When the initiative comes from the front line
Every semester we welcome many participants from the most diverse sectors to our Lean Practical Training Program. Many of them come in small groups from one company, so that they can work together and help one another during the activities and, above all, in preparing the A3. It is always a very rewarding experience that enables them to apply in practice, in their companies, what they learned in theory in the course.
This leads many to think that the PPFL is only viable for companies where support comes from the top, from senior leadership, which assigns working groups to the program. This view does not represent reality, however, since we always welcome many participants who, on their own, decide to take the initiative and, often without waiting for senior leadership to call the shots, take part in the program. What is the experience like for these people who decide that they themselves can start the lean journey in their companies, without waiting for change to come from above? What difficulties do they face? What do they gain from the program? How much success do they achieve?
In this last PPFL we ran, we had three participants who joined the program on their own initiative – two from the food sector and one from a steelmaker – and who achieved significant results by the end of the program, such as: a financial return of one million reais in one year, an increase in performance from 70% to 90% for the company's main product and a reduction in lead time of up to 50% in critical processes.
However, before reaching these results and showing everyone how worthwhile this can be and how change can indeed start from the base, these three participants faced the challenge of going through the PPFL “alone”. In this article, we have gathered some of the difficulties they shared and some tips for you who have started, or are thinking of starting, your lean implementation journey on your own initiative.
Don't be a lone genius
Even though our companies were aware of and, in a way, had approved our participation in the program, in our examples the desire to adopt a lean culture did not come from senior leadership, but from the base's own choice, with the aim of being able to deliver a real result, relieve pressures and solve problems. With the responsibility of bringing solutions and improving or maintaining positive results on an extensive list of KPIs, we felt this anxiety to find mechanisms that would “accelerate” the process and to eliminate recurring annoyances, despite daily efforts.
Taking the course on our own initiative was not easy at first, but a decisive point in overcoming this “isolated” action was joining other colleagues in similar situations, outside the course meetings as well. We found in one another an excellent opportunity to grow together from a common difficulty. What seemed like a simple chat among us completely changed the feeling of incapacity we had. We helped one another by sharing difficulties and learnings and taking turns being the sensei. Together, we realized that lean is a transformation of the way we do, see and conduct problem solving.
Our union was a driving force behind our success in the program, but bringing lean to the whole organization starting from the base is another story. To sustain the learning, it is necessary to play the role of sensei until other people manage to change the way they look at the problem and stop proposing an immediate solution. At first, it is necessary to lead people to go to the gemba and avoid consulting software to get the data for analyzing problems. The seemingly faster way to obtain information is often more bureaucratic and does not reflect the reality of the facts.
By bringing lean to our companies, we were able to show, through our visits to the gemba, a surprising understanding of the process to the other people in the organization, and from then on our companies were able to rethink their flows and redesign their equipment. This diagnosis provided by the PPFL was a discovery that made it easier for everyone involved to propose countermeasures that made sense.
Start digging
Have you ever felt that your A3 is not moving forward even though your mind has the most amazing solutions? Painfully, we need to admit that we often do not understand what is really happening, only the symptoms. And the root cause? The scientific side of lean lies in delving intensely into the problem until all the whys have been answered consistently and with evidence that they are linked to the gap and can remove the obstacles that keep us from reaching a target.
To overcome this difficulty, you have to suffer a little, because accepting that we have to change ourselves before changing the processes is the only way to realize that we design processes that are prone to all kinds of errors. By observing and listening to how the other participants worked and reported their experiences, through exercises in which we had to know how to do things and answer the questions, we developed new perceptions with the contribution of the instructors' stories and the reading of the suggested books.
Understanding came slowly, but naturally. We need to help people question and look for an answer that makes sense and that can be related to the gap. It is a continuous process, but, once started, it becomes impossible to think about the solution without knowing what the problem is. The causes are visible, you just need to change your glasses: we often dig into our causes in what is apparent or in what we believe to be the reason, often wrapped up in uncontrolled variables; changing our glasses made us see the problem more simply and focus on causes we can act on.
