How to ensure you have a sustainable whole system approach to “high performance with ease”.
Photo 113581355 (c) Dmitry Molchanov - Dreamstime.com
Would you consider driving a car with a vital component missing –say a wheel, brakes, seats, suspension or a gearbox? Could you even? While some things might be considered “optional extras”, a car relies on a considerable number of essential components for it to work as intended and you’d probably be considered foolish to attempt to drive it without them.
Yet I wonder how many organisations have tried to drive their “Operational Excellence” (or lean, continuous improvement etc) approach with a vital element missing? If so, they’ve most likely experienced some symptoms of poor performance; resistance, lack of engagement, misalignment of objectives, recurring problems, missed dates, lots of effort just to get the basic things done and so on. Or maybe they’ve had some great success that just hasn’t sustained?
Over the last few months, my series of articles has outlined what 30+ years’ experience have taught me are the vital “components” for an organisation that consistently achieves what I refer to as “high performance with ease” and enables everyone who works there to flourish and give of their best.
I hope that you’ve picked up some ideas from them that have helped you to make progress on a particular issue you have experienced. One or more of them may have highlighted areas that need attention.
Looking back at the clients I’ve helped over the years, this has been typical of many of the clients I have worked with. We’ve started with one or other of the elements to tackle their particular “hot topic” rather than start at the beginning of what might appear to be a logical sequence. However, it hasn’t been long before we’ve started to expose other aspects that have needed attention in order to enable the area we are looking at work as intended.
A “whole system” approach – all elements working together
“Many good American companies have respect for individuals, and practice Kaizen and other TPS (Toyota Production System) tools. But what is important is having all of the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner – not in spurts – in a concrete way on the shop floor.”
Fujio Cho, former President,Toyota
Just like a car performing at its best, all of the elements I have outlined need to work together in harmony to deliver sustainable high performance. They are all inter–related and depend on one another to deliver “high performance with ease”. Take one element away and the whole thing starts to crumble. Perhaps with one, achieving results might require more effort, with another productivity may drop, with another different departments start to move in different directions and so on.
This is particularly true when we consider the sustainability of the “system” – is it truly delivering “high performance with ease” or does it require constant management attention to keep it working as intended?
For a truly sustainable system, everything needs to happen almost “automatically”, with everyone playing their part willingly because they truly believe it is the right way to run the organisation and are committed to it. It becomes simply “how we do things round here!” The organisation has the right systems and procedures, everyone has the right knowledge and skills to do what is expected of them and leaders are creating the working climate necessary for everyone to flourish and give of their best.
Still not convinced?
However, if you’re not convinced that all of these elements are essential, let’s recap each of them and consider:
why they are needed.
what might happen if each element is missing from the overall mix.
5 foundational elements for “high performance with ease”
1. A powerful vision of for the future
“Begin with the end in mind.”
Stephen R. Covey, 7 habits of highly effective people
A clear “vision for the future” provides a consistent direction for the organisation as it invites everyone in the organisation to consider an “Ideal State”, answering the question “what would this organisation look like if we could do everything perfectly?”
A clear “vision for the future” provides a consistent direction for the organisation as it invites everyone in the organisation to consider an “Ideal State”, answering the question “what would this organisation look like if we could do everything perfectly?”
It all begins with leadership
Creating the vision must start with senior leadership – to set out the purpose of the organisation clearly and set some long–term goals to achieve that purpose. Equally, they must define what it’s to be like to work in the organisation, in other words to set the culture. This, in turn, requires leaders to accept that their role and behaviour must change, as leaders set the culture by the way they act and respond to others.
Everyone involved
Equally, for the vision to be truly powerful, it must be “owned” by everyone working in the organisation. They will believe in it and be committed to helping it come about. To achieve this well, they are involved in creating the vision and know that it represents their interests as well as those of the organisation and its leaders. The vision creation process becomes an interactive “top–down” and “bottom up” process that engages everyone to work towards a common destination.
A routemap to get there
Once established, the vision needs a clear routemap for working towards it in both the short, medium and long term. The routemap sets a framework within which local goals can be set at functional, departmental, team and individual level such that all are aligned to achievement of the vision.
We need this because . . .
Everyone needs clarity around direction to see where they fit in. Well set, the vision inspires and motivates.
Goals at every level will align to achievement of the vision.
Actions to achieve goals across the organisation will impact others and the routemap will help to identify those interdependencies and create plans that connect where necessary.
If not . . .
“Without a vision, the people cast off restraint!”
THE BIBLE — PROVERBS 29:18 (NIV)
Without a clear vision and routemap:
Each function/department/team/individual is left to set their own goals, which may result in tensions, inconsistency etc.
Actions may be “scattergun” and short–term and not necessarily supportive of the overall direction.
