Bend the Curve Continuous Improvement Practitioners

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Maine State Documents (Maine State Library)

Maine State LibraryMaine State DocumentsMDOL Bend the Curve Archive Labor2-1-2011Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2011Bend the Curve Continuous Improvement PractitionersFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_newsThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Labor at Maine State Documents. It has been accepted for inclusion in MDOL Bend theCurve Archive by an authorized administrator of Maine State Documents. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationBend the Curve Continuous Improvement Practitioners, "Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2011" (2011). MDOL Bend the CurveArchive. Paper 31.http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_news/31  What is the future of Lean for Maine State Government?   We have written a lot about budget problems facing the state and the nation over the past several months.   Truly, these are lean times, but are they lean times for Lean?   Over the past several months we have also provided an answer.   NO.  Not possible.   However, CI-Ps should know by now that what we think and what actually is the case is often full of surprises.   Think of this challenge: How does one go about transforming government without an under-standing that all work is a proc-ess?   History would surmise - not very well.   We all have seen enough im-provement efforts over the years  to know that the typical type of improvement effort really hasn’t made things much better -  has it?  DOP 2-2 2-5 Lean 101 6-7 Schedule of Lean Events  9 CI-P Listing 10 Active Listening 8    Inside this issue:     We recognize that every ad-ministration takes office with good intentions to produce change in order to “make things better’ for its citizens.   It seems, however, that the general trend has been more down then up.   Witness:  The on-going budget situation facing Maine and other states in the nation.   So what happened to all the change for the better?   We have seen just about eve-rything tried from Performance Based Budgeting to TQM.    We have seen layoffs, fur-lough days, Blue Ribbon Commis-sions, hiring freezes, mergers, outsourcing, privatizing, cen-tralization, and decentralization.    Yet here we are again with too much to do and too little to do it with.   Why?   The prevailing thought is that government is too big, too costly and too burdensome. Bend   Curve  The Future of Lean  Volume 6, Issue 2 CI-P News February  2011 continued on p. 9  —  Walter E. Lowell Special points of interest:  ● Next   Clinicals    March  25  April 15  May 13       Seated:  Scott Thompson, Anne Rogerson, Ann O’Brien, Joan Cook Standing:  Eric Dibner, Marcel Gagne, Hank McIntyre, Jerrold Melville, Kim-Marie Jenkins, Kelly Grenier Page 2 Volume 6, Issue 2  January 31 — February 4, 2011 Lean Lab, 221 State Street, Augusta  The second week of intensive Practitioner training at the Bronze level, Develop-ment of Practitioners 2-2, was based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.  The training focused on systems and problem-solving as well as the practice, practice, practice of the knowledge and skills needed to design and conduct improvement interven-tions and for bronze CI-P certification.  The week included an experiential workshop, with participants learning and apply-ing basic Lean principles, concepts, and tools in a simulation (see pp. 6-7).  For the ten DOP 2-2 CI-Ps, the simulation also provided a shared, common experience which served as the foundation for ensuing modules.  A significant Wednesday snowstorm, with the State ultimately closing at noon, re-sulted in a redesign of the training.  It was agreed that the modules missed would be conducted as soon as possible, some during the next Clinical Supervision, Feb-ruary 18th.   The week ended with a rousing game of Lean Jeopardy.                 Development of Practitioners 2-2 Bronze Level   CI-P News Page 3  Page 4 Volume 6, Issue 2   Bend the Curve DOP 2-2 January 31 — February 4, 2011 Lean Lab, 221 State Street, Augusta Seated-Faculty:  John Rioux, Walter Lowell, Arthur Davis, Lita Klavins Standing-Participants:  Scott Thompson, Anne Rogerson, Eric Dibner, Marcel Gagne, Hank McIntyre, Jerrold Melville,                                        Kim-Marie Jenkins, Kelly Grenier, Joan Cook, Ann O’Brien  CI-P News Page 5  Page 6 Volume 6, Issue 2 An introductory experiential workshop conducted by Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership  (MEP) Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Lean Lab, 221 State Street, Augusta  Conducted as part of DOP 2-2 with the ten CI-Ps participating, ten additional workshop slots were opened up to others who wanted to understand basic Lean concepts and start on the road to a Lean enterprise.  Using a dynamic simulated environment, MEP’s Wayne Messer and Bill Whittier brought the par-ticipants from a traditional operation to a Lean enterprise, eliminating waste and increasing pro-ductivity and profitability.  In this simulated learning experience, workshop participants experi-enced a complete Lean transformation and learned how to implement Lean principles throughout their own organizations.   Lean 101 — Principles of Lean Operations  CI-P News Page 7    CI-P News Page 8      4.  Defer judgment.  Interrupting is a waste of time.  It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message.    