Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Peter, Demming kind of wrote the book on quality and most continuous improvement methods incorporate his ideas. But you probably know that. As a philosophy I think he has a great model. Outside of manufacturing his methods are not as srtong and need adaptation (my opinion of course). Saving Changes...
Michael, thank you for your message. I agree with your observation regarding manufacturing versus non-manufacturing areas. I was hoping to start a discussion on the Pro's and Con's of Deming versus other methodologies, e.g., Six Sigma. I.E., ease of use, results, implementation etc. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Peter,
Process Improvement methods are near and dear to my heart. In my experience I have found three basic genre of methodologies. The first spawns from demming. The most popular being Six Sigma. The zero defect focus of processes lends itself to the manufacturing model. These methods are steeped in statistical analysis and certainly can be effective in the right settings.
The next are those methods that are heavily IT focused and are derivations of RAD and JAD thinking. I am not a fan of these because of their lack of attention to organizational issues both in focus and in the actual methods of farming knowledge.
The last are methods that are focused on aligning stakeholder value, strategic objectives and operational outcomes. They integrate many different dimensions into their methods including the dynamics of human behavior. These methods view technology as a people and organizational leveraging tool. They adhere to the philosophy that a value needs to be balanced between stakeholder groups if long-term success is to be sustained.
I do believe that each of these genres of methods can be used successfully. My personal bias is that the third approach will yield the most dramatic and long lasting results. Any method to be complete and sound must provide an improvement model that supports reengineering and continuous improvement. They must be scalable to fit the organization’s situation, emotional maturity and structural constraints. To me this means they must respect the human condition and integrate not just quantitative methods but also behavioral psychology techniques. After all, its people that make the difference. Saving Changes...
Alan GermainPMO Director| StudioComAlpharetta, Ga, United States
Peter,
I agree with Michael. Deming really was almost "ahead of his time." Even though his ideals began in relation to the manufacturing industry, they may be utilized in the fast paced world of IT today. Saving Changes...
Rich KaySenior Program Manager| Department of Veterans Affairs Woodbridge, Va, United States
Peter - great question:
TQM The Pro's/overview:
-Focus is on continuous improvement - the HOW, not who screwed it up... -Goal is to improve quality in the eyes of the customer -Cleary explains simple supplier/customer relationships on how to improve quality -Robust, but simple tools used to help improve processes - from flow charts to fishbone diagrams
The Con's/pitfalls: -As with any Organizational Improvement intervention, may be viewed as a threat vice a philosphy to help -Again, must be led by the top, but can be implemented at lower levels (I have done both)
As Michael Wood stated, with any intervention "they must respect the human condition and integrate not just quantitative methods but also behavioral psychology techniques"
I have written a few articles on Gantthead about the 7 Deadly Diseases and one recently on TQM/TVM - you can find them by searching on "Kay".
A good read on TQM - short - is Mary Walton's Demining Mgt at Work - explains the 14 Obligations of Mgt and goes over some tools and stories.
Great summation of the various effective tools out there. I am a big fan of Six Sigma, but find that a in a service industry a less exacting method can be more effective and practical.
I am very interested in the third area that you mentioned however, and I was wondering if you there were any documented technologies that employed that genre that you described as your favorite. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Ryan, I agree that sometimes the route to success is not through complex means. Since 1979 I have been evolving a Methodology that I believe fits the 3rd area you referred to. I would be happy to send you a book on it. Just drop me your address. My email is [email protected] Saving Changes...
While we're talking approaches to continuous improvement, let's not forget TOC.
The Theory of Constraints consists of a body of knowledge that addresses a systemic view of improvement by focusing on the goal of the system and the constraint that inhibits the ability to achieve more of it.
Within TOC are "thinking tools" that together form a logical problem-solving methodology and a view of behavioral psychology (focusing on resistance to change and its flip side, buy-in for collaboration) that are supported by the problem-solving process.
It is from these Thinking Processes that specific generic solutions for basic organizational functions (like Critical Chain for project management) were derived.
TOC also brings a consistent way of viewing quantitative issues together, eliminating the distortions of tradtional cost allocation schemes like cost accounting and ABC.
Probably most important, TOC provides, through its highlighting of current and predicted system constraints, a process for focusing the attention of other toolsets, like those found in 6 Sigma, TQM, and Lean. Too many organizations implement these latter efforts without that focus, and end up expending valuable time, energy, and effort on links of their value chain that are already strong enough while the only real sustainable benefit comes from their application at the weakest link and at true root causes of its existence.
TOC provides the tools to both identify those links and causes and what to change in order to address them.
I attempted to email you, but they kept getting bounced back to me. I am very interested to see what you have put together. If you could send me the book at my business address that would be great:
Attn: Ryan Heinl Development Dimensions International 1225 Bridgeville, PA 15017-2838
I will be looking forward to reading it. Thank again for your comments.
Ryan Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Ryan, I will mail it off Monday. Meanwhile you can read reviews and the like at amazon.com. Just search on Helix Factor. Saving Changes...
