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The Blue Yarn

October 8, 2018 by Chris Scherer Leave a Comment

 


So, the blue yarn. What does it mean?

The best way to understand the blue yarn is to follow it. That’s exactly what Dr. Gary Kaplan did. In 1998, he was CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center, which was losing money. As he searched for a better system to manage the hospital, he ‘wound up’ at a Toyota factory in Japan where he spoke to a sensei familiar with the Toyota Production System.

What he found was something very simple that, at the time, had been around for nearly 100 years. Sakichi Toyoda developed a self-correcting loom that could stop when thread was broken or defective. They ultimately automated the process and made it mistake-proof. This process is called Jidoka, or autonomation, and means automation with human intelligence.

Why Jidoka?

Jidoka is important because it stops a process immediately when a problem first occurs. Not only does it fix the condition, but it ultimately eliminates the root cause of the problem or defect. In an automated Jidoka process, equipment monitors its output (products) independently from operators, thereby enabling operators to operate multiple pieces of equipment and improve productivity.

Why the blue yarn?

Back to the hospital. The sensei used the blue yarn to map the path a patient would follow in a visit through cancer treatment. What they found was a mess. Cancer patients were already low on time and energy, but this ‘process’ had them winding all over the building in a seemingly needless pattern: a waste of time and energy.

When they ‘re-mapped’ the process, the savings from insurance expense alone were 37% and they were able to increase the number of patients without additional staff. Ultimately, they reduced patient receive treatment time by 50%. Dozens of hospitals have since adopted the Virginia Mason Production System. Based on a recent study of US hospitals, for two years Virginia Mason has placed in the top one percent in safety and efficiency.

Clearly, the flow of the process is one piece of the puzzle. Of equal importance is the decision to enable employees to: monitor a process, identify defects, stop the process, fix the problem, identify the root cause, and, ultimately, help eliminate the root cause of defects.

Imagine following a blue yarn through every step of one of your processes, including mistakes, corrections, delays, handoffs, miscommunications, etc. Recurring mistakes building on other recurring mistakes will create a big mess. Now imagine every person in that process having the ability to address those gaps and improve the process. Addressing the root cause will build a mistake-free and efficient process that is much cleaner and direct.

There is a method to achieve this. It starts with:

  • Clarity around your dream or whatever it is you want from your business (i.e., ultimate business outcome and whatever ‘freedom’ means to you)
  • Your mindset to achieve your dream
  • Your decision to use a methodology and management system to bring your dream to life.

 

Ready to achieve your dream?

  • Email me so that we can learn more about your business: chrisscherer@ceofocusmi.com
  • Join our Facebook group for key insights: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StressfulToSuccessful/

 

Listen to the original story

Here: 99% Invisible – The Blue Yarn

Filed Under: 0 Organizational Profile, 0.2 Organizational Situation, 0.2c Performance Improvement System, 3 Customers, 3.1 Voice of the Customer, 3.2 Customer Engagement, 3.2a Product Offerings and Customer Support, 3.2a.(1) Product Offerings, 3.2a.(2) Customer Support, 3.2b Customer Relationships, 3.2b.(1) Relationship Management, 3.2b.(2) Complaint Management, 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management, 4.1 Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance, 4.1a Performance Measurement, 4.1b Performance Analysis and Review, 4.1c Performance Improvement, 4.1c(1) Best Practices, 4.1c(3) Continuous Improvement and Innovation, 4.2 Knowledge Management, Information, and Information Technology, 4.2a Organizational Knowledge, 5 Workforce, 5.1 Workforce Environment, 5.2 Workforce Engagement, 6 Operations, 6.1 Work Processes, 6.1a Product and Process Design, 6.1b Process Management, 6.1c Innovation Management, 6.2 Operational Effectiveness, 7 Results, 7.1 Product and Process Results, 7.2 Customer-Focused Results, 7.2a Customer Satisfaction, A Core Values and Concepts, A.01 Systems Perspective, A.03 Customer-Focused Excellence, A.04 Valuing People, A.05 Organizational Learning and Agility, A.06 Focus on Success, A.07 Managing for Innovation, A.11 Delivering Value and Results, Uncategorized

Creating a Learning Organization

March 31, 2018 by Uwe Wetzel Leave a Comment

We all know the phrase: “You learn from your mistakes” or “Learning by Doing”. Most of the time mistakes happen as a deviation from an established or defined process for several reasons.

