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July 21, 2008

Peter Abilla
no nic
shmula
» Maintain Forward Tension

One principle in Wing Chun is the maintaining of forward tension.  To explain, I’ll draw the distinction between Tension and Energy and show how this principle in Wing Chun can be applied to Change Management.

Tension is a type of Energy

A Wing Chun maxim goes as follows:

soft and relaxed strength will put your opponent in jeopardy

That maxim means that forward tension is not necessarily using force, or forcing through a barrier or “pushing through”.  But, there is soft force, or tension, such that when a gap presents itself, then the hand or arm shoots forward like a spring.  The “shooting forward” is not done with force, but is an unleashing of potential energy.

Using that definition, then, Forward Tension is much different than the overly-used business term “Breakthrough.”  In the context of Forward Tension, the notion of “breakthrough” is ridiculous, because it connotes a forcing of oneself or of one’s ideas.  Forcing anything only invites resistance and rebellion, not conversion.

So, in sum, tension is really potential energy and when a gap presents itself, that potential energy becomes kinetic energy.  Forward Tension works with the current context in such a way that does not invite rebellion or resistance or eventual back-biting.  It is open, but straightforward.

Application to Change Management

Don’t force things on people.  The most humane approach to change management is to treat those involved in the change as human beings; this means having a dialogue — listen, speak, listen some more, argue a little, and steadily deposit goodwill.

As much as I like love data, I also fully understand that data does not soften hearts or change people’s minds: true change happens when people feel heard, have given their opinion, are willing to try something new, and are part of the change.  The challenge in change management is largely an emotional one; a psychological one; a relational one.

Hold The Tension

Without forcing or pushing of people, maintaining the tension encourages discussion, debate, and invites people to inquire and become curious about the topic of change.  That is the key: behave in such a way that it invites people to learn, argue, debate, and eventually try it out.

Tension in Wing Chun

The video below shows Sifu Grados in Chi Sao (Sticky Hands).  This sensitivity exercise demonstrates the principle of holding the tension and visually explains the principle of transformation of potential energy to kinetic energy very well.

NOTE: none of the movements are rehearsed.  What is taught and practiced are the principles and how those principles are applied during Chi Sao depends on the situation.

Articles on Ethnography and Design:

  1. Feature? What Feature?
  2. Simplify The Product
  3. Ask Aza Raskin
  4. Aza Raskin on Poka-Yoke & The Humane Interface
  5. Aza Raskin on Quasimodal Design and The ATM
  6. Aza on Feature-Bloat and Site Clutter
  7. Aza on Google Search Results Page
  8. Aza on Cooperation and Team Size
  9. Design Thinking in Medicine
  10. On Designing a Watering Can for Little Hands
  11. Queueing Theory and Visual Management
  12. An Interview with the Inventor of “Clocky”
  13. Bad Breath but Good Design
  14. What is Ethnography

Articles on Leadership:

  1. Overmanaged and Underled
  2. Colin Powell on Leadership
  3. Team or Staff?
  4. Tipping-Point Leadership
  5. Abraham Lincoln on Leadership
  6. How to transform an Organization: Chime-in Before Buy-in

Articles on Queueing Theory:

Articles on Operations, lean and six sigma:

by psabilla at 7:36 AM under 5s , a3 report , bullwhip effect , business , change management , click-to-ship , complexity , customer obsession , customer service , design thinking , drum-buffer-rope , dynamic systems , efficiency , ethnography , featuritis , gemba , genchi genbutsu , general , heijunka , ishikawa , it at toyota , kanban , leadership , lean , lean consumption maps , metrics , muda , obeya , operations , pareto principle , poka-yoke , process measures , productivity , quality , root cause analysis , six sigma , statistical process control , strategy , supply chain , takt time , the beer distribution game , theory of constraints , the profit tree , the visual factory , toyota , variation , visual management , waste , wing chun , zero defects (Comments)
June 8, 2008

Peter Abilla
no nic
shmula
» Necessary but Insufficient

motorola in big troubleMotorola (MOT), the inventor of Six Sigma, is in big trouble. Even though it invented Six Sigma, this is a clear example that shows how Lean or Six Sigma are not a cure-all for corporate woes, but that good leadership and a winning strategy are key in a competitive world — Lean or Six Sigma is necessary, but not sufficient.

The Art of Exclusion

Michael Porter (Porter’s Five Forces) argues — I believe correctly –, in his seminal work, What is Strategy, that Operational Excellence is necessary but not sufficient. What is needed — even still and always — is a winning strategy. In his article, he argues that the essence of strategy consist of two related propositions:

  1. strategy is engaging in activities that are different than the competition
  2. strategy is engaging in activities that are similar than the competition, but perform better than the competition

Regarding (1), Porter argues that, regarding (1), the firm must choose a position — one that sets the firm apart from its competitors; a position that makes the firm and its products or services uniquely and competitively different and leads to a sustainable and profitable competitive advantage. Porter then claims that an important aspect of strategy is deciding what NOT to do — the art of exclusion.

Regarding (2), a firm will undoubtedly engage in activities that are similar than the competition. For example, take a traditional internet retailer — a firm in that space will usually have a front-end store and a fulfillment back-end. To set the firm apart on similar activities from its competitors requires that the firm perform those activities better — with better quality, lower costs, with better service, and deliver quicker than the competition.

Deploying a Lean or Six Sigma culture within your firm is essentially an activity borne from (2) — but it is not a panacea; by itself, a culture of Operational Excellence will find itself lacking in a hyper-competitive world.