Allow the speaker to finish.  Don't interrupt with counter arguments.  5.  Respond Appropriately.  Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining informa-tion and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.    Be candid, open, and honest in your response.  Assert your opinions respectfully.  Use neutral/factual terms and avoid judgmental terms.   Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.   Key Points  It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if your listening habits are as bad as many people's are, then there's a lot of habit-breaking to do!  Be deliberate with your listening and remind yourself frequently that your goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying. Set aside all other thoughts and be-haviors and concentrate on the message. Ask ques-tions, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure you understand the message. If you don't, then you'll find that what someone says to you and what you hear can be amaz-ingly different!  Start using active listening today to become a better communicator, improve your workplace productivity, and develop better relationships.   Adapted from:  http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm  Becoming an Active Listener There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they say.  1.  Pay attention.  Give the speaker your undivided at-tention, and acknowledge the message.  Recognize that non-verbal communication also "speaks" loudly.    Look at the speaker directly.  Put aside distracting thoughts. Don't mentally pre-pare a rebuttal!  Put aside other things you may be doing.  Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.  "Listen" to the speaker's body language and feeling content.  Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.  2.  Show that you are listening.  Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.    Nod occasionally.  Smile and use other facial expressions.  Note your posture and make sure it is open and in-viting.  Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.  3.  Provide feedback.  Our personal filters, assump-tions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear.  As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said.  This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.    Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. "What I'm hearing is." and "Sounds like you are saying." are great ways to reflect back.  Ask questions to clarify certain points. "What do you mean when you say...."   "Is this what you mean?"  Summarize the speaker's comments periodically.   Tip: Be aware of your own feelings and viewpoints. For example, if you find yourself responding emotionally to what someone said, say so, and ask for more infor-mation: "I may not be understanding you correctly, and I find myself taking what you said personally. What I thought you just said is XXX; is that what you meant?"   Active Listening Active Listening focuses on the establishment of quality connections and communication between an individual and others.  The feedback model we use in BTC reflects our active listening (and ob-servation) skills.  As in all things, becoming an effective active listener takes practice!  However, care must be taken not to use this, or similar, models to manipulate or put others down.  Page 9 Volume 6, Issue 2    Date Time Topic Location Contact March 25 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/ASD April 15 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/ASD May 13 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/ASD * To add or see more events or detail, go to the Bend the Curve Calendar in Outlook’s Public Folders.   We take this to mean:  We need a government that is efficient, cost-effective, and easy to use.   If it were a product, it would be one you and I would gladly purchase.   Here at CI-P News, this raises the question:  What needs to be done differ-ently from what has already been done?   Or simply,  How do we create a      government that is better, faster, and cheaper?    This question has an easy answer for CI-Ps:   “Lean — period, full stop.”  As Arthur would want to say.   It is, of course, more then this - but it is also a great big deal of that.   For governments everywhere, it is the HOW question of our times.   Every other industry and business sector from automobile manufacturing to insurance, banking and, now, healthcare, has had to face this question and find an answer to it if they were to stay busi-ness – how to become better, faster, cheaper.  Even though we work in government, not business, we too must answer this question and, I suggest, in a manner simi-lar to the way the more successful of the aforementioned did.   This is what Ken Miller says so elo-quently in Widgets.  If them, why not us (i.e. government)?   We got to where we are now because we did not have a good answer to the How question.    What worked in business and indus-try, namely Lean, was largely unknown to government until recently.   But it is a strategy CI-Ps have been practicing and perfecting in government for the last 6 years.  We know it works.   Yes, Lean has a future in Maine State Government.     The big question, of course, is:    What is the next step?        —— Walter  The Future of Lean   (cont’d from page 1)  BTC Lean Events OLM/BTC Staff: Walter E. Lowell, Ed.D. CPHQ, Director         Phone: 207-287-4307         walter.lowell@maine.gov Julita Klavins, M.S.W.          