Sustaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Implementing lean initiatives can be a challenge, but sustaining them is even harder.

As Mark Reich, COO of the Lean Enterprise Institute, told the crowd at the American Manufacturing Summit, “to be sustainable, it has to be more than a program. As long as it’s a program, it’s not going to be sustainable. Because as soon as whoever’s program it is leaves, it’s not going to sustain. So it has to be built into the company’s fundamental way of doing business.” In other words, it needs to become part of the culture.

Once you have made the case for change and built the concept of continuous improvement into the culture of your organization, it is leadership’s responsibility to continue to nurture this culture. In his presentation, “Culture: The Definitive Piece in your CI Journey,” at the American Manufacturing Summit, Mark Gooch, GVP, Operations & Lean Enterprise at Pentair, gave the following tips to the audience on sustaining a culture of continuous improvement.

INFORM-ALIGN-ENGAGE

This is a reinforcing wheel. Every time you make a change you need to inform your people –  explain the WHY, again and again – and then get everyone aligned and engaged with that goal. This trio of actions should be performed in combination with the continuous improvement through PDCA (plan-do-check-act) model.

Do the Gemba

It is important to get out and walk the floor to understand the culture and take stock of what is happening. Five questions you should always ask when doing the Gemba walk and trying to implement changes are:

1. What is the target condition?
2. What is the actual condition?
3. What are the obstacles preventing you from getting from A to B?
4. What is the next step you’re going to take to get there?
5. What have we learned?

“These questions are phenomenal in coaching and leading culture,” Gooch says. 

Watch your shadow

Gooch talks about Shingo’s concept of the shadow of a leader and how the shadow we cast shapes the culture around us. A leader should think of the effects of what they say, what they do, what they don’t do, how they react, and how they respond. They should constantly ask themselves if they are willing to do what they ask others to do.

For more insights into how to implement and sustain a culture of continuous improvement, join the conversation at the 2018 American Manufacturing Summit! VIEW THE PROGRAM