At a recent forum the panel the discussion was around programs that
lead an organization to excellence. The most consistent views seemed
to suggest that few programs on their own will achieve excellence.
There needs to be an overall strategy moving an organization towards
excellence. Nothing occurs overnight and each piece of the puzzle
has its own pitfalls.
Looking at the Ford Motor Company, as an example. They have
implemented almost every business improvement or business excellence
strategy possible and they recently posted losses of about $12
BILLION. Clearly, the strategies they have implemented (TQM, TPS,
JIT, Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, and probably more) as well as new IT
systems that have been installed, have not led to business
excellence.
I have seen companies get results from each strategy individually
but few have had breakthrough results. Each strategy has usually
only focused on one aspect of the business, mostly process. Yes,
Lean is moving into the office but it is still process. It is now
about shuffling paper faster and more efficiently. Big deal. ERP
systems moved companies to think in terms of processes and attempted
to break functional silos, but ERPs are transactional systems that
move companies forward incrementally, by creating piecemeal savings.
Yes in a F50 the numbers are large but relatively speaking they are
incremental. People in the business require new skill sets and ROIs
are hardly ever equal to those planned or projected by the IT
departments and consultants! Been there seen that.
GE is often mentioned as an outstanding organization. Business
owners and managers often mention GEs success and Six Sigma in the
same breath. What they fail to realize is Six Sigma was part of an
overall plan. Some GE companies only started on their road to
excellence and using Six Sigma after many years had been spent re
organizing, redesigning, re hiring and focusing the business in
minute detail. Six Sigma was not the cause and final end result of
their improvement, nor their excellence!
Over the past few years I have been working with companies to
achieve their strategies. What this has meant is looking at business
in a holistic manner and making sure each piece of a strategic plan
is budgeted for and is executed to achieve the desired results, or
better. Essentially companies realize that no matter what happens in
their strategic planning sessions they are not realizing the results
they would like to see. Yes, one can just imagine FORD executives
saying" OK guys we are going to drop $12 Billion this next year!
What this means is companies needs to improve their performance in a
multitude of areas. This can be done without a name brand process,
or a software package. To reiterate, it is not about ERPs, CRMs,
Lean, Six Sigma, TQM, or anything else you can think of. Sure you
may add one later but that is not the reason for success, although
it probably will assist in reinforcing the changes that are made
along the way.
The key to excellence in performance is rather simple; It is not
easy but it is simple.
1. Have a great strategy.
2. Surround yourself with people who believe in the strategy.
3. Aggressively execute the strategy.
4. Measure your results along the way.
5. Celebrate your successes
This very simple strategy is often scoffed at as not possibly being
able to work. The reasons for chuckles are typically; my business is
too complex, we are different, and you dont understand my business,
I am sure you have all heard these and more, yet this process has
never failed. Its tried and tested. Everything else clouds your
vision and makes things seem more complex than they really are.
There are, however, any number of small, middle market, and
transitional businesses who have grown 3 - 5x their revenue using
this very simple strategy. Again, the simplicity should not
overshadow the difficulty of actually implementing it. It is tough.
People are the issue. Its about challenging paradigms. Moving
through false assumptions and mental models which may have become
ingrained over many years.
So how do you get this right? Get your top team together. For a
session with a difference. Develop that strategy that everybody can
support from the get-go. Start with assessing and analyzing the
things you do well and the things in which you are challenged. Be
rigorous and hide nothing. Your failures reversed could just propel
you to success. Failures are an indication of trying new things and
just not having figured out all the kinks. Develop working
guidelines for achieving success when implementing new approaches.
Ensure these are in line with your companies values. This step is
all too often overlooked and very quickly leads to discontent and
resulting failure.
Next step is letting each team member developing process based, or
even functional based priorities for the year. Present these to the
group with the rationale as to their inclusion. Once they are all up
there select no more than ten as the major objectives for the
organization. This is not as simple as it sounds, mind you. A good
facilitator will certainly help.
List those top ten objectives. Determine the metrics of success.
Define monthly targets. Determine how to get the data in a format to
present to your group and the company to show success.
This will be the basis of a monthly review. You will be visiting the
exceptions in detail and celebrating successes. This will be the
cornerstone of achieving strategic success and corporate excellence.
Focused monthly review session based on the top ten objectives will
place you squarely on the path to success and excellence.