Phone: 207-287-4217         lita.klavins@maine.gov  The primary purpose of the Bend the Curve Team is to provide support, consultation, assistance, and leadership in continuous improvement approaches and activities for State staff, work teams, and lead-ers as they seek to continually improve their work culture, systems, processes, and environments – in order to meet the mission of Maine State govern-ment and the expectations of Maine citizens.   Office of Lean Management, DHHS 221 State Street Augusta, Maine 04333-0011  FAX: 207-287-3005 TTY: 1-800-606-0215 Lean Lab : 207-287-6164  More Miller workshops & DOP 1-6 being planned !    We’re on the net ! http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/btc   CI-P News Page 10   Additional workshops with Ken Miller are be-ing planned.  We’ll keep you posted.   The introductory week-long CI-P Bronze level training DOP 1-6 is be-ing planned for mid-year.  More info will be forthcoming.  You can also check the Bend the Curve Calen-dar in Outlook’s Public Folders & come to the planning meetings for Clinicals and other events. Continuous Improvement Practitioners: BTC Intervention Facilitation Status  DHHS   DOL   DAFS   Kate D. Carnes C-L Jorge A. Acero I-O Wendy Christian I-O Nancy Cronin C-O Michael T. Brooker I-O Rebecca S. Greene I-L Marcel Gagne LCL Deidre A. Coleman I-O Lyndon R. Hamm I-LCL Julita Klavins L Joan A. Cook L Billy J. Ladd I-LCL Don Lemieux C-O Merle A. Davis L Maayan L. Lahti I-O Muriel Littlefield C Eric Dibner O Michaela T. Loisel I-L Walter E. Lowell L Peter D. Diplock O Henry B. McIntyre O Jerrold Melville O Brenda G. Drummond I-O Gloria R. Payne I-O Ann O’Brien L Anita C. Dunham I-LCL DOT   Cheryl Ring C-LCL Karen D. Fraser I-L Michael Burns C-O Anne Rogerson O Timothy J. Griffin L Jessica Glidden I-O Terry Sandusky L Gaetane S. Johnson I-O Rick Jeselskis I-O Bonnie Tracy C-O Michael J. Johnson O Robert McFerren I-O  Sec.of State-BMV   James J. McManus I-LCL Sam McKeeman C-O Scott Thompson O Scott R. Neumeyer I-O Jeffrey Naum I-O OPEGA, Legislature   Bruce H. Prindall I-L Mark S. Tolman I-O Matthew K. Kruk  I-O John L. Rioux L DEP Univ. of Maine Sheryl J. Smith C Carmel A. Rubin I-O Kim Jenkins O         Community — Private Sector * Rae-Ann Brann* I-L   Jane French* I-L   Alicia Kellogg* I-O Stephen C. Crate* I-O James Fussell* I-L Jack Nicholas* I-O Arthur S. Davis* L Kelly Grenier* LCL Clough Toppan* LCL Nancy Desisto* L Town of Durham, New Hampshire     David Kurz I-O Steve McCusker I-O     Michael Lynch I-O Todd Selig O  * Community CI-P I - Inactive C – “Champion for Lean” - not facilitating  L - Lead LCL – Learning Co-Lead O – Learning Observer  

Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2011

Maine State LibraryMaine State DocumentsMDOL Bend the Curve Archive Labor2-1-2012Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2012Bend the Curve Continuous Improvement PractitionersFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_newsThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Labor at Maine State Documents. It has been accepted for inclusion in MDOL Bend theCurve Archive by an authorized administrator of Maine State Documents. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationBend the Curve Continuous Improvement Practitioners, "Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2012" (2012). MDOL Bend the CurveArchive. Paper 43.http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_news/43 DOP 1-7 2-5 Ins & Outs of CI-Ps 6 Schedule of Lean Events  7 BTC & CI-P  Listing 8    Inside this issue:   Reason, has brought us out of the caves and into the sky and beyond.  What we call Progress is simply hu-mans constantly seeking better ways to do things. While we know of isolated tribes that live in environments that have required little change for hun-dreds if not thousands of years, they are the exception more than the rule.  Man as it turns out is, in fact, Ho-mo Amplexus — Man the Improver.  Continuous Improvement Practi-tioners (CI-Ps) as practitioners of Lean, the Science of Improvement, are in no doubt being true to these heredi-tary roots.  Over the centuries, Mankind has refined and capitalized on these ‗genetic‘ traits to evolve them into a powerful way of understanding and controlling our environment.  A process we now call Science.  Science is a disciplined way of learning through discovery.  While a Paleolithic teenage boy poking at hot lava with a stick (who else would do it?) and discovering fire is a far cry from today‘s science, admittedly his action embodies the beginnings of the elements of science: planning, doing, checking, and acting.  Perhaps it is from this perspective that we need to re-think how we  Bend   Curve  Lean: The Science of Improvement  Volume 7, Issue 2  CI-P News February 2012 — cont’d on page  6  —  Walter E. Lowell    The Biblical story of the Garden of Eden can also be read as a metaphor for the birth of Man. We leave a place where all our needs are perfectly met and are literally pushed into a world where we must struggle continually to meet them.  The environment we are born into offers no free lunch.  If anything, it is hostile.  Life is a struggle to quench thirst, hunger, warmth, and companion-ship, which are primal needs for us as infants -- just as they were daily ac-tions for us as early man.  The quest to meet these needs is driven by an ever-changing environment that creates a desire in us to find a more satisfying state then the one we are currently in.  Life in the Garden of Eden may have been perfect but life in the garden called Earth is in need of constant tending.  