Did you know that Organic Tomatoes are less good for you than non-Organic?
The reason has nothing to do with the chemicals or whatever may or not be in different tomatoes, but with the fact that Organic Tomatoes are at least 40% more expensive than non-Organic. This causes demand to be much lower, especially among less affluent groups who arguably have a greater relative need for fresh produce. Basically, people eat fewer tomatoes if they buy Organic, so any extra benefit of Organic is lost due to lower consumption.
This is what happens when rational logic meets market forces and human behavior. Often the rational or “Best” answer loses. Is it really the Best product if people don’t use it?
What’s true for Tomatoes is also true for business improvement processes. We all know there are a myriad of great processes and programs that drive business improvement, with millions of books and articles written about how they work and how to implement them. From DMAIC to PDCA, TPM, OE, 6 Sigma, Lean, KT, 4 Step, 5 Step, 6 Step, even 11 Step CI Programs – there is no shortage of materials or practical examples for anyone who wants them.
The problem with DMAIC and her cousins isn’t that they don’t work, it’s that organizations don’t use them.
Perhaps 1 in 4 businesses have formal Continuous Improvement programs of some kind – maybe 2/3 in manufacturing industries. The failure rate for Lean Programs is quoted, even by supporters, as up to 95%. Less than 1/3 of CEOs with such programs rate them as “satisfactory”.
Not exactly a global revolution!? Yet the exponents of these programs (myself included) know that they work, and add immense value where successful.
Why don’t these programs work?
There are many answers to this, indeed many more books and articles written on it but I believe it comes down to one thing:
Any Program will only succeed when it fits the Culture of the organization. If the existing Culture doesn’t fit the Program, the Program has to change the Culture, or fail.
By Culture I don’t mean the nice statements that are written on company websites, or posters in meeting rooms, I mean How actual People actually Behave. Not just in the Board Room, but wherever 2 or more are gathered together anywhere in the business.
To my first point about Tomatoes that are good but not eaten, the biggest hurdle is that most organizations don’t even try to implement CI programs. This is clearly by choice not by accident.
I will come back to this issue in later Posts, but can summarize one key issue here: “If I already know the answer, why should I waste time figuring out how to do it? Furthermore, why should my people waste time on a problem that has already been solved?”
This is the key Culture or Leadership Behavior question behind the success, or failure of whole organizations, not just CI Programs.
“Any Program will only succeed when it fits the Culture of the organization. If the existing Culture doesn’t fit the Program, the Program has to change the Culture, or fail…”
To my many friends in the CI Industry, or in Leadership roles – does your CI Program (if you have one) match the Culture of your organization, or are you shaping that Culture to support CI?
As Leaders we need to realize that going slow on some things doesn’t stop us going fast on others. The first answer we come up with is probably not the best answer, because some issues are dynamic & complex and so need constant & structured effort to overcome. DMAIC and her cousins can help solve those problems, but become redundant when they become actual behaviors of actual people. More in later Posts…
The problem to be solved isn’t to find a better framework or conduct more intensive training or to put more posters up. It’s not even to implement a CI Program at all. The problem is to create a working environment in which people want to solve problems. The Leader’s challenge is to create that environment.
Improvements are like bacteria- they grow in a culture, not shot out of a gun.
Business Improvement, like growing Organic Tomatoes is hard work, done by creative & enthusiastic people, it would be a pity if all that work didn’t actually improve the world…
This is great. I do think that whether CI prpgrams work or not relies a lot on the value that the Leadership Team places on them, their passion to support those processes and even their own belief in the processes themselves. CI processes should also be properly defined and executed like projects – with steering committee oversites that review their measurable impact during their life cycles.
Henry, I agree. CI has to be a mainstream part of the business not a hobby. In fact I would reverse the usual question about culture from “does the culture suit CI?” to “how your CI program works shows the actual culture of your organization…”