Listen to answers like this in part 1 of 2 of the podcast;

Joe:  What makes sustaining them so difficult for people? You put a process in, this is what we are going to do from now on. What makes that tough?

Lonnie: I get asked that question frequently. It seems to be almost obvious that people would say “Well, OK, we made this gain, now let’s sustain it.” It’s a whole lot better to build on progress than deterioration. The truth of the matter is that people in real life, people have tremendous, tremendous problems sustaining the gains. I think the single, biggest thing that I can put my finger on is the business’ attitude towards problems. I find, particularly in the West, and I don’t like to make a Japanese/Western dichotomy, but at some level there is.

I find, in the West, that we look at problems as a royal pain in the “tush.” We don’t want them. The fewer problems we have, the happier we are. Some of my Japanese clients, when they find a problem they almost celebrate it. They recognize they found a weakness in the system. The system is, therefore, deficient and now we have got a way to improve it.

They look at problems as opportunities to make their system better, and I think that carries over into then, how they finish up those problems. Once you have solved the problem: To sustain it, there’s a whole series of activities you need to do. You need to maintain it. You need to standardize it. All of that is just good old fashioned hard work.

To me, that is the most fundamental thing that I find that makes people, makes companies, shy away from sustaining issues, is first, how they view the problem. I think the second thing is that once a problem gets fixed, it’s very easy to jump to the next problem, because you don’t have any more symptoms.

What happens is you take on the next problem. Everybody’s interested in progress, so they want to make more and more progress. They forget that the last thing they fixed maybe isn’t fixed completely. It’s fixed enough so they don’t have any current symptoms, but it’s going to reappear at a later date. That discipline that it takes to think through the possible future problems, put fixes in place for things that haven’t even gone wrong; anticipate what might happen. That just isn’t quite as sexy as moving onto the next problem and solving it.

The third thing that I find that really prevents sustainability, is our system of goals and objectives. You’ll very often find out that companies have all kinds of production and financial goals and profits, and those are far more important than quality goals. One quality goal we implemented in one place that was particularly progressive, was the goal of zero for things we really didn’t do that well.

They made a list of the problems that reappeared and put them on the list of “things we didn’t do really well.” Then they made that a highlighted issue within the company. That company was the very best of any that I’ve ever worked at in my 40 years at sustaining the gains.

.Part 2 of the Podcast: Implementing Lean

Inventory lowers organizational effectiveness because the time and money spent taking care of the inventory could have been spent making the company more successful. Therefore, Lean organizations tend to receive the things they need to operate at the last responsible moment, this is called “Just in Time” (JIT). A JIT organization does not take on inventory until the moment they need it and therefore spends as little as possible maintaining inventory, greatly reducing the risk of having overstock.

But inventory isn’t just “stuff.” Inventory for us as individuals includes anything we have that requires maintenance or on-going attention. We have responsibilities, they aren’t going away. We will have a yard, it will need to be mowed. Dishes need to be washed. Children need to be raised.

Inventory for sales and marketing is prospects! As you think about what stops your marketing from being effective it is all about trying to appeal to the masses and as a result losing effectiveness both in time and money. As Jim said above, you should be taking the time making your company more successful and working on ineffective or wasteful leads is not going to do it.

The past several years the buzz word has been Inbound Marketing. Though I am a advocate of the basic approach and an advocate of using Social Media I have found that it really has resulted in a failed marketing strategy for many companies. Though it has increased the number of prospects it has done little to increase qualified buyers. That is why there has been push back from many organizations. It just has not been effective as the principle seems to indicate. Just because we automated the process does not mean we are managing Work in Process better.

So what happens if we limit work in process or the numbers of leads that we receive? Marketing to a targeted audience results in a cost savings and time savings. Would you need to hire more salespeople? Would you be able to use more experienced people at the right time and in the right place more often? Would you nurture and promote to a better qualified prospect? I believe the most important part of limiting Work in Process is that your message would simply be better. Not only would your information packet be much more targeted and information rich, it would also have a better chance to be delivered on time or in other words when a prospect is ready for it. Giving a prospect what he needs, when he needs it and how he wants it is a pretty important factor in today’s market. If you look at what vehicles prospects and your customers use to acquire the information they need, you will notice one important factor: they are just about all different. Multiplying that number by the number of prospects should certainly give you reason to start narrowing your field.

Why is now, the best time to convert to this strategy? The market itself has caused a constriction for most companies. This constriction has narrowed your market that should enable you to readily identify your target market. What are the last minute adjustments or concessions you make (JIT) to capture the sale? These are the present value drivers of your business. Are these the value drivers that you are willing to live with in the long term? How do they help you in identifying your present and future market?

Work in process is wasteful. It is wasteful in your personal life when not managed well, it is bad in manufacturing, it is bad from a sales and marketing perspective. Quit marketing at the top of your funnel. Instead learn how to manage your Work in Process!

P.S. By the way, I don’t even believe in a marketing funnel anymore. I will tell you more about that later!

Related Posts:

Improve throughput, cut your customers in half!

