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KNOWBOT - THE SHINGO MODEL™

Principle Centered Behavior

One of the most common errors committed by organizations, is to allow a culture that promotes unrelenting reliance on specific tools and systems to drive their improvement initiatives. The problem with a tool-oriented approach is that it only focuses on the 'how' we do it without adequately answering the 'why' we do it. The Why to any improvement journey gives the clarity of vision and purpose; and only these principles can inform the ideal behaviors required to achieve ideal results.

Dr. Stephen Covey (Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989) has described Principles as fundamental truths that are universally understood, timeless in their meaning and categorically undisputed, because they are self-evident. Over the past century, many thought leaders have penned down their own version of principles of excellence. Shingo Institute chose the 10 most appropriate principles, known as the Guiding Principles, and listed them under Four Dimensions. Each principle helps to define individual behavior that in turn creates a larger organizational culture inherent to achieve excellence.

Dimension One: Cultural Enablers


At the bottom of the pyramid are the cultural enablers of Respect and Humility; these form the foundation of any human behaviour. Respect must be deeply felt for and by every person in the organization. When people feel respected, they give far more than their hands - they give their minds and hearts. Therefore, when we always place safety first or when we empower people to act independently and keep all our key communications open; we follow the principle of Respect Every Individual. Humility is another enabling principle that precedes learning and improvement. A leader’s willingness to seek input, listen carefully and continuously learn creates an environment where associates feel respected and energized and are able to contribute freely of their creative abilities. When we Lead with Humility, we accept responsibility, enable change and become open to good ideas and innovation from anyone in the organization. We seek, trust and follow the direction of those with a responsibility to lead.

To develop a culture of mutual respect and humility takes a consistent commitment over a sustained period of time

Dimension Two: Continuous Improvement


The Shingo Model lists five very important principles to continuously improve. The first principle of this dimension, to Seek Perfection, is like an engine that keeps the improvement journey energized and progressively moving forward. It is critical to understand that continuous process improvement has no end; it is a journey to pursue perfection without really expecting to find it. Followers of this principle admit that no process is perfect. They acknowledge that the more a process is observed the more waste will be seen and hence provide ample opportunities for improvement.

Focus on Process recognizes that all outputs, whether product or service, are created by processes acting upon inputs. This simple truth is often overlooked: good processes will produce the intended output, if proper inputs are provided. This principle also supports the cultural enablers, creating an environment where learning from mistakes can become a powerful element of continuous improvement. When we focus on process, we forego the tendency to find fault in people for an undesirable output. Better that we pursue the real fallout – process, that allowed the mistake to be made.

The focus remains on problem solving efforts on the process rather than on people. This focus leads to Embrace Scientific Thinking, a natural method for learning and the most effective approach to improvement through problem solving. EFESO deploys a variety of tools and systems such as PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act), the QI (Quality Improvement) Story, A3 thinking, DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) among others to help our clients in their continuous improvement journey. We improve processes by creating hypothesis, conducting experiments, creating standards and continuously evolving through new learning.

Flow & Pull Value is a combination of two principles – Flow and Pull. Flow thinking is the focus on shortening the lead-time in the entire value stream from start to finish by removing all barriers (waste) that impede the creation of value and its delivery to the customer. Pull is the concept of matching the rate of production to the level of demand. This principle can help us achieve consistent quality with fewer defects, attain on-time delivery and flexibility with lower costs. It also ensures that daily and weekly results become more consistent and predictable. The focus of the fifth principle in the continuous improvement dimension is to Assure Quality at Source. Organizations must commit to stop and fix the defect-creating processes instead of keeping products or services moving while planning to fix the issue later. Our behaviour to support this principle is to not let the defects move forward. We do error-proofing or Poke-Yoke whenever a quality issue is detected. The aim is to use the human element in the process for thinking, analysing, problem solving and the implementation of countermeasures to get work done right the first time.

Continuous Improvement culture requires a system built on scientific thinking, with more emphasis on cycles of learning than on perfect plans

Dimension Three: Enterprise Alignment


The third dimension stresses the principles that will bring an enterprise-wide alignment to the vision of the organization. We Think Systemically when the focus is on the whole system, including the interactions and relationships within the system. Decisions or improvements are not restricted to silos, but rather spread across functions in the value chain. It creates a behaviour of 'looking into things' or Analysing by taking things apart to see what can be learned from the various components. It also assists to 'look out of things' or Synthesize by focussing on how things might work together. In this process, we can understand the relationships and interconnectedness within a system and thereby make better decisions and improvements.

We can Create Constancy of Purpose, when there exists a sense of the direction. When tactical decisions require a temporary detour, we understand why and contribute to getting back on track guided by principles that are universal, timeless and self-evident laws governing the consequences of our actions. Each individual behaviour and performance metric is aligned broadly and deeply with the goal and purpose of the organization.

A clarity on why the organization exists, where it is going, and how it will get there enables people to align their actions, innovate, adapt and take risks with greater confidence

Dimension Four: Results


Does results necessarily mean undeterred focus on cost? If the customer is willing to pay a premium for high quality, does it make sense to compromise on that front with the pure intention of cost-saving? Any organization should strictly link its results to Create Value for the Customer, which can be a function of quality, cost, delivery, safety or morale. EFESO has successfully used the CDVC model and Value Stream Mapping to clearly define the True-North concept and understand value from the customer’s perspective. We have successfully aligned behaviours with performance to constantly evaluate the correctness of our own values relative to customer expectations. Value can truly be created when we are able to identify cause and effect relationships to determine what linkages work and how goals can be achieved; a concept similar to root-cause-analysis but applied to creating value.

Ideal Results Require Ideal Behaviours. Purpose and Systems drive Behaviour. Principles Inform Ideal Behaviours

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