The drive to continually improve our current situation must be genetically wired into the human genome.  I would hypothesize that the resolution of dis-satisfaction is the expression of a set of molecules buried in our genetic makeup created by a continuously changing and adverse environment.  This genome when coupled with the other unique hallmark of human beings, ● Next Clinicals   March 16  April 20  ● Be sure to check out the DOP 1-7 Windowpane &  photos.    Special points of interest: Page 2 Volume 7, Issue 1    The seventh session of the week-long Bend the Curve ‘Development of Practitioners 1’ intro-ductory training was held February 6-10, 2012 in the Lean Lab at 221 State Street in Augusta and included both public and private sector participants.  This intensive introductory training enables participants to begin the journey toward effectively consulting and working with individuals and teams interested in moving their organizations to Operational Excellence, using Lean thinking and concepts and continuous improvement methods, tools, and interventions.  This Bend the Curve training is the first step in an ongoing developmental journey for each Practitioner to begin –  actively working with teams and individuals engaged in system/process improvement ac-tivities in transactional environments;   coaching leaders, managers, and team in appropriate continuous improvement and prob-lem-solving methodologies, implementation, and oversight strategies;   enabling appropriate documentation, measure-ment, and reporting of results;   providing broad Lean/continuous improvement expertise and consultation, and   becoming a major contributor to their respec-tive organization’s efficient and effective oper-ation in service to meeting their customers’ needs. ***The following training windowpane reflects the theme of each of the five days and the flow of the learning and practice segments. BTC Development of Practitioners 1-7  Seated l-r:   Ted LaCrone, Ericka Deering, Theresa Dube, Thomas Crosby, Dennis Corliss Standing l-r:   John Rioux, Walter Lowell, Kristopher Michaud, Brynn Riley, Douglas Patrick, Lita Klavins,             Ghassan Saleh, Arthur Davis DOP 1-7 Participants & Faculty  CI-P News Page 3   February 6-10, 2012     Lean Lab, Augusta  — cont’d on page 4 Page 4 Volume 7, Issue 1    DOP 1-7 Photos   (cont‘d. from p. 3)  CI-P News Page 5    DOP 1-7 Photos   (cont‘d. from prior page)  Seated l-r: Ted LaCrone, Ericka Deering, Theresa Dube, Thomas Crosby, Dennis Corliss Standing l-r:   Kristopher Michaud, Brynn Riley, Douglas Patrick, Ghassan Saleh Page 6 Volume 7, Issue 1   Lean: The Science of Improvement (cont‘d. from p. 1)  The Ins & Outs of CI-Ps Good wishes to Sam McKeeman who left the Maine Department of Trans-portation as Director of Staff Development and Training on February 17th to start a new job in the Bureau of Human Resources in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.  He noted that he feels that there is good potential there for Lean implementation and that he anticipates work-ing closely with Bend the Curve.  approach implementing the Science of Improve-ment in our work force.  If we have a natural predisposition to improve-ment by acting to achieve better conditions for ourselves why not begin the discussion of improve-ment there?   Science, as we apply it in Bend the Curve, is disciplined and codified, but it is not complicated, just novel for most people.  So novel, in fact, that few recognize what power it brings to the work-place, particularly our leaders in government.  It is an interesting observation to find that somewhere along the way many people - if not most - are blind to their improvement heritage.  We accept it as a given and no longer see it as an advantage that is both innate, hard fought for and won over many hundreds of years.      In our daily life, we are constantly adapting to change and seeking to improve our immediate sur-roundings in some way.  Yet in the workplace we are often threatened when confronted with change, particularly when it comes unexpectedly — threatened no doubt because the change comes to us and not from us.  BTC has adopted a strategy of not pushing im-provement work on to people.  Pushing anything on to anyone implies an imposition of force, and as  science has taught us, for every action – a push- there is an equal and opposite reaction – re-sistance.   Given the premise of Man the Improver, re-sistance while a natural response when imposed runs counter to our nature as Homo Amplexus.  Resistance becomes a form of energy to cap-italize upon by channeling that energy in a posi-tive direction challenging our innate capacity that seeks improved current conditions.    Science is Man‘s constant pursuit of learning how to improve his current condition, but sci-ence requires a context that allows the freedom of expression, the freedom to exchange ideas, the freedom to collaborate with others, and the freedom to explore and invent — without this freedom science withers and dies and so too civ-ilization.  We as CI-Ps are faced with work environ-ments that are often inimical to such freedom.  Command and control, blame and shame manage-ment styles are often the biggest impediments to succeeding in transforming work cultures.  As Ed Deming noted, fear is often the root cause of resistance and driving out fear in the work-place is one of the greatest challenges we face as CI-Ps.  