  • Person did not know there was a defined process
  • This action or reaction was not covered in the process
  • The person forgot this step in the process
  • The person used a short cut and ignored the process
  • Distraction from outside created an oversight of a process step

This is just a small example why mistakes occur, and the correction depends on the type of mistake that happened.

  1. Mistakes that can have life threatening impact on the person or other employees e.g. not following a “lock out” procedure doing maintenance work on a machine, oil spills that can create a hazardous environment like slipping, etc. need to follow immediately a corrective action procedure like the 8-D process, a method for root cause analysis to prevent any future mistakes
  2. Mistakes that impact the quality of a product or service should follow the same procedure as described in 1.
  3. Mistakes that are not life threatening or a major quality issue and are more of a procedural issue.

There are two important follow up questions:

  1. Why did it happen (8-D Analysis)?
  2. What is the corrective action, so it cannot happen again in the future.
  3. What did we/you learn from this mistake

In a learning organization you need to

  1. Create an environment of trust, so people are not afraid to admit to a mistake and come forward immediately when they recognize the mistake
  2. Reduce the fear of being punished if they voluntarily admitted the mistake as soon as they became aware of it.
  3. Allow them to become part of the solution, if they are willing to share their experience with others, learn from the mistakes and prevent future mistakes.

Just food for thoughts and open for your comments and experience.

 

Filed Under: 0.1a Organizational Environment, 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 0.1a.(3) Workforce Profile, 0.1b Organizational Relationships, 1 Leadership, Uncategorized

Categories

  • 0 Organizational Profile
  • 0.1 Organizational Description
  • 0.1a Organizational Environment
  • 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values
  • 0.1a.(3) Workforce Profile
  • 0.1b Organizational Relationships
  • 0.1b.(1) Organizational Structure
  • 0.1b.(2) Customers and Stakeholders
  • 0.1b.(3) Suppliers and Partners
  • 0.2 Organizational Situation
  • 0.2a Competitive Environment
  • 0.2c Performance Improvement System
  • 1 Leadership
  • 1.1 Senior Leadership
  • 1.2 Governance and Societal Responsibilities
  • 2 Strategy
  • 2.2 Strategy Implementation
  • 3 Customers
  • 3.1 Voice of the Customer
  • 3.2 Customer Engagement
  • 3.2a Product Offerings and Customer Support
  • 3.2a.(1) Product Offerings
  • 3.2a.(2) Customer Support
  • 3.2a.(3) Customer Segmentation
  • 3.2b Customer Relationships
  • 3.2b.(1) Relationship Management
  • 3.2b.(2) Complaint Management
  • 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
  • 4.1 Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance
  • 4.1a Performance Measurement
  • 4.1b Performance Analysis and Review
  • 4.1c Performance Improvement
  • 4.1c(1) Best Practices
  • 4.1c(2) Future Performance
  • 4.1c(3) Continuous Improvement and Innovation
  • 4.2 Knowledge Management, Information, and Information Technology
  • 4.2a Organizational Knowledge
  • 4.2b Data, Information, and Information Technology
  • 5 Workforce
  • 5.1 Workforce Environment
  • 5.2 Workforce Engagement
  • 6 Operations
  • 6.1 Work Processes
  • 6.1a Product and Process Design
  • 6.1b Process Management
  • 6.1c Innovation Management
  • 6.2 Operational Effectiveness
  • 7 Results
  • 7.1 Product and Process Results
  • 7.2 Customer-Focused Results
  • 7.2a Customer Satisfaction
  • 7.3 Workforce-Focused Results
  • 7.4 Leadership and Governance Results
  • 7.5 Financial and Market Results
  • 7.5a Financial Performance
  • 7.5b Marketplace Performance
  • A Core Values and Concepts
  • A.01 Systems Perspective
  • A.02 Visionary Leadership
  • A.03 Customer-Focused Excellence
  • A.04 Valuing People
  • A.05 Organizational Learning and Agility
  • A.06 Focus on Success
  • A.07 Managing for Innovation
  • A.08 Managing by Fact
  • A.10 Ethics and Transparency
  • A.11 Delivering Value and Results
  • Baldrige
  • FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
  • Uncategorized

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