The Kaizen Humble Pie
Lean Six Sigma
What does Kaizen Humble Pie Taste Like?
Years ago, I was assigned to coach a 🥋Black Belt that was already in the Analyze phase of her project. She was sharp, motivated, and by all appearances, ready to move on to her Kaizen Event.
by Alex Sugimoto
My other Black Belts were crushing it so I had every reason to believe this one would too. But I couldn't escape that faint feeling of uncertainty that a landmine was about to introduce itself before the project hit pay dirt. The question was when and how?
Fast forward to day 3 of 5 of the Kaizen Event and the team had just started their solution reveal when the project champion held up his hand like "Simon Cowell" on America's Got Talent and asked,
"ARE YOU SINGING THE RIGHT SONG?!".
There it was. I was about to be served my Humble Pie by my project's "Simon Cowell".
So, what happened!? 🚨
In this case, I took my prior work with the project champion for granted and coasted past my trusted BLUEPRINT for Kaizen Events. Hence, I had to fix the situation fast and restore the champion's confidence in the process, the Black Belt and more importantly me as a Master Black Belt Coach.
What happened next was a shift for both my client organization and the way I led, coached and governed projects that involved Kaizen Events.
🎯 THE SHIFT 🎯 "A Pre-Kaizen Event Tollgate Review"
Where this is especially useful is in enterprise cross-functional value stream transformation projects. Here's the blueprint.
Communicates to the project champion and key stakeholders what has been learned so far by way of facts and data.
Presents key root causes and/or value levers that will be tested to create a future state process and outcomes.
Proposes key business deliverables that can be expected from the Kaizen Event as scoped and scheduled.
A Kaizen Event Charter that essentially asks the stakeholders and the champion for Power of Attorney to drive the Kaizen Event to expected outcomes.
Two weeks later we held the first ever Pre-Kaizen Event Tollgate Review for the organization. It gave leadership a crystal-clear picture of what the process challenges were, which key drivers we'd leverage, and how we'd frame solutions in simple, actionable terms.
💡A nice side effect was the clarity of expected outcomes that improved mapping expected changes to key stakeholders.
🥸 What's a "stakeholder"?
Let's keep it simple. "Anyone who has to have a say in the solution".
I've used the Pre-Kaizen Event Tollgate Review ever since and have subsequently, added this tool to all of my lean six sigma training and coaching. It's easy to learn and easy to implement which is vital in continuous improvement.
So what about you? Can your Kaizen or continuous improvement events get past your organization's "Simon Cowell"? If not, schedule a free 10 minute conversation.