CI-P News Page 7  Lean: The Science of Improvement (cont‘d. from prior page)  Now they have a capacity to both know the work and change the work - for the better, as well as becoming more valuable workers because they have been taught means (Lean) to affect ends (outcomes).   This is everyday science at its best in the workplace.  True, it is not the pure science of the laboratory, but it is every bit as effective and transformative.  This is the scientific legacy CI-Ps have in-herited from all those who have gone before.  We indeed represent the best of leadership for this new revolution that offers the promise of making our institutions better places to work, our lives more enjoyable, and our world a better place to live.        Walter  Fear is always associated with the unknown, which in turn reflects the sense of powerless-ness we experience when we think or feel we are no longer in control of events.  However, person-ally exhilarating not knowing what tomorrow brings may be, it is downright close to paralyz-ing in the work place.  Customers want what they want, when they want it.  The very nature of science as we translate it into our CI-P work with employees and managers is to bring the unknown into the realm of the known.  What else can a value stream map be then a clarification of what is?   In clarifying ‗how work works‘, we replace uncertainty with a higher degree of certainty, thus banishing a modicum of fear from the workplace.  As a consequence, we place power and confi-dence back into the hands of those who do the work which is both an investment in people as well as the organization.  BTC Lean Schedule Date Time Topic Location Contact March 16 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK April 20 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK May 18 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK June 15 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK July 20 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK Aug 17 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK Sept 21 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK Oct19 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK Nov 16 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK Dec 21 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 221 State, Lean Lab WEL/JK * To add or see more events or detail, go to the Bend the Curve Calendar in Outlook’s Public Folders.  OLMS/BTC Staff: Walter E. Lowell, Ed.D. CPHQ, Director         Phone: 207-287-4307         walter.lowell@maine.gov  Julita Klavins, M.S.W.          Phone: 207-287-4217         lita.klavins@maine.gov The primary purpose of the Bend the Curve Team is to provide support, consultation, assistance, and leadership in continuous improvement approaches and activities for State staff, work teams, and lead-ers as they seek to continually improve their work culture, systems, processes, and environments – in order to meet the mission of Maine State govern-ment and the expectations of Maine citizens.   Office of Lean Management Services Maine DHHS 221 State Street Augusta, Maine 04333-0011  FAX: 207-287-7571 TTY: 1-800-606-0215 Lean Learning Lab : 207-287-6164  BTC  Calendar    We’re on the net ! http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/btc    CI-P News Page 8           You can check the Bend the Curve Calendar in the State of Maine’s Outlook Public Folders for contin-uous improvement meetings,  Clinicals, trainings, and other events.  Continuous Improvement Practitioners: BTC Intervention Facilitation Status  DHHS  DOL  DAFS Kate D. Carnes C Joan A. Cook I-LL Dennis Corliss O Nancy Cronin C-O Merle A. Davis L Sam McKeeman C-O Theresa Dube O Eric Dibner LCL    Marcel Gagne LCL Timothy J. Griffin L    Julita Klavins L John L. Rioux L    Walter E. Lowell L Sheryl J. Smith C-O    Jerrold Melville LCL    Sec.of State-BMV Kristopher Michaud O    Scott Thompson O Ann O‘Brien L Univ. of Maine    Douglas Patrick O Kim Jenkins O DOT Terry Sandusky L Brynn Riley O Michael Burns  C-O Bonnie Tracy C-O Ghassan Saleh O           OPEGA, Legislature     DEP Matthew K. Kruk  I-O    Carmel A. Rubin I-O    Community — Private Sector * Rae-Ann Brann* L James Fussell* I-LCL Anne Rogerson* I-LCL Arthur S. Davis* I-L Kelly Grenier* LL Clough Toppan* I-LCL Ericka Deering* O Ted LaCrone* O   Nancy Desisto* C-L Henry B. McIntyre* I-LCL               Town of Durham, NH    David Kurz C-O Steve McCusker C-O    Michael Lynch C-O Todd Selig C-O  * Community CI-P I - Inactive C – ―Champion for Lean‖ - not facilitating  L - Lead  (LL-Learning) LCL – Learning Co-Lead O – Learning Observer  

Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2012

Maine State Library

Maine State LibraryMaine State DocumentsMDOL Bend the Curve Archive Labor2-1-2013Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2013Bend the Curve Continuous Improvement PractitionersFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_newsThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Labor at Maine State Documents. It has been accepted for inclusion in MDOL Bend theCurve Archive by an authorized administrator of Maine State Documents. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationBend the Curve Continuous Improvement Practitioners, "Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2013" (2013). MDOL Bend the CurveArchive. Paper 55.http://digitalmaine.com/mdol_btc_news/55 Key Learnings 2 Photos 4 Baldrige & Shingo-        Excellence 5 Printed & Other Matters 6 Ins & Outs of CI-Ps 7 Schedule of Lean Events  7 BTC & CI-P  Listing 8    Inside this issue:  often courage but, don't you think, is well worth the challenge and effort?  