What Does Strategic Policy Deployment Drive?Strategic Policy Deployment drives the identification in a Lean Environment of Key Performance Indicators or KPI that measure the health of the organization through variation to the target plan verses actual results. This variation creates a potential for a corrective action whether manifesting itself in a global supply chain or in a lean organization's facility. The issue becomes the identification of variation that requires formal corrective action in resource constrained organizations.
Curiosity may have killed the cat but most certainly will save the organization and their leaders from an embarrassing surprise at best and disaster at the worst. Active Curiosity is a base skill in the Animal Kingdom, erroneously extracted from team members by the efficiency of standard work regimens. This inquisitiveness or nosiness is fundamental to creating a culture of active curiosity. The enemy of this culture is apathy or complacency with satisfactory or even surprisingly good results. In his book entitled Hoshin Kanri, The Strategic Approach to Continuous Improvement, David Hutchins discusses strategic policy in greater depth. There are several scholarly works detailing the subject.
How Continuous Improvement / Kaizen Is Obtained?
Continuous Improvement compels successful leaders today to understand the value of drilling down through the data to find answers to problems. The Japanese from the lean school of thought like TPS or Six Sigma coined the 5 Whys as a methodology to ask progressively more demanding questions about a problem until the root cause is determined. A permanent Process Improvement can then be implemented to eliminate the root problem. The American Society for Quality ASQ is a top comprehensive resource provider assisting organizations of all shapes and sizes in becoming proficient in continuous improvement or kaizen.
The 5 Whys is a good tool for a team and leader to possess, but not the leadership trait for today’s reflection. A key leadership characteristic distinguishing leaders with Strategic Vision is the practice of Active Curiosity, not only from the leader but the team members themselves as part of a successful organizational culture.
What is a Key Component of Transformational Leadership?
Transformational Leadership builds on Lean Culture Change driving root cause analysis through Active Curiosity. What is the difference between the Culture of root cause analysis, the effective tool applied in Lean or Six Sigma disciplines and the Culture of Active Curiosity, the insatiable drive to learn more about the organization?
The similarities are striking:
- Both cultures have disciplines deployed to identify problems, applying 5 Why methodologies or their cousins to the problem, and an environment of continuous improvement.
- Each possess team members instructed and trained in the problem solving techniques of the organization.
- Lean and six sigma tools are deployed aggressively to improve long term performance.
When Do Leaders Need to Deploy Lean Culture Change in Active Curiosity?Lean Culture Change demands an answer to the question: What is the Leadership Trait of Active Curiosity?
- Constantly examine, as a leader, the organization's processes and data for actionable information irregardless of whether an apparent problem is evident.
- Leaders foster a culture among their team of constantly questioning why the processes produced results that were not expected from work performed. Even if the results were too favorable.
Why are the Leadership Traits of Active Curiosity Essential?Leadership Traits of Active Curiosity in Action are demonstrated by two examples of correcting seemingly positive results saved a very unfavorable result:
- A plant level materials manager constantly combed the data and walked the shop floor looking for abnormalities or aberrations in the processes. He called his informal process nosing around. Applying this Active Curiosity to an unexpected favorable increase in inventory turns showed that bills of material were relieving inventory improperly. This proactive nosing around saved a potentially damaging business result later by fixing the root cause problem in advance.
- A product manager notices an unexpected increase in inquiries and orders from a long standing customer that results in better than expected sales. Resisting the urge to accept the good fortune, the product manager visits the customer and discovers they are building inventory to switch to a competitor. The Activity Curiosity of the product manager at this early stage enables the saving of the account.
The importance of focusing on effective leadership traits is discussed in Change Management leaders find one of the most important skills in their arsenal to effect positive Lean Execution of the Strategic Vision is to promote Active Curiosity within an organization. This Culture of Active Curiosity is effective throughout any type of organization and Global Supply Chain.
Where in Change Management Is the Culture of Active Curiosity Needed?
The Culture manifests itself in the development of a broad net of identifying problems in the processes and data. Whether identified from unexpected positive or negative variations in processes, this type of questioning makes the difference between reactive and proactive leaders.
How Do Organizations Develop a Six Sigma Lean Execution Culture?
Six Sigma Lean Execution Cultures implement the culture of Active Curiosity through the steps of Provide, Eliminate, Motivate, Develop, and Envision:
- Provide culture of questioning the status quo even if the results are favorable.
- Eliminate complacency (waste) when results are satisfactory. Foster insatiable curiosity.
- Motivate team members to be as skeptical of unexpected favorable results as negative ones.
- Develop organizational culture where all levels of team members and decision makers understand and buy into not only analyzing and correcting identified problems, but also unexpected favorable results.
- Envision culture of Active Curiosity focused on all variations to expected results that fosters long lasting sustained excellence with continuous improvement punctuated by leaps of success.
There is a multitude of on line education and consultants providing Six Sigma DMAIC certification training. Do your homework and shop around for the best program for your organization. Active Curiosity Culture results in a perpetual Continuous Improvement drive within the organization. A leader can never cease poking and prodding into the organization’s processes and data in Active Curiosity.
David Zietlow - Dave Zietlow is an experienced senior executive with global general management success in multi site environments. He invigorated ...
Join the Conversation