Do you ever have to improve anything? Some of you may be required to make improvements as part of yo...

1. Process Improvement | LeadStrategic
Do you ever have to improve anything? Some of you may be required to make improvements as part
of your job. Others of you may just want to make improvement in your home, department or
community organization. There are a million reasons WHY it's important to make improvements. A
few of them include, cost savings, better customer experience and increased safety.
If you've worked for any length of time, you know about improving processes. Statistical process
control (SPC). Kaizen. Quality Function Deployment. Lean. Six Sigma. Lean Sigma. PDCA (plan-d-
-check- act). A3s. Brainstorming. Fishbone (C&E) diagrams. Regression analysis. Value stream
mapping. You know the drill. And all the buzzwords.
Organizations (especially public organizations) are looking for year-over-year improvements in
nearly every area they measure (sometimes quarter-over-quarter). And they measure everything
don't they? You know what I mean. We have 20 measures (or metrics or KPIs - key process
indicators) for Safety. We have 30 for Quality. Another 25 for Customer Satisfaction (or Customer
Experience). And yet another set of metrics for Cost. Maybe 40 because there are more metrics for
cost than for anything else. Right? And, by the way, we have 35 for our Operational Output.
Clearly the numbers above are make-believe and, perhaps slightly exaggerated, but they paint the
picture. And it's a picture I've seen in multiple industries and organizations around the globe. Have
you seen it?
Improvement has become part of our DNA. Agree? Do something today. Do the same thing better
tomorrow. Or this afternoon. As the "doer" of the improvement, it's a challenge, I know. But as
consumers, we love process improvement. Don't we? It helps keep the prices for goods low. It means
we receive our package more quickly. It means there are fewer airline crashes. And so on.
And process improvement isn't just limited to the corporate environment. You and I routinely look to
make improvement in our personal lives. Find a quicker route to work. Simplify (i.e. improve) our
household chores such as cutting the grass, doing the laundry and washing cars. When I replaced an
old weed-eater (weed-wacker) I purchased one that didn't require a gas-oil mixture because my lawn
mower didn't require a mix. Previously, I had two separate cans, one can of gas for the lawn mower
and one can of gas (mixed with oil) for the weed-eater. On occasion, I'd gotten the two cans mixed
up and put the wrong gas in the wrong machine. Not good. So, I simplified. I made an improvement.

2. I eliminated the need for two different types of gas thus eliminated one can and the chance of
getting the wrong gas in the wrong machine.
I hear what some of you are saying. Simply "mark" the cans. For example, write "Gas Mix" on one
can. Or "Lawn Mower" on the other. Yes, you're right. There are many ways to improve in every
scenario. The point is not what improvement you would make, the point is that we're faced with
improvement in all areas of our life. Work. Play. Home. Studio. Office. Ballfield. You're either
improving or your overlooking areas that can be improved. Or a combination of both.
I've spent most of my life making improvements. In myself. In processes. At work. At home. In the
pool. In the garage. In the warehouse. Etc. My job has required me to focus on improvement for
nearly 3 decades. Today, it's part of who I am. And one of the key learnings I've had is that many
improvements are those that lie at the interface of smaller units of the larger organization, the
interface of two separate departments, the interface of your team with the league office, the
interface of your company with the customer, the interface of you and your spouse, and so on. You
get the point.
Why are these interfaces often ripe for process improvements? They're hard. They require working
across organizational boundaries. They require working with someone else. They require influencing
skills. They require getting outside-the-box. There are many reasons why it's hard to work the
interface, the boundary, but there are also many opportunities here that are waiting for you. They're
waiting to be improved.
The tools of improvement are important. The people you select for your team are important
(especially if the team has just one person, you!). But equally, and perhaps more, important is the
problem you select. And while it's great to select improvements that lie within your functional area,
your department, your plant, your team, your site, etc., please remember to look at the interface.
And when you look, what will you find? Low-hanging fruit. Untapped treasure. Opportunities ready
for improvement. It's at the interface that you'll find satisfied customers. Happy spouses. Healthy
children. Winning teams.
One quick example: to more quickly meet demand and satisfy your customers, what is required? Is it
simply a matter of shipping goods more quickly? Is customer satisfaction simply in the hands of your
shipping department? You know the answer. It's "No!" In order for your shipping department to get
goods to the customer on time, a thousand things have to happen correctly upstream. These "things"
are part of a process that cuts across organizational boundaries. If there isn't a smooth process,
goods don't get to the customer on-time. The process boundaries, or interfaces, often pose the most
difficult challenge. Want to improve the process? Look at process boundaries and improve the
interface.
Yes, improve within your department, function or organization, but don't overlook the opportunity
and benefit that lies at the interface. You and society will be better off for it. Good luck.
As always, the floor is open to your comments, suggestions, thoughts, and feedback.
Dr. Robert Gerwig is an agent of change and is able to balance the needs of the business and the
needs of people. Dr. Gerwig believes and practices the values of performance and delivery of
business metrics while simultaneously developing and growing people into leaders. You can contact
him at RobertGerwig[at]LeadStrategic.com.
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