It is if your True North as a Continu-ous Improvement Practitioner aligns with that of your work and your organization.   *     *     *    Strategy Development &   Deployment:     What is Your True North?    Jon Kirsch, Manager of    Operational Excellence for   Lonza Rockland, led a spe-cial February 15th morning workshop on strategic planning and implementation and its deployment at Lonza.  Both the public and private sectors were well-represented at the workshop.  Workshop:  Lean continuous improvement and Six Sigma are great tools; however, we all need to focus on the prize.  Developing goals for one or five years, developing strategies to get there, and then deploy-ing those strategies will keep us all head-ing in the right direction.  An organizational strategy is a great thing to have, but what do you do with it once you have it?  This workshop focused on strategy de-velopment and strategy deployment (hoshin kanri), asking –  - How do we set our ―True North‖, our direction for the organization? - How do we let all employees know  what their (our) role is? - How do we get all employees en-gaged in the deployment of those strategies?  Bend   Curve  True North     Volume 8  Issue 2  CI-P News  February 2013 We’ve all heard the expression ―True North‖  and have generally applied it on a personal level — that is, finding our ―True North‖, our passion, our purpose in life toward which we want to direct our ener-gy and efforts.  Of course, if you happen to be a navi-gator or wilderness explorer, you’ll also know about true north and that true north and magnetic north (your compass north) are not the same.  Magnetic north is influenced by your location, by the var-ying magnetic forces of the earth.    True north is constant.  If you’re steering a ship or out hiking, the differ-ence could be a matter of survival and most certainly of getting to where you want to go.  True North is also a critical concept in continuous improvement.  As most of us know, it is one that Toyota has embraced, realizing that identifying and holding fast to organizational True North — its values, guiding principles, and vision  — is funda-mental to staying on course and moving, while every-changing, toward one’s true destination.  So, think of what operational excel-lence means for the transformation of you and your organization.  Think of how, within the context of these values, prin-ciples, and vision, you plan to get there.  Think of your True North and how not to be misdirected by the forceful, com-pelling, magnetic pull of daily crises, polit-ical pressures, bureaucratic & hierar-chical constraints, and your own comfort and fear zones,  Admittedly, it is hard work and re-quires discipline, determination, and    ● Next Clinicals   March 15  May 16  June 21  Building Your     Strategic Plan—    March 15 Workshop     Special points of interest: Page 2 Volume 8  Issue 2   True North: Key Learnings  John L. Rioux Maine Dept. of Labor  Leading an organization without alignment and direction is like herding cats!  To gain align-ment you need a process starting at leadership and permeating the organization down through so that each part knows its role in directing the organization to the one “true north”.     Jon presented the process at Lonza as follows:   Leadership presents goals for the organiza-tion to achieve in the time period (1 year, 2 years, 5 years) — the “True North”.  Local leadership meets and determines what factors in their control influence the goals,  focusing on areas that are likely to achieve the goals.  They determine several phrases that (with explanation and guidance) define the goals for the local organization partici-pants.  This is to keep focus on the “True North” — what matters in the cycle.  Managers and workers look at their work and what factors in their control influence the goals and what measures feed into them. The managers and leadership monitor the measures and results to be sure the num-bers follow the desired path to True North and that they are appropriate and are changing appropriately for changes that are proposed and made.  Change is evaluated in terms of how they influence the numbers and prioritized by how much they influence the numbers ver-sus the effort and resources required to make the change.      Andrews L. Tolman Maine DHHS, MeCDC   You need to be willing and able to devote both personal and team time to maintaining focus on your goals.  I was particularly impressed with the discussion of daily standing meetings at the Lonza project board, where issues could be raised and solutions worked on.  Keeping a modest but focused amount of time on process refinement is something we have difficulty with.  The big issues get attention, but the fine tuning that makes con-tinuous improvement a reality is hard.  Julita Klavins Maine DHHS, OCQIS  Hoshin Planning involves developing longer-term objectives while managing short-term ones:   Strategic Planning & Alignment  Everyday Operational Fundamentals  The targets at Lonza, Jon explained, focus on revenue, EBIT (Earnings Before Interest & Taxes), budget decrease, and no lay-offs.  Its “mother” strategies are Profitability, Delivery, Customer Service (Quality), and Employee Satisfaction.  [IDEXX participants noted theirs were Cost & Productivity.  The Shingo Prize focuses on Quality, Cost, and Delivery.]  Lonza develops functional objectives for each tactical objective.      