraction of employees are genuinely engaged?

Defining the behaviors needed to cultivate a lean culture is crucial, but we need the final two components of change — motivators and enablers — to spark a lean transformation.

Motivators and Enablers

Motivators kindle the "desire to act." I want to take action. Enablers instill the "ability to act." I have the tools and skills required to act. Both are essential for triggering behavior change. If an employee lacks the desire or the skills, the desired lean behavior won't be executed effectively.

Where can we find these elements that spark the desire and ability to act? Here are three categories to consider:

Employee Drivers and Skills

This category encompasses an individual's personal inner motivators. They want to participate in the lean transformation journey and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, not because they have to, but because there's something inherent about the job that stirs them to act. One factor could be their desire to influence changes to their job, taking control of their work environment. This encourages them to learn new skills and methods that foster behavior change. The training and coaching provided would be the enabling factors. Even with the desire or motivation, if the know-how is missing, behavior remains unchanged.

Or they might be motivated by the overall purpose of the organization and the value the company creates for customers. Or maybe they're driven by the growth motivation of expanding their skills and acquiring new ones. The growth motivation also functions as an enabler by increasing ability through acquired knowledge and skills. These are only a few of the personal motivators and enabling factors that ignite the will and know-how to engage actively in the lean strategy.

Leader and Peer Influence

This category refers to the impact leaders and peers have on whether we take the desired actions. An employee might want to contribute to the improvement plan, but if their leader doesn't create opportunities to engage and learn, it's unlikely to happen. And if an employee offers an improvement suggestion, but their leader dismisses the idea, they're less likely to speak up again. The role of leaders in guiding team member behaviors cannot be overstated.

Peers can also have a powerful impact. They can inspire and support lean behaviors, but they can also discourage them. Especially for new employees, successful peers can serve as models for others to emulate. Further, peers can also support each other in mastering job skills and holding each other accountable for performance.

If influential peers aren't aligned with the desired behaviors, it's probable that their peers won't be either.

Structural Elements

Influence isn't limited to people; structural elements of the workplace can also impact behavior. Systems, policies, and procedures are included in this category, as well as tools and practices that might not even be formalized (e.g., "unwritten rules").

Consider supporting systems such as rewards and recognition. If teamwork across departments is desired, but teamwork isn't valued in performance assessments or taken into account during promotions, the employee will be discouraged from engaging in the desired behavior. This becomes a demotivator. Rewards and recognition can have the same motivating or demotivating effect.

Also included in this category are tools and methods that enable behavior change. Even if an employee wants to quickly bring attention to problems, if there's no mechanism to facilitate this action (e.g., an andon signal), it won't happen. The andon mechanism functions as an enabler as it provides the means for an operator to bring attention to an issue.

Other enablers are various mistake-proofing methods and tools that at least make making errors more challenging. A multitude of items fit into this category of inanimate, structural factors that can either motivate and enable or discourage and demotivate desired lean behaviors.

Conclusion

Adopt a holistic and structured approach to integrate principles, behaviors, motivators, and enablers that drive workforce engagement and foster a lean culture of continuous improvement. Follow the framework below, which combines insights from Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, and contemporary continuous improvement models.

1. Define and Live by Principles: Establish a set of organizational principles that embody your philosophy and values. They are the foundation of your strategy.
2. Clarify Desired Behaviors: Use the principles to clearly define the behaviors required to create a lean culture. If there's ambiguity, you're unlikely to achieve it.
3. Spark the Desire to Act: Introduce motivators that incite action. They fuel enthusiasm.
4. Give Employees the Means to Act: Provide enablers that build capabilities. They equip employees with the tools they need to succeed.

Change is all about behaviors. And if you're not seeing the behaviors you want, it's likely a breakdown in integrating these elements and their interactions.

1. To motivate personal growth and continuous learning within the workforce, one should focus on integrating the principles, behaviors, motivators, and enablers that foster a lean culture.
2. For an effective lean transformation, it is essential to encourage the workforce to engage in behaviors that align with the organization's principles, such as empowering everyone, fostering teamwork, and catering to customer needs, by utilizing motivators and enablers that kindle the desire and ability to act.

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