Lean your Marketing thru Segmentation

• Independent: The story should not carry with it dependencies, which can lead to estimating problems. Instead the story should be completely independent so that it can be worked on without pulling in a set of other stories.
• Negotiable: Stories should have room to negotiate – they are a starting point, not a contract.
• Valuable: The story should communicate the value to a user or customer, not to the developer. The story should define not only what a user can do, but what value the user gets from the implemented story. If there is no value, cut the story.
• Estimateable: You need to be able to estimate the amount of work required to implement the story. If it is too big and too daunting (an epic), break it up into smaller stories.
• Small: Similar to the previous, stories need to be small. Large stories are too complex to manage, and are typically more than one story compounded together.
• Testable: The implementation of the story needs to be testable. Define the tests that can be performed to validate the story was correctly implemented.

From a marketing perspective, you could develop user stories for many of your projects. For an example, consider developing a direct mail piece for a home roofing contractor: Using the standard outline for developing a user story: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale]. The user story may go something like this: As a roofing contractor, I would like to develop a 4-part mailing program targeting subdivisions of 20 to 24 year old homes.

• Using INVEST, I could look at this user story and conclude:
• Independent: Yes it is very independent.
• Negotiable: I think it is negotiable from the standpoint that you might be able to yse a 3 or 5 part or make some recommendations after initial testing.
• Valuable: I think presently it is rather weak in that area.
• Estimable: Time frames are very easily estimated.
• Small: The actual story is very small and well-defined.
• Testable: I think like most direct mail pieces, unless under a time constraint sample pieces could be sent and feedback given as additional pieces are developed and modified from the feedback.

Though this is a very easy initial user story, it still could be broken down into a variety of story points to put in the backlog, However, I think user stories for marketing should even go a step further. Using this example, they really should be re-directed so that they are written from the home owner’s perspective (the end user).

What could we create using our standard outline: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale]. As a homeowner, I would like information on the telltale signs that my roof needs inspected.

With this approach, you can see not only the need for supplying relevant content that is of value to the consumer but this story will strengthen your marketing. As you develop the piece, you may even find more content and/or a more targeted message.

P.S. Notice that I did not say replaced but inspected.

Related Post:

Using Stories to explain your Marketing Efforts

Start your Marketing with a User Story

He is well versed in problem solving skills. He is an expert in statistical problem solving as well as logical techniques such as Kepner-Tregoe methodology. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and he not only utilizes the Six Sigma tools but he is an active Six Sigma trainer. He is very comfortable in the classroom and even more so on the factory floor. He is equally adept at working with top management as well as the line worker. He is an aggressive problem solver and with his 39 years in industry, Mr. Wilson has developed the ability to reduce complex problems to simple workable solutions.

In addition to his work in Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing, Mr. Wilson has developed and taught classes in a wide variety of topics including many statistical tools such as DOE, SPC MSA, QFD and human relations skills such as Advanced Facilitation, Hoshin-Kanri Policy Deployment and Team Based Problem Solving, to name a few.

This is actually part 2 of 2 of the podcast I had with Lonnie. I found his description of Standard Work, Audits, Quality and Leaderships of such value that I wanted to publish this episode first. So, don’t be surprised that I jump right into the conversation on Standard Work after the introduction.

Related Posts: I found it very interesting how some of Lonnie’s thoughts so closely reminded me of my podcast with Michael Balle.

Developing a Kaizen Spirit

Developing a Kaizen Conscious with Shingo Prize winner Michael Balle

How much Planning is enough – Use Lean and Standardize

It takes guts, to start with lean training in a turnaround!

In the Scrum Methodology blog they stated:

Many Scrum teams have adopted the user story template developed by Mike Cohn, which identifies who the end user is, what the end user wants, and why in a single sentence. This model of the user story is most often written like this: “As a [end user role], I want [the desire] so that [the rationale].

They also defined it further in a contest that they had by asking for these requirements:

• The Problem. What was going wrong at your organization that made you decide to implement agile or Scrum?
• The Application. Once your organization decided to use Scrum to surface dysfunction and transform its processes, how did you go about doing it? What were the first steps you took? Was it an organization-wide adoption or just on the team level? Did you use training or tools?
• The Solution. What was the result? Can you quantify the improvements that Scrum and agile helped realize? Have other teams at your organization begun adopting agile management techniques?

Stories are used because they make it easier to understand,  remember and use. The limitation is that you do not know if you have been given all the facts.  A short clip from a training class Paul of ThinkSticky teaches on the content of the book, Made to Stick. This hands-on training illustrates how those qualities can be leveraged in your daily work.

I have started to use stories in explaining the outcome that is desired in a marketing campaign or event. I  plan on further developing this topic in a series of blog post. This is the first blog in this series.

Related posts:

Agile Marketing – Maybe?

Start your Marketing with a User Story

Further reading:

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development

The goal might change and be adjusted during the process but I certainly think having good solid reasoning would be worthwhile to most people. Especially, when you get in the middle of the project and start wondering what you should be doing today. I know this sounds rather trivial and many may think that I am rather foolish in discussing it. However, I think if you sit back and look at some of your last marketing projects or maybe even your last sales call, you might find that this answer is a little “Grayer” than what it should be.

By answering such a simple question you may clarify for your whole team decisions based on outcomes, cost, time, and resources, that get allocated. Without the question you may not even build a process to answer, why you did it.

I would challenge organizations to not only consider this question. But spend time thinking of how it fits into a larger picture. If you have ever heard me talk about what works in marketing, you know that I believe that one single event by itself seldom works. Effective marketing is the strength of the connections between each single event.

Why are we doing this? I like that question!