Actions may generate “unintended consequences” in other areas as inter–relationships and not visible or understood.
Inconsistent direction and actions may erode performance and lead to frustration and demotivation.
2. Everyone able to do their best work
For a high–performing system, everyone must be delivering their best work.
Leaders create a climate for others to succeed
“There are three kinds of leaders. Those that tell you what to do. Those that allow you to do what you want. And lean leaders that come down to the work and help you figure it out.” –
John Shook- Author, Chairman - Lean Global Network
Leaders are responsible for setting the climate within which others operate. In a high performing organisation, they see this as a key element of their role and choose to act accordingly. They model the behaviours and attitudes needed, responding positively to problems and concerns being raised to remove the fear of failure and speaking openly, creating a culture where every individual is valued and respected.
High value on developing people so they flourish
Everyone in the organisation recognises that the organisation cares about them as people and not simply as a “resource to be exploited”. They are clear about what is expected of them and why it matters. They are given the knowledge, skills and resources they need and opportunities to develop. They feel safe to raise concerns, highlight problems and experiment with new ways of doing things without fear of the consequences.
“Want to” vs. “have to”
There is a huge difference between doing something because we “have to” and doing something because we “want to”.
Let’s take speed limits, for example. Many people have a mindset of “I want to drive faster, but I ‘have to’ stick to the limit to avoid penalty points and/or a fine.
For minor offences, some countries offer the alternative of taking a “speed awareness course” instead of the penalty. The aim of these courses is to encourage drivers to appreciate the more painful consequences of speeding to themselves an others so that they “want to” stick to the limit because they believe in the importance of doing so and will willingly drive more slowly and carefully. Potentially much more effective than a penalty!
We need this because . . .
We want everyone in the organisation to give of their best and to flourish, as we believe that this will deliver the best performance over the long term. They contribute because they “want to” rather than because they “have to.” What they are being asked to deliver aligns well with their personal beliefs, values and desires.
If not . . .
Individuals may respond negatively to inconsistencies between what leaders say they want and how they act.
People will not speak up about or act on concerns, problems, mistakes made and improvement opportunities because of fear of adverse consequences for them or that their contributions will not be taken seriously.
3. Priority on customer focus
The whole business is viewed as one system
In a high performing organisation, there is a primary focus on the business as an integrated system designed to meet the needs of its customers and other key stakeholders – shareholders, community etc. Every function/department/team/individual has a part to play in that system such that everything works smoothly to satisfy those needs.
All activity focussed on customer delivery
Within each area, all activity is driven by meeting those needs and fulfilling their part so that they:
pass on what is needed by subsequent parts of the system
clearly specify what is need from preceding parts of the system in order for them to play their part.
We need this because . . .
Alignment around a common goal gives consistency and focus, allowing us to create the optimum system to achieve that goal without wasted time or effort.
If not . . .
Local priorities may dominate and create mismatches between different areas.
People may get confused about what’s really important.
We may get conflicting measures that create tension between different areas in ways that impact overall performance.
Delivery to customers and other stakeholders will suffer.
4. Agreed, achievable plans
A high–performing organisation recognises that plans need to be realistic and achievable and also that everyone who plays a part in delivering the plan agrees to it.
Based on demonstrated capacity and capability
Basing plans on what has previously been demonstrated as deliverable is a sure foundation to achieve an agreed, achievable plan. While most obvious for tasks like the production of physical products, where the time/capacity required is clearly measurable and pretty consistent, the idea is equally applicable for most types of tasks other than those where the task itself is highly exploratory and uncertain in nature – and even then some sense of the possible is of huge value in planning them.
Separate focus on improvement
Equally, there are plenty of opportunities to improve capacity and capability. However, these are initially unproven. Testing these out and proving whether they work and how much improvement they can deliver before “baking them in” to any plans avoids any uncertainty around what those opportunities can deliver.
We need this because . . .
Stability and consistency is the foundation of any good plan where a high level of confidence is required, such as meeting customer deadlines.
If not . . .
Unproven “stretch” introduces undesirable uncertainty into the “delivery process”, leading to uncertain outcomes.
Overload is likely to mean that not all requirements will be met.
Achieving the desired outcomes may require adjustment to plans and significant additional effort to what is expected.
5. Rhythms and routines to manage performance
“The bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the workforce.”
W Edwards Deming
The system for “high performance with ease” is based on having a set of routine actions that establish a rhythm, or “heartbeat” to activity within the organisation at every level, whether the pattern of work on a production line or the series of regular activities carried out at the most senior level. It comprises such activities as
Visible information in the workplace: so that everyone has good and consistent information about performance, issues, procedures etc readily to hand.
Regular “stand–up” meetings: for focus and alignment in a short period of time.
Problems and improvement opportunities identified and acted on as routine
We need this because . . .