Flexibility – Speed – Cost – Innovation                        Focus & Delivery  Jon described some of the methods that Lon-za uses, including a Communication Board (daily), a Hoshin Board (weekly), and performance evalu-ations 2x/year, with one-on-one sessions biweek-ly/monthly as appropriate.  Jon pointed out two of the essential Hoshin Planning questions one should ask:   Am I going after the right thing?   What am I doing to support the organiza-tion/program/unit goals?  CI-P News Page 3   True North: Key Learnings  Dana Duncan Maine DHHS, OCQIS   Jon’s presentation got me thinking about our role as service providers in an environment not terribly inclined to strategic planning.  Agencies operate as though they have a plan, but when we really look at what we are doing we are often simply reacting to the last ugly situation we had to handle and end up building a structure that is more about avoiding that disaster than it is about constructing a plan around what we need to ac-complish.    So I left the meeting with a bit of a personal challenge.  I am still asking myself, “How do I help our organization look at our work in a way that defines our true north?”  We will need to start with some basic under-standing of what we are about:  •   What do we deliver? (Are we really doing what we say on our web page?) •   When do we know it’s done? (Or is it ever done?) •   How do we get it done? •   What happens if we don’t get it done? •   Who would notice if we don’t do it? •   What are our focus areas? •   What is OUR true north? •   What are our goals?  We have a bit of journey ahead.  Two other things struck me deeply during the open discussion at the end of the meeting.  One, the assertion that teams are not structures that work naturally in our culture.  I absolutely agree, and I, unfortunately, resemble the reasons de-scribed.  And two, “try storming” is not a way we look at our challenges.  I need to find ways to get bet-ter at both.  David J. Back OpEx—L6S   Jon presented very practical and perceptive insights into the concept and implementation of a business system that ensures alignment of precious improvement resources to enterprise level business goals.   While many organizations may feel that they have this, previous improvement methodologies have not focused on this aspect, leading to in-ternal frustrations and less than optimal use of resources.   While this requirement may appear obvious, it requires a lot of work, and Jon shared both the importance of the system, the importance of formalizing this, and several learnings on the how to design goals and strategies to realize the benefits.       Jon Kirsch, Operational Excellence Manager Lonza Rockland, Inc.   jon.kirsch@lonza.com http://www.lonza.com     Jon Kirsch is a Lean Continu-ous Improvement Practition-er, Trainer, and Advisor with nearly 40 years of practical experience throughout the military, public, and private sectors.     He is currently the Manager of Operational Excel-lence at Lonza Rockland, as well as acting in a training and advisory role at other Lonza sites.    Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare & life science indus-tries.      Prior to his position at Lonza, Jon was a Project Manager with the Maine MEP, training and imple-menting Lean methods in various industries and organizations including shipbuilding, submarine re-pair, healthcare, government, bioscience, wood products, seafood processing, gourmet foods, pow-er generation and transmission, and a host of oth-er manufacturing businesses.  Page 4     True North:  Getting Settled Volume 8  Issue 2 The  Dream  Vision  Aim The   Future  CI-P News Page 5       While the performance excellence Baldrige Award and operational excellence Shingo Prize approaches come from different perspectives, they complement each other.  The four major Shingo transformation criteria areas are based on continuous improvement and respect for people (it is Lean, after all): cultural enablers, continuous process improvement, enterprise alignment, and results.    It is important, however, to keep uppermost in your minds is that these awards should not be the end in themselves or goal you seek, rather they can be used as  “benchmarks” of improvement concepts and best practices that organizations can use to guide their paths.          The Shingo Model (http://www.shingoprize.org/files/ModelsGuidelines_v5.pdf)    Shingo Principles of Operational Excellence                                   Shingo Transformation Process     Organizational Profile:Environment, Relationships, and Strategic SituationStrategic PlanningMeasurement, Analysis, and Knowledge ManagementWorkforce FocusResultsOperations FocusCustomer FocusLeadershipBaldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence FrameworkA Systems Perspective— Adapted from Criteria for Performance Excellence (2011-2012). NIST/Dept. of Commerce. Page 6 Volume 8  Issue 2   What do you think?   Do you agree?  *     *     *     *     *     *     *  “Functional separation is one reason why process improvement is so futile. The problems that need to be tackled by organizations are systemic and not process-related. Today’s organiza-tional problems are larger—and strangely, much simpler—than we make them out to be. Try-ing to solve them by separation of work is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.  CEOs and top management badly need to learn to synthesize, to put the pieces together again. The best way for them to begin is by studying their organizations as a system, end-to-end, from a customer’s point of view.”  Tripp Babbit .  