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Category Archives: Baldrige

The premier and most widely recognized structural framework for performance excellence

Mapping Strategy and Operational Alignment

18 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by Dan Edds in Balanced Scorecard, Baldrige, Leadership Systems, Mapping Strategy, Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, Mapping Strategy

Close up of a men's quadruple skulls rowing team, seconds after the start of their race

At Praxis Solutions we strongly believe in the value of a strategy map. The chief reason is that it is – visual. Most of us are visual learners. We feel, think, respond to and remember pictures and stories. “Pictures are worth thousand words”. This means one well-crafted picture can tell the story behind three pages of text. Time and again we see the power of a visual representation of strategy.
However, there is another important value in a strategy map – operational alignment. A strategy map visually tells the story of a leadership system and how the system is aligned with mission. In addition, a strategy map shows the connection between budgets and the execution of vision. Processes become aligned around meeting customer requirements instead of asking customers to bend to the requirements of the process. Leadership knows what they are supposed to produce rather than the default command and control.

Aligning Leadership

We recently finished building a strategy map for a rural healthcare organization. An additional phase included the development of a formal leadership system. This too is coming together well. But what we have found that is just stunning is this – the leadership model is perfectly aligned with process outcomes. For example, the strategy map identifies two process outcomes:
1. Safe & coordinated care; and
2. Efficient systems.
Without consulting or directing the outcome of the leadership model we are seeing that two primary results of their leadership system are – safe & coordinated care and efficient system. In other words, there is a recognized cause and effect relationship between what leaders do and the twin goals of safe & coordinated care and efficient systems. As one of the senior executives stated: “I have always been promoted because I was good at being a nurse, but when they put the title of “leader” on me, I was not at all sure what I was supposed do. Now I know”.
This is a powerful statement because most leadership training is focused on the individual leader acquiring organizational power and influence. In this model the role of the leader is to direct subordinates to do her bidding. This understanding of leadership is flipped on its head. The role of the leader is now to create the environment where staff treat patient safety and the coordination of their care as the highest priority. Mindlessly doing what the boss says no longer works. There are clear and unambiguous goals to reach. Furthermore, these objectives are highly measurable so if the targets are not being met, who is responsible – leadership. They cannot play the blame game.

To download a complimentary white paper on mapping strategy:

strategy-mapping

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Understanding Leadership – As a System

27 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Dan Edds in Baldrige, Leadership Systems, Mapping Strategy, Praxis Solutions

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Baldridge, Communicating Strategy, DanEdds, Leadership Systems

us-marine-leadershipThere is a fundamental difference between developing leaders and developing a leadership system. Ideally, leadership development should be based on the requirements of a leadership system that has been designed to execute organizational mission.

Not long ago, a nephew returned home from his 13 week United States Marine basic training. Within a week, he had passed the grueling 54 hour final test of his training known as the crucible, turned 20 years old, and had become a newly minted US. Marine Corp Private. He was a member of one of the most elite fighting force in the world. Upon his return, I asked him about what he had learned about leadership. I was expecting to hear reflections of his experiences and observations of acts of selfless courage. Instead, he spouted off an acronym – JJDIDTIEBUCKLE. He had memorized the acronym and its meaning as part of his training. He knew what every letter meant but I had strong doubts that he had learned anything at all about leadership. He had memorized the dictionary, as the US Marine Corps produces it, but had he learned anything tangible about leadership during his 13 weeks of basic training? I was disappointed.
However, upon further reflection, I realized he had learned a great deal about leadership. Even as a brand-new Marine with the rank of private, he had learned the fundamental basics of the Marine Corp system of leadership. In contrast, how many graduates with basic degrees in business enter their first entry level job and are given the fundamentals of their organizations system of leadership? Do the great business enterprises of our day provide their entry level employees the basics of a unique system of leadership – assuming they have one? More to the point, does Microsoft, Amazon, Federal Express, Exon, Boeing, Walmart, or Volkswagen give their lowest level hires a systematic way of looking at leadership in their on-boarding and initial training? Something tells me no. The larger question: do they even have one? Again, something tells me no.
The U.S. Marine Corp is clearly one of the elite organizations in the world given their mission. Yet they give their newest hires, even before they are officially hired, the keys to the executive suite. They teach every on one of them what is expected of a leader and how they are to lead. They have reduced the idea of leadership to a clearly defined system. Something tells me this is the next generation of leadership thought – leadership as a system.
Just in case anyone is interested. The following is the system of leadership as defined by the United States Marine Corp. A leader must exhibit the following:
• Justice,
• Judgment,
• Dependability,
• Initiative,
• Decisiveness,
• Tact,
• Integrity,
• Endurance,
• Bearing,
• Unselfishness,
• Courage,
• Knowledge,
• Loyalty, and
• Enthusiasm