A well-structured set of routines establish a rhythm in the workplace that makes it far easier for everyone to both do the right things and to do things right with minimum effort. Actions become habitual rather than being dependent on individual experience or memory. The system captures what has been demonstrated to be the current “best” way of doing something yet recognises that there may still be problems and opportunities to improve that can be worked on to develop a new “best way” that can then be adopted.
If not . . .
Getting the information needed to perform well requires unnecessary effort.
Delivering high performance requires additional effort.
Work will be carried out inconsistently, with too much down to individuals, leading to items getting missed or inconsistent output.
Problems and opportunities may be dealt with in an inconsistent manner, often dealing with symptoms rather than underlying root causes.
They’re all inter–related
Not only are all of the elements identified above essential in their own right, but there is a lot of interdependence between them. For example:
Joined up people development
Something I’ve experienced in many organisations is that their “people development” activities are not “joined up”. Typically, “soft skills” around leadership and people skills are the responsibility of the HR function and “technical” skills such as problem solving and continuous improvement and handled elsewhere.
As a result, people skills are often taught without the context of the application and technical skills are taught without an appreciation of what’s needed in terms of attitudes and behaviour to put their learning into practice with others.
In all my work I aim to bring the two together to help ensure that new methods are introduced in a more sustainable way.
Vision and routemap give consistency of direction and a framework within which other activities can be positioned and aligned.
Customer focus ensures activities at every level are aligned to common goals for the business and those it is designed to serve.
Creating agreed, achievable plans requires a culture of openness and acceptance about what is known and demonstrated to be possible, with no “hidden agendas”, which in turn requires leaders to set the right climate for these to take place.
Without an agreed, achievable plan there will be too much “noise” in the execution system for it to work well without lots of effort to resolve the problems and disruption caused by the consequences of multiple cases of the plan not being achieved.
Achievable plans combined with a robust “execution system” that gathers meaningful data on how well the plan is executed creates a strong foundation for problem solving and improvement.
A long-term sustainable future
The elements identified above work together to create a highly sustainable system on the short–medium term that will always be looking for improvements.
For true long–term sustainability, there are some further considerations that build from the above.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Charles Darwin
People progression
The first is that the “system” cannot be dependent on any particular individual, whether they are in a leadership role or elsewhere. Because its success is built into “the way we do things round here”, the foundation is set. However, it is equally clear that the system requires skilled and capable people to operate and that, as they develop, progression into new roles that make the most of their experience and abilities is desirable for them and the organisation.
It is therefore committed to developing its people and enabling them to continue to progress should they wish to, so employee turnover is low. Emerging leaders at every level are generally identified from within the organisation, with clear succession planning for every key role.
The organisation is known for developing great people and, where there are insufficient opportunities for development internally, the organisation encourages and supports individuals to find suitably challenging roles elsewhere as part of its wider contribution to society.
Equally, the organisation recognises the need to be continually looking outside itself for inspiration on how to become better, and routinely brings in new people with valuable knowledge and skills to ensure that it always stays “fresh”.
Changes in the external environment
In the same way as it responds to changes internally, the organisation recognises that its external environment is changing in many ways.
Economic factors – market dynamics, economic climate, regulatory and social pressures (e.g. environment), technological developments, global events and geopolitical issues etc.
Operational factors – changes in supplier and partner relationships, labour market conditions, access to funding, supply chain vulnerabilities, crisis management and resilience etc.
Market and competitive factors – action by competitors, new market entrants, cultural and social shifts, changes in customer expectations.
High performing organisations will always be scanning for these and be responsive to changes at this level as well as in local operations.
Improving the system itself
Finally, the “high performance with ease” system itself will need to evolve to account for the way that the organisation is evolving.
With all of these elements in place, the organisation truly will be set up to deliver “high performance with ease” for the long–term.
So what about you?
As you’ve been reading the above, I wonder if you’ve been comparing your organisation to the model and what you have noticed? Which area or areas have you identified may need attention?
You’re most likely to start with the most pressing issues, yet it is highly likely that it won’t be too long before you uncover aspects of one of more of the others that require attention in order to resolve that issue. After all, they are all inter–related.
If you’re unsure where or how to start, I would be delighted to offer you a no–cost, no obligation conversation to help your thinking. I’m convinced that such a conversation will be beneficial for both of us. You will come away with greater clarity and deeper insight through an external perspective. I’m endlessly curious about the challenges different organisations face and how I can apply my learning in practical ways in different settings.
So please book a call or drop me an email and we’ll set that up.
If you’d like a copy of my summary of this article, “5 essential foundations for delivering exceptional performance with ease”, do drop me a note and I’d be delighted to send it to you.
Contact me:
Email hello@veracityoxford.com
Call 07983 743868.
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