Like I said, simple. Not easy.
lead an organization to excellence. The most consistent views seemed
to suggest that few programs on their own will achieve excellence.
There needs to be an overall strategy moving an organization towards
excellence. Nothing occurs overnight and each piece of the puzzle
has its own pitfalls.
Looking at the Ford Motor Company, as an example. They have
implemented almost every business improvement or business excellence
strategy possible and they recently posted losses of about $12
BILLION. Clearly, the strategies they have implemented (TQM, TPS,
JIT, Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, and probably more) as well as new IT
systems that have been installed, have not led to business
excellence.
I have seen companies get results from each strategy individually
but few have had breakthrough results. Each strategy has usually
only focused on one aspect of the business, mostly process. Yes,
Lean is moving into the office but it is still process. It is now
about shuffling paper faster and more efficiently. Big deal. ERP
systems moved companies to think in terms of processes and attempted
to break functional silos, but ERPs are transactional systems that
move companies forward incrementally, by creating piecemeal savings.
Yes in a F50 the numbers are large but relatively speaking they are
incremental. People in the business require new skill sets and ROIs
are hardly ever equal to those planned or projected by the IT
departments and consultants! Been there seen that.
GE is often mentioned as an outstanding organization. Business
owners and managers often mention GEs success and Six Sigma in the
same breath. What they fail to realize is Six Sigma was part of an
overall plan. Some GE companies only started on their road to
excellence and using Six Sigma after many years had been spent re
organizing, redesigning, re hiring and focusing the business in
minute detail. Six Sigma was not the cause and final end result of
their improvement, nor their excellence!
Over the past few years I have been working with companies to
achieve their strategies. What this has meant is looking at business
in a holistic manner and making sure each piece of a strategic plan
is budgeted for and is executed to achieve the desired results, or
better. Essentially companies realize that no matter what happens in
their strategic planning sessions they are not realizing the results
they would like to see. Yes, one can just imagine FORD executives
saying" OK guys we are going to drop $12 Billion this next year!
What this means is companies needs to improve their performance in a
multitude of areas. This can be done without a name brand process,
or a software package. To reiterate, it is not about ERPs, CRMs,
Lean, Six Sigma, TQM, or anything else you can think of. Sure you
may add one later but that is not the reason for success, although
it probably will assist in reinforcing the changes that are made
along the way.
The key to excellence in performance is rather simple; It is not
easy but it is simple.
1. Have a great strategy.
2. Surround yourself with people who believe in the strategy.
3. Aggressively execute the strategy.
4. Measure your results along the way.
5. Celebrate your successes
This very simple strategy is often scoffed at as not possibly being
able to work. The reasons for chuckles are typically; my business is
too complex, we are different, and you dont understand my business,
I am sure you have all heard these and more, yet this process has
never failed. Its tried and tested. Everything else clouds your
vision and makes things seem more complex than they really are.
There are, however, any number of small, middle market, and
transitional businesses who have grown 3 - 5x their revenue using
this very simple strategy. Again, the simplicity should not
overshadow the difficulty of actually implementing it. It is tough.
People are the issue. Its about challenging paradigms. Moving
through false assumptions and mental models which may have become
ingrained over many years.
So how do you get this right? Get your top team together. For a
session with a difference. Develop that strategy that everybody can
support from the get-go. Start with assessing and analyzing the
things you do well and the things in which you are challenged. Be
rigorous and hide nothing. Your failures reversed could just propel
you to success. Failures are an indication of trying new things and
just not having figured out all the kinks. Develop working
guidelines for achieving success when implementing new approaches.
Ensure these are in line with your companies values. This step is
all too often overlooked and very quickly leads to discontent and
resulting failure.
Next step is letting each team member developing process based, or
even functional based priorities for the year. Present these to the
group with the rationale as to their inclusion. Once they are all up
there select no more than ten as the major objectives for the
organization. This is not as simple as it sounds, mind you. A good
facilitator will certainly help.
List those top ten objectives. Determine the metrics of success.
Define monthly targets. Determine how to get the data in a format to
present to your group and the company to show success.
This will be the basis of a monthly review. You will be visiting the
exceptions in detail and celebrating successes. This will be the
cornerstone of achieving strategic success and corporate excellence.
Focused monthly review session based on the top ten objectives will
place you squarely on the path to success and excellence.
Like I said, simple. Not easy.
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