= JJDIDTIEBUCKLE

Semper Fi

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Mapping Strategy and Capturing Hearts

15 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by Dan Edds in Balanced Scorecard, Baldrige, Lean training

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DanEdds

lovemyjobI have seen it happen often enough that I should not be surprised but I always am. Do a lean kaizen event or a strategy mapping workshop and front line staff become intensely engaged in the process and the outcome. Yesterday we were working with a regional hospital district and developing a leadership model that will guide leadership development, on-boarding, training, and performance expectations. In the process, the COO mentioned that she had just seen 4 front line staff, standing in the hallway where the strategy map we had created several weeks ago, is displayed. We enlisted the help of their graphic designer in its development and I must say, it is visually – stunning. The staff were studying and discussing it, along with the performance data that goes with it. Just how awesome is this?
We feel that when anyone goes to work in the morning, there is a deep seated desire to know that our work is important, that it counts, that it matters, and that we long to work for an organization that exhibits excellence. We also feel that front line staff want to know where they fit in the larger execution of mission and vision. This is where strategy maps, lean kaizen events and incorporating Baldrige Quality Criteria into organizational performance can provide enormous value. They empower! They communicate to the rank and file where they fit in the broader misison of their employer. What a shame so many never help their staff connect the dots. It’s a simple thing really, but what happens when we understand our place in fulfilling the sacred missions of our public, nonprofit, and healthcare organizations? The COO of this very fine healthcare organization may have said it best. “When our people come to work, they give us their hands and their brains. But if we treat them with respect they will give us their hearts as well”. The great thing is, when staff give their hearts as well, there is no additional cost.

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Baldrige Rapid Access Intensive – Accelerating The Journey

12 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Dan Edds in Baldrige, Leadership Systems, Mapping Strategy, Praxis Solutions

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Baldrige, Baldrige Consulting, DanEdds

highway road going up as an arrow

highway road going up as an arrow

After two full pilots, we are launching this totally new service. The two pilots have proved conclusively the value of this approach to kick starting a Baldrige journey. Developed in conjunction with Performance Excellence Northwest and two years in development, the results to date have been outstanding.

With the assistance of expert facilitators and the visual communication tools of story boarding and mind mapping, the Rapid Action Intensive will jump start your journey toward excellence. Along the way your team will learn the basic structure of the Baldrige framework, self-identify opportunities for improvement, strengths to be celebrated, and learn the comprehensive approach to excellence that Baldrige provides. It is hands on experiential learning as well as action oriented. You will come away with action items designed for excellence. You will also have the basic structure of a Baldrige application completed.

What others are saying:

We are now organizing our “nuts and bolts” team with associated workgroups focused on the Baldrige Quality Criteria. Our customer group has already begun our approach to use of social media, now in early deployment

I would highly recommend this offering to anyone seeking Baldrige or even considering a journey to excellence.

 Eileen Branscome

Chief Operations Officer, Mason General Hospital

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Translating Muda Into Government Speak

05 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by Dan Edds in Baldrige, Lean training, Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, LeanInGovernment, LeanTraining

Does the types of waste or muda identified in lean training such as inventory, over production, and over processing translate into government “speak”? Of course they do but some translation work must be done.