Has Your Organization Contracted Humpty Dumpty Syndrome?  Quality Digest. 2/6/2013.  http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-column/has-your-organization-contracted-humpty-dumpty-syndrome.html    Printed & Other Matters  “Remark on quality of teaching.  How do you define quality of teaching?  How do you define a good teacher?  I offer comment only in respect to higher education.  The first requisite for a good teacher is that he have something to teach.  His aim should be to give inspiration and direction to students for further study.  To do this, a teacher must possess knowledge of the subject….  In my experience, I have seen a teacher hold a hundred and fifty students spellbound, teach-ing what is wrong.  His students rated him as a great teacher.  In contrast, two of my own greatest teachers in universities would be rated poor teachers on every count.  Then why did people come from all over the world to study with them, including me?  For the simple rea-son that these men had something to teach.  They inspired their students to carry on further research.  They were leaders of thought….” — W. Edwards Deming. Out of the Crisis. MIT:Cambridge. 1982. p.173.     “The purpose of studies in consumer preference is to adjust the product to the public, rather than, as in advertising, to adjust the public to the product.” —Irwin Boss. Design for Decision.  Macmillan. 1953. p.95. Source: Out of the Crisis  CI-P News Page 7  The Ins & Outs of CI-Ps   Marcel Gagne, MaineCare Staff Development & Training Coordinator, is retiring from Maine State government on February 28th.  As of March 11th, he will be working for Goodwill Industries of Northern New England in Lewiston as their Business Rep/Community Outreach person.   This is the loss of a significant ―value-added‖ asset for State government but a smart move and great addition for Goodwill.  We all wish him the best and know, given Goodwill’s focus on continuous improvement and respect for people, that he will enjoy himself there and accomplish great things.    BTC Continuous Improvement Schedule Date Time Topic Location Contact Feb 15 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision: True North Me DOT, Reg. 2, Vinalhaven Rm WEL/JK/JR/MD March 15 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision: Strategic Plan Me DOT, Main Conf. Room WEL/JK/JR/MD April 19 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision: Measures & Data Me DOT, Main Conf. Room WEL/JK/JR/MD May 16 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision:  Displaying Data — When & How Me DOT, Main Conf. Room WEL/JK/JR/MD June 21 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD July 19 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD Aug 16 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD Sept 20 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD Oct 18 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD Nov 15 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD Dec 20 8:15-4:30 Clinical Supervision 2 Anthony Avenue WEL/JK/JR/MD * To add or see more events or detail, go to the Bend the Curve Calendar in Outlook’s Public Folders.   You cannot step twice into the same river.  — Heraclitus   c.535 BC - 475 BC OLMS/BTC Staff:  Julita Klavins, M.S.W.  Director, Special Projects         Phone: 207-624-7933         lita.klavins@maine.gov   The primary purpose of the Bend the Curve Team is to provide support, consultation, assistance, and leadership in continuous improvement approaches and activities for State staff, work teams, and lead-ers as they seek to continually improve their work culture, systems, processes, and environments – in order to meet the mission of Maine State govern-ment and the expectations of Maine citizens.   Office of Lean Management Services Maine DHHS, OCQI 2 Anthony Avenue Augusta, Maine 04333-0011  FAX: 207-287-9351 TTY: 1-800-606-0215   BTC  Calendar    We’re on the net ! http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/btc    CI-P News Page 8           You can check the Bend the Curve Calendar in the State of Maine’s Outlook Public Folders for contin-uous improvement meetings,  Clinicals, trainings, and other events.  Continuous Improvement Practitioners: BTC Intervention Facilitation Status  DHHS  DOL  DAFS Kate D. Carnes C Joan A. Cook I-LL Dennis Corliss O Nancy Cronin C-O Merle A. Davis* L Sam McKeeman C-O Theresa Dube I-O Eric Dibner LCL    Julita Klavins* L Timothy J. Griffin L    Jerrold Melville LCL John L. Rioux* L    Kristopher Michaud I-O Sheryl J. Smith C-O    Ann O’Brien L    Sec.of State-BMV Terry Sandusky* L    Scott Thompson O Bonnie Tracy C-O Univ. of Maine      Kim Jenkins O DOT   Brynn Riley O Michael Burns  C-O               OPEGA, Legislature      Matthew K. Kruk  I-O         Community — Private Sector Rae-Ann Brann L Marcel Gagne LCL Henry B. McIntyre C-LCL Arthur S. Davis C-L Kelly Grenier I-LL Douglas Patrick O Ericka Deering C-O Ted LaCrone C-O   Anne Rogerson C-LCL Nancy Desisto* C-L Walter E. Lowell* L Ghassan Saleh C-O James Fussell  I-LCL     Clough Toppan C-LCL    Town of Durham, NH    David Kurz C-O Steve McCusker C-O    Michael Lynch C-O Todd Selig C-O  * Certified-Bronze CI-P I - Inactive C – ―Champion for Lean‖ - not facilitating  L - Lead  (LL-Learning) LCL – Learning Co-Lead O – Learning Observer  

Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2013

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Bend the Curve CIP-News - February, 2012

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