KAI-ZEN

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Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, 
Make the mighty ocean. And the pleasant land

That’s the underlying philosophy behind Kai-Zen : Change for the Better

Such small/ Micro changes, can help improve the Processes, People or the Product & Services that the Team produces or renders.

A Carrot & Stick approach helps initially, with the low hanging fruits. In due course of time, it loses its ability to engage or motivate individuals. Teams and Organizations that encourage improvements, without overbearing individuals with targets, will go a long way in inculcating such culture.

The Literal translation from Japanese (contextually) has been Change for the Better. But Kai ( Change ) Zen (Meditate) if we take the split. we could also infer that we can identify improvement opportunities, if we take the efforts to Ruminate over the Problem.

So how do we set up such processes & mechanisms that encourage small improvements ?? How do we sustain that behavior over time ?? Can we measure the value from such improvements ?? Should they be measured ??

Pervasive QUALITY

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quality is all pervasive, it is used when qualifying characteristics of products, services, processes, materials & even people. You can find high Quality, Good Quality, Poor Quality, Great Quality and more. There are Quality Actors, Quality Sports persons, Quality engineers and Quality doctors. We also have Quality Stocks, Quality products, Quality Services, Quality Materials and Quality processes.

Quality is omnipresent. Saying a thing has no Quality does not imply a complete absence of Quality. On a Quantitative scale it would only tend towards Zero. If we look at the origins of the word, it is used to Qualify the characteristic of a thing or person.

The dictionaries provide multiple meanings such as
a) A distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something
b) The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind;
c) The degree of excellence of something.

In a business context, ISO, ASQ and similar standards, industry communities, experts all have provided there views (See Wikipedia for a list of definitions)

Who is a Quality Professional ?

Being all pervasive as above, what does it mean to professionals who have the term Quality attached to their Roles & Designations ? (I.e. Quality Engineer, Quality Auditor, Quality Consultant, Quality Manager) what is expected of a Quality professional?

Quality professionals are conscience keepers. All of their thinking & Actions are derived from two overarching Questions. “Are we doing the right things? Are we doing the things Right?”  Quality professionals strive to enable & ensure Effective execution of Planned Strategies. 

All of the tools, methods, Models, Frameworks, Practices, Standards and more, available at their disposal, supports them in the endeavor.

Lean (Maximize Value by eliminating waste), Six Sigma (Reduce Variation, Improve Stability & Capability), ISO, CMMI, TQM, BPM, Project Management, Risk based thinking, Problem Solving methods, are all various weapons in the Quality professionals Arsenal to help be effective conscience keepers 

The Bridge Builder

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– By Will Allen D

An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near, “You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide — Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head: “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.“

Franklin’s Pros & Cons Framework

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One of the first widely known framework for decision making by Benjamin Franklin

Franklin writes:

In the Affair of so much Importance to you, wherein you ask my Advice, I cannot for want of sufficient Premises, advise you what to determine, but if you please I will tell you how.

When these difficult Cases occur, they are difficult chiefly because while we have them under Consideration all the Reasons pro and con are not present to the Mind at the same time; but sometimes one Set present themselves, and at other times another, the first being out of Sight. Hence the various Purposes or Inclinations that alternately prevail, and the Uncertainty that perplexes us.

To get over this, my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then during three or four Days Consideration I put down under the different Heads short Hints of the different Motives that at different Times occur to me for or against the Measure. When I have thus got them all together in one View, I endeavor to estimate their respective Weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a Reason pro equal to some two Reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the Balance lies; and if after a Day or two of farther Consideration nothing new that is of Importance occurs on either side, I come to a Determination accordingly.

And tho’ the Weight of Reasons cannot be taken with the Precision of Algebraic Quantities, yet when each is thus considered separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I can judge better, and am less likely to take a rash Step; and in fact I have found great Advantage from this kind of Equation, in what may be called Moral or Prudential Algebra.

Value of Internal Audit Team

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An Internal Audit team is a Quasi-Judicial body, Yes they may not necessarily be able to prosecute the Non-compliant, But they are the eyes / ears of the governance team or the Executive leadership. With the right structure and authority the audit team can play a significant role in enabling desired outcomes for the organizations.