When James Womack and Daniel Jones published their landmark book, Lean Thinking, they introduced a Japanese word into the manufacturing lexicon. The word is muda or what we would call waste in modern English. There are seven types of muda enumerated by the authors and the founders of lean principles. Each type of muda makes perfectly good sense in a manufacturing environment but may require some translation for a government application.

What we observe in much of lean training in government is that the language is so different that government leaders just tune out. This is not a negative hit on government leaders and workers. It is just the reality that all organizations have a unique language. So let’s look at those types of muda and see if we can make the translation. The specific example we will use in a government environment is payment of invoices and the awarding of financial aid in a college or university. Government does a lot of this. Let’s also remember the definition of muda = any activity that consumes resources but creates no value.

Over production

Producing too many parts for an assembly line is clear waste. But it also applies in a payment to grantees. Think of regulations as parts of an assembly line. If a process is designed that goes beyond what is required by a regulatory body, it has the same effect as producing too many engines for the assembly line. A State transportation agency providing federal funding to local municipalities for public transit must meet certain regulatory requirements. If errors are made penalties are the usual result. But in one agency the tendency was to error on the side of over regulation. There were so good at it, that when the feds were not sure of their own regulations, they just asked the State transportation group.

Waiting

A part sitting in inventory, waiting for installation creates no value for the customer. But does the same concept apply to paying invoices for grantees. Think of a single invoice, sitting on not one desk for a review but five desks. One school district found that it was taking up to 6 months to pay staff for the extra work they did like driving students to the debate tournament. Once they figured out all the points of waiting they figured out how to get it done in 10 days.

Transport

Transporting a single part to multiple warehouses clearly creates no value. But moving paper documents around an office has the same impact. In one of our lean engagements it was discovered that every invoice passed the desk of the same person 6-7 times. And this was just one person, this happened with multiple people. So do the math. Assume every invoice must pass 3 people 6 times. That is 18 touch points at a minimum! That is also 18 points where invoices get lost. Clearly, this is muda.

Over processing

Manufacturing parts for an airplane that goes beyond the design specifications is clear waste. In the same way, many government processes are designed for the once in a million event. A workers compensation insurance trust sets up the same invoice payment review process for a $25 invoice as it does for a $2,500 invoice. The smallest invoices must go through three levels of review just like the largest invoices. While there is clear value in a comprehensive review of large invoices applying the same review requirements to very small invoices means the cost of paying the invoice is more than the invoice itself. One government workers compensation trust dramatically improved their speed of payment by setting up simple business rules. Smaller invoices went through one review process, larger ones went through a different one. The result was faster payment, stronger negotiating power with medical providers and better business intelligence to serve their ultimate customer.

Inventories

A warehouse full of parts clearly creates no value for the customer. In the same way, money sitting in a bank can be inventory. If it is not put to immediate use building roads, paying medical claims, or getting a student off to university it is creating no value for the ultimate customer. When an Office of Financial Aid cuts in half the time it takes to process an application, money is going to work for the benefit of the intended student – faster.

Movement

The constant movement of parts is something that manufacturing organizations are just now understanding as muda. Parts get lost, parts don’t arrive on time, and parts get broken. In the same way, invoices and paper documentation that moves around has the same problems. They get lost, issues are not resolved on time, and there are multiple points in the process that will cause late payment. One office of financial aid stopped the movement merry go round but only giving 10 application packets for financial aid to each processor at a time. They could not get more until the 10 were completed. The results were fewer errors, no lost files, and staff were happier – they could see progress on a daily basis.

Defective Parts

We understand that buying anything that has to be returned because some small part is defective is irritating and expensive. The same applies for an invoice payment operations. Errors in coding and data are just as expensive. A simple error in data entry is a small thing to fix early in the process. But towards the end it can be catastrophic. On Office of Financial Aid designed two simple check lists. Much like airline pilots go through a check list for every takeoff and landing, this Office designed two check lists to catch errors before they had catastrophic impact. Besides fewer errors, they also realized that the check lists resulted in more standardized work because every knew the process.

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