Lean is socio-technical
In general, most training programs offer us a “package” of tools, tips and a guide on where to start and what to do. We are left with the premise that, by taking a new qualification in a “methodology”, we will learn how to implement lean in our companies. However, the much-desired step-by-step never came, only a “be intuitive, live and understand your situation”. “Use only what is necessary to expose the problem and dig deep to see what was not visible”. “Don't blame people, be critical of your losses and your process and help people”.
Thinking we would learn how to solve a problem using an A3 sheet with a few quadrants, divided into right and left sides, we came up against an even bigger problem: how? Through conversations and accounts of difficulties among ourselves, while we showed the progress of our A3s, and during the tutoring sessions, we discovered that each quadrant of the A3 was a step to follow, but that, behind each step, there would be many visits to the gemba, collection of data and facts, and discussions with other people involved and active in the process. The solution depends on each situation, and it is not the number of tools that makes the answer easier; after all, lean is lean.
Filling out an A3 is not that immediate and simple, because it depends on how much you already know about the problem. So, when you reach the point of saying “now I know what I don't know”, things start to improve, and the A3 starts to make sense. It took us a while to see it as a PDCA, partly because we believe we already do PDCAs routinely, but, in the depth and intensity necessary to check, we rarely do them well, because the actions are not always able to eliminate the gap. The penny does not drop right away, because we have our bad habits of using tools without their essence and just filling them in to present and show that we have the answers and that our brilliant solution solved the problem. It may even seem to solve it, but when the problem comes back, there is always another cause, and we go off looking for whoever is to blame for not following the action plan to the letter.
To overcome this difficulty, the guidance and recommended readings helped in this process. When we looked at one another's A3s and got a “I don't see what you are saying in your A3”, we realized how decisive it was to have other people's help. Showing the A3 to other people helps a lot, because anyone needs to easily understand what is happening, what the target and the gap to be removed are, the root cause of the problem and the related countermeasures. The connections need to be clear.
For this, there is intense work and learning behind the A3 (and many, many drafts). Through the A3 work, it was possible to see needs for innovations and for introducing new methods and materials to reach the target. In addition, we found that there was no high cost involved: with simple measures and strategic partnerships, the result would be achieved. We learned that only after doing many A3s will we be able to teach others and adopt the concept effectively and embedded in the routine.
But how do you know which approach technique to use? Which problem analysis tool? The answer is: if you really know what you don't know, you will know what you need to know. And when you discover what the problem is, it will be easy to find the countermeasures. Change begins in our way of thinking and, as leading with respect advances, we are able to connect the tools simply and adjusted to our reality. That is why we say that lean is 30% technical and 70% social. Applying the tools is not enough; we need to change the culture.
Once lean enters your life, you can no longer act the old way
A great difficulty (and question) that arises when the PPFL meetings end is “how do I move forward now?”. At the last meeting, many said that, despite the fatigue and effort of being there, many would miss the meetings. This first feeling of being alone, with no one to ask, without a more experienced person to guide your way, brings some insecurity, but lean is teaching, philosophy and a way of thinking.
If you have embraced the change, you will be able to walk on your own, which does not mean you will not stumble, as in any learning process. After all, if you spent 4 months listening to teachings, receiving guidance and practicing the lean way of being as a person, something must have changed. If the transformation took place in you, you will not lose it. You never go back, because it was a lesson for life, and not a step-by-step method to be followed methodically. To overcome this fear, we have to keep the teachings alive, read and reread the recommended books, keep conversation groups active and challenge ourselves to inspire other people.
Lean is a philosophy that goes far beyond contributing to process improvement. It is a philosophy that changes our lives, greatly changes the way we act, changes our perception. The possibilities that open up before us when we have knowledge of lean are incredible; the horizon widens in front of us.
Taking part in a PPFL on your own initiative may seem intimidating at first, but if you join alone, you will find a supportive environment and people with the same purpose who are willing to share and listen to experiences. Lean teaches us to join forces and respect learning, but it also exposes our weaknesses. If management doesn't give you a project, build improvement together with the base, because they know where the waste is and are generally willing to eliminate the problems that clog up their routines. Then present the gains built with everyone's participation. Convincing through results is very good!
New PPFL classes are starting. Check out the classes offered this semester: healthcare, industry and digital.