Necessary but Insufficient

While Motorola might remain one of the hallmarks of Operational Excellence, it has, over the years, essentially failed to engage in activities that are uniquely and competitively different than the competition. Speaking as an outsider, it appears that Motorola has continued to run an efficient business, producing products and services with few defects and delivering on-time, but products and services in a market that has changed to demand less and less of Motorola products, in favor of competitors products, such as the Apple (AAPL) iPhone.

The Need for Leadership

The theme, I see, with most corporate problems, overwhelmingly points to Leadership. The OPPOSITE of long-term thinking, inspiring, visionary, humane, collaborative, reflective, selfless, nurturing, interested, responsible, and mobilizing is what seems to be what most companies elevate to the Chief Executive position.

Emulating Gary Convis

Gary Convis was recently brought in to be the CEO of Dana Corporation (DAN), an $8.7 Billion manufacturer of auto parts. Convis is a 40 year veteran of the auto industry and a former executive at Toyota. Dana Corporation is a struggling giant, currently in bankruptcy. When asked what words of wisdom he has to impart to his new team members at Dana Corporation, he said this:

“manage as if you have no power”

For me, that statement elegantly summarizes the the essence of Leadership — the type of Leadership that is capable of satisfying both (1) and (2) above.

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Articles on Leadership:

  1. Overmanaged and Underled
  2. Colin Power on Leadership
  3. Team or Staff?
  4. Tipping-Point Leadership
  5. Abraham Lincoln on Leadership
  6. How to transform an Organization: Chime-in Before Buy-in

Please articles on Queueing Theory below:

Articles on Operations, lean and six sigma, please visit the links below:

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by psabilla at 6:33 AM under 5s , a3 report , apple iphone , business , gemba , genchi genbutsu , heijunka , iphone , ishikawa , it at toyota , just-in-time , kanban , leadership , lean , lean consumption maps , muda , obeya , operations , pareto principle , poka-yoke , process measures , productivity , quality , regression analysis , root cause analysis , six sigma , statistical process control , strategy , supply chain , takt time , theory of constraints , the profit tree , the visual factory , toyota , variation , visual management , waste , zero defects (Comments)
April 26, 2008

Peter Abilla
no nic
shmula
» After the “Place Order” Button

What happens after the customer clicks the “Place Order Button”?  For some customers, this is a large black hole.  But, wise companies understand that customers need to be informed and aware of the steps after the “Place Order Button” is clicked.  In fact, customers want to be involved in the end-to-end transaction.  In this article, we’ll discuss how we can better satisfy this critical customer need, thereby ensuring repeat-business, loyalty, and also good, old fashioned, customer happiness.

It’s critically important in any transaction to be able to answer the question “where’s my stuff” or “where are we in the process?” This requirement is often referred to as Traceability and Visibility; sometimes, people refer to this overall process as Click-to-Ship.

Almost all transactions have Traceability and Visibility as a requirement. From the customer’s perspective, they ought and need to know the status of the transaction. The company, then, needs to provide feedback and status to the customer whenever she needs it. Take, for example, the following transaction types:

  1. Library Book Check-out: User physically searches for books; user check books out; for each book checked-out, there is a 10 business day expiration date; when there is 2 days left in the check-out timer, an email notification is fired to the customer as a reminder.
  2. Online Subscription: User follows the sign-up process; user pays with credit card; credit card is verified; user is admitted to full subscription access page; an email is sent, notifying the customer of the amount charged on credit card and that the transaction was successful.
  3. Online Ordering System: User searches online; user selects items and places items in shopping cart; user pays with credit card; credit card is verified and an email is sent to notify the customer the amount charged and the items bought and an estimate of when the items will be delivered.
  4. You order the #4 meal at McDonald’s; you wait for a really long time and nobody behind the counter comes to tell you the status of your order.
  5. etc., etc.

We’ve all experienced transactions where a notification is sent and feedback is delivered to help us know exactly where we are in the process and, for hard-good transactions, where our stuff is and when we’ll receive it.

Traceability and Visibility

But, there are some processes where Traceability and Visibility are not available. Often, we hear of statements like “I entereed my credit card number and nothing happened. It felt like a black hole.” Statements like this point to the fact that users’ need to know status and receive feedback — they want to be involved in the transaction.

Diagramming Traceability and Visibility

Below is a hypothetical map of what an order system might look like. This system involves a front-end store, credit card verification, and warehousing or fulfillment activities:

Click on the image for a larger view.

Because time is an element in any process, we can collect time-based data and, because the time-based data can be approximated by a statistical distribution, we can approximately predict when the transaction enters a process and when it might exit the process; this line of argument can be extended from start-to-end and this type of traceability and visibility allows the firm to provide accurate feedback and status to the customer. 

But, it also allows the firm to do something else: it allows the firm to collect natural metrics and then improve its operations. For example, if we see a large backlog and items begin to queue in front of a process, that might signal management to transfer labor to that process to drive-down the backlog, or for management to implement improvements in front of that process so that items don’t queue there in the future. The ability to make improvements is only possible when we can follow and visually see the how the process and operation is performing.

Do you know how your company is performing? Is your operation a black hole to the customer?

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Please find originally-written articles on Queueing Theory below:

For a few articles on Operations, lean and six sigma, please visit the links below:

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by psabilla at 5:56 AM under click-to-ship , customer obsession , customer service , design thinking , dynamic systems , gemba , genchi genbutsu , heijunka , ishikawa , kanban , lean , lean consumption maps , muda , obeya , operations , poka-yoke , process measures , root cause analysis , six sigma , strategy , supply chain , toyota , variation , waste (Comments)