When you're thinking about rolling out Strategy Deployment in your organization, it can be intimidating to know exactly where to start, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to set yourself up for success right from the beginning. I've recently written an eBook that covers these questions, as well as information about the software you need to enable Strategy Deployment, that you can download here:

But I thought that today on the blog, I'd give you a sneak peak into one of the chapters of the book covering the formula for successful Strategy Deployment.

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A popular ice breaker in business meetings these days is, “3 Truths and 1 Lie.” Each person says three true things about themselves and one made up thing and everyone tries to guess which is the lie.

It’s a good way to get to know a bit about people and learn something about how they think.

There are similar visions of the game on social media. (“10 bands I’ve seen – and one lie,” is hot on Facebook right now.)

We thought that 10 truths and 1 lie would be a good way to introduce Standard Work, but we won’t make you guess which is a lie.

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Tracking the impact of a continuous improvement program is one of the most difficult challenges that an incoming consultant may face. As difficult as tracking impact is, it is also one of the most important metrics to measure. Organization leaders want to see a return on their investment of a consultant, and being able to capture the results of the improvement program is the easiest way to do so.

Most consultants capture the impact of improvement using spreadsheets or Sharepoint - if they are even able to capture impact at all.

There are a couple issues with this.

1. Using spreadsheet impact data to track impact quickly means that ROI gets out of date because logging the impact is "optional”.
2. Improvements can be marked as complete without having an impact logged.
3. Sometimes improvements aren’t completed, and there are no active notifications as reminders. Using Continuous improvement software to track your impact means that all of the data is actually captured and notifications are sent out as reminders so that no improvements fall through the cracks.

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As you can probably tell from reading this blog or others about the Lean approach to business management, most of what is written about the subject is applied to manufacturing and healthcare organizations. We know, however, that its application is not that limited. We have clients in technology, education, agriculture, professional services, and more.

One sector that is starting to embrace the Lean approach with increasing enthusiasm is construction. We’ve been delighted to see a new level of interest from leaders in the field. We thought it might be useful to share some of the questions we get asked most often about Lean construction.

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Why is the Construction Industry Turning to Lean?

In terms of the adoption of performance improvement and quality optimization techniques, the construction industry lags somewhat behind the manufacturing and services sectors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that in the last 40 years, the productivity of the construction industry has stayed flat, while the productivity of other non-farm industries increased over 100%. Why? Several studies have found that at least 30% of wasted resources are caused by “entrenched attitudes in the management of projects.” Clearly, there is a compelling reason to try a new approach.

Continuous Improvement in Education has been rapidly growing over the past couple years. Jake Sussman recently talked about continuous improvement in higher education at KaiNexus, but one group that deserves mention is the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered by Congress in 1906, the Carnegie Foundation is an independent policy and research center that focuses on every level of education. The Carnegie Foundation is committed to developing a network of ideas, individuals, and institutions to advance teaching and learning.

These stated missions and goals also mean that the Carnegie Foundation is at the forefront of Continuous Improvement in Education; they even hold an annual conference on Improvement in Education. This year’s conference is taking place this year in San Francisco, March 27th-29th.

The Carnegie Foundation published an incredibly insightful and informative white paper simply titled “Continuous Improvement in Education,” (2013) by Sandra Park, Stephanie Hironaka, Penny Carver, and Lee Nordstrum. I highly recommend putting it near the top of your reading list. Check out the entire thing here.

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The white paper delves into continuous improvement as a practice, three levels of education in which continuous improvement is currently being implemented, as well as numerous themes found in different types of educational organizations that have implemented continuous improvement.

One of the most amazing things about Lean manufacturing principles is how universal they are. Lean - a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (a method for the elimination of waste within a manufacturing system) is equally effective when applied to manufacturing, healthcare, government, or even construction, among others.

Of course, the application of Lean is at various stages in different fields. While Lean, having been created in the automotive industry, has long been applied in manufacturing, it is a relatively new concept in the construction industry.

Those who have been working in and around construction for quite some time will know the construction industry has suffered deeply from a lack of innovation and systems improvement for as long as most can remember.  

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A 2013 research article from the Alexandra Engineering Journal, Applying lean thinking in construction and performance improvement, found the construction industry is troubled with delay and often suffers cost and time overrun. The report states that the productivity of the construction industry worldwide has been declining over the past 40 years.

The best part about being involved in a Lean Community is the community - and we’ve been thrilled to discover a thriving Lean community here in our own backyard in Austin, Texas.

KaiNexus is part of the Austin branch of Lean Construction Institute. Lean Construction Institute (LCI) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1997. The Institute operates as a catalyst to transform the industry through Lean project delivery using an operating system centered on a common language, fundamental principles, and basic practices.

They provide a way for lean construction practitioners to meet, share, and learn more about lean in the construction industry. Each year, LCI holds a major conference that brings hundreds of companies and lean practitioners together. Check out how to register for this year’s event in Anaheim, CA here.

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At the Austin branch of LCI, members meet once a month for breakfast, lunch, or happy hour, and there is often a presentation involved. These presentations usually revolve around organizational success stories, best practices, and various other lean topics. For example, in December, HOAR Construction presented on how they incorporate lean principles in a construction environment and the resources they use to achieve results.

Without a doubt, a lean consultant’s most important job is to help plant and a grow a culture of continuous improvement in an organization.

Planting a seed takes careful nurturing and dedication to actually grow the plant. Once a plant starts growing, it cannot be abandoned. A plant gives warning signs if it is in trouble. If a plant starts to brown, it might need more sunlight. If the plant starts to wilt, it might need more water.

Speaking with many consultants, I find that one of their biggest worries is that when they finish an engagement, they will come back a few months later to find that plant that they worked so hard to grow is wilted and dying.

An improvement culture cannot be created with a “drop and grow” approach; it needs careful maintenance to grow strong. However, it isn’t easy to measure the health of an improvement culture with spreadsheets or SharePoint files. While a plant gives warning signs in multiple ways, a spreadsheet does not. The only way to know if a culture is failing is that the spreadsheet won’t get filled out.

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For consultants, bringing a continuous improvement software platform into their repertoire gives them the ability to conduct health checks on their clients without even being in the building. Software keeps track of due dates, engagement and participation rates, giving consultants and improvement leaders added tools to keep growing their culture.

Specific boards and reporting capabilities partnered with powerful filtering features within continuous improvement software give the ability to see not just an entire organization, but to dive down into specific department or location levels.

Here are three examples of the powerful tools at your disposal:

Not many people would be qualified to hand down 10 commandments for Lean in government, but as you can see from his QPIC biography profile, Harry Kenworthy is uniquely qualified. Kenworthy, Principal and Manager of the Quality and Productivity Improvement Center (QPIC, LLC), which he founded in 1984, was one of the first practitioners to apply Lean in the Government sector. Though he began helping private sector clients, today 97-98% of Kenworthy’s client base consists of cities, counties, federal agencies, state agencies, and k-12 school systems.

Readers of this blog know that the Lean approach to business management has taken root far outside of the manufacturing sector. It is used by healthcare organizations, software development firms, financial institutions, and even institutes of higher education. The construction industry likewise has benefited from applying and adapting the fundamental principles of Lean. Construction is a unique industry with each project being unlike the last. That’s why agile thinking, effective communications, and extensive collaboration are necessary to maximize value.

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