Typically, Judiciary has the responsibility of upholding the constitution and laws of the Country, Interpreting them, and resolving conflicts. Their services are usually requested in advisory capacity to define new policies, review of program execution effectiveness or Investigate suspected frauds.

On similar lines in an Organization the Internal Audit team,plays a Quasi-Judicial role

They are accountable for …

a) Upholding the Quality Management Systems & defined processes

b) Evaluate plans & execution activities.

c) Identify & highlight gaps in processes & execution and provide inputs to address them

d) Identify in-efficiencies in processes and contribute to Lean them

e) Facilitate and oversee process improvements.

d) Highlight Risks and advice on disposition

Thus an Internal Audit Team, play a significant role in enabling Operational excellence  and desired outcomes for the organizations.

Elastic Thinking

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Leonard Mlodinow explains “Elastic Thinking” as

The capacity to let go of comfortable ideas and become accustomed to ambiguity and contradiction;

The capability to rise above conventional mind-sets and to re frame the questions we ask;

The ability to abandon our ingrained assumptions and open ourselves to new paradigms;

The propensity to rely on imagination as much as on logic and to generate and integrate a wide variety of ideas;

And the willingness to experiment and be tolerant of failure.

Six Audit Categories

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Compliance Audit Performance Audit
System Audit Consistent implementation of a defined system. Promotes stability. Ability to achieve organizational goals. Promotes change.
Process Audit Ability of the process to perform in accordance with its definition Ability of the processes to achieve desired characteristics
Product Audit Production of goods or services to defined requirements Suitability of the goods or services for intended use

From:  Quality Audits for Improved performance – by Dennis R. Arter

Iron Prescription

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From a commencement address by Charlie Munger

I have what I call an “iron prescription” that helps me keep sane when I naturally drift toward preferring one ideology over another. And that is I say, “I’m not entitled to have an opinion on this subject unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people do who are supporting it.” I think only when I reach that stage am I qualified to speak.

From a game of Rummy

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I sometimes play the card game Rummy with my kids, we mostly have great time, but not always. Last weekend, I was a by-standing observer of such a game, played by 6th graders

After a initial few rounds of Pick-up and discards with enthusiasm, there was a sense of gloom on their faces. The game was almost struck, every player ended up holding on to a set or an in-complete sequence in anticipation of getting the right card from the Lot. The cards that were drawn from the Lot were of little use.

As a result the game was becoming boring. most of them had thought of quitting the game and play something else

Luckily, This did not last too long though, One of the Players decided to Break her well formed set. She discarded each of the 3 cards of that set in every round and picked up 3 new ones. Others followed suit and soon everyone of them were drawing cards that were of use. The pace of the game was restored. the game ended soon as they were able to create the new sets soon enough. There was a sense of satisfaction and they Re-started another game of Rummy with more enthusiasm

Often we encounter such scenarios in our office environs, We hold on to cards, unwilling to let go, It slows down the execution and hinders progress. Other team members who would have benefited are inadvertently deprived of it. The Morale of the team is adversely effected

By willing to discard some cards to support your team members, you make way for new opportunities for yourself.

Is this not what Win-Win is all about ?

…

Hidden Gaps

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Jim is a new Manager assigned to a Program. He has been briefed by the management about his role, and expectations on the Goal to be reached.

Jim discusses with the team and other stakeholders, makes an assessment of the state of the program and defines a plan to get to the goal post. The plan is reviewed, everyone agrees and the program continues.

As the planned completion date nears, there is a realization that the actual’s are still far far away. why does this happen?

In LEAN thinking we use the terms Current & Future State, look at the image below

Unknown Unknowns

In Spite of Jim making an Objective assessment during planning, Cognitive Biases and VUCA forces, result in gap between Current State and Reality.

This hidden gap will always exist, in spite of all the efforts to be close to reality. During planning, It is required to be aware of this Hidden Gap, and plan contingencies for associated Unknown Risks.