Improvement Influencers

For an organization to develop a sustainable continuous improvement culture it must, as we say at GBMP, involve everybody everyday – i.e., process improvement must become an everyday part of everyone’s job. That’s the ideal. The reality, however, according to Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations, is that buy-in to this ideal follows a normal distribution (Fig. 1). On day one there are typically just a few brave souls who will venture beyond their comfort zones. Firstly, we all learn at different rates. The innovators grasp the innovation sooner. Secondly, for innovators and early adopters, the environment is often unfavorable to challenge the status quo. This is a small group with the chutzpah to forge ahead with an idea even in the face of possible reprisal from fellow workers or managers.

Several years ago, I wrote a post about one such person in my former company, an unassuming production employee who produced leadwire assemblies for our company’s three dozen product families. It’s a three-minute read, “The Natural,” worth a look if you’d like an image of a continuous improvement rainmaker.   At a time when we were the self-proclaimed kings and queens of overproduction, Bob C. single-handedly declared war on waste. More than a master of improvement, however, Bob was a respected peer in our assembly departments and an internal supplier to virtually every product line. He had creds: He knew the work and he knew the people; and now he knew the waste as well.

But, Bob’s unique ability to share his vision made him more than an innovator. He was an influencer, who’s beliefs traversed an organization bound up in pecking orders and silos. Within a year leadwire production became a part-time job for Bob C. He now spent more of his time helping his internal customers unleash their continuous improvement potential and build momentum toward the everybody everyday ideal.

My role was simply to let Bob and his growing squad of change agents do their thing; and then acknowledge their accomplishments. According to Shigeo Shingo’s seven stages of improvement, acknowledging improvement – satisfaction (Fig. 2) -- is a critical role for management.   In 1990, Bob led a team of early adopters to share their improvement story at the annual AME conference – a proud moment for all of us.  

As you read this post, does anyone from your frontline team come to mind?  

• Someone at your company, an influencer like Bob C., who is not a manager but has demonstrated the ability to inspire and lead their fellow workers on the continuous improvement journey?
• A non-manager from any department – production to sales to quality to finance - who has declared a war on waste in their processes/department?
• Someone who lives the GBMP motto 'everybody everyday' - by making continuous improvement a part of his or her job every single day while influencing others to do the same?

As you know, our 20^th Annual Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference is coming to Providence RI in early November and we are reaching out this week with our final reminder for nominations for the Silver Toast Award for Employee Excellence in Lean created,  more than a decade ago, to recognize “leadership & participation excellence by an individual in the Lean transformation of an organization.”   Your nominee will receive a complimentary conference registration and will be honored at our Silver Toaster Award Ceremony (and one nominee will be named the recipient of the award). Could it be your Lean superstar?  Here’s the link for more information: The 2024 Silver Toaster Award. Nominations are due by Friday, September 17.  

I sincerely hope to see you - and your Lean Champions - on November 7-8 in Providence.

O.L.D