I hope everyone is having a great holiday! First a heads-up that the article I referred to in my previous post, “Lean Laggards” has been published in the December 2017 issue of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. If you didn’t read my last post, this is an article updating how the Pharma industry has progressed in the last 5 years or so in terms of becoming more “lean” and is a sequel of sorts to a previous article written some years ago. While lean programs have become an increasingly popular approach to addressing key strategic challenges in the pharma industry, including greater throughput, higher quality and reduced costs, unfortunately the industry has seen little overall progress. This article explores the root causes of why this has occurred and how it can be addressed.
Speaking of root causes, a recent conversation I had with a colleague prompted me to share a story and a key learning about the importance of spending enough time upfront before beginning an improvement effort before starting. Some years ago I had a job interview with a company that specialized in Lean/Six Sigma implementations. One of the interview questions I was asked was, “Which phase of DMAIC (“Define/Measure/Analyze/Improve/Control”) is most important?”
For those not familiar with the term, DMAIC is Six Sigma’s core improvement methodology. Essentially you define the problem (“Define”), determine the baseline of the current state (“Measure”), identify, validate and select the root cause(s) to resolve (“Analyze”), test and implement solutions (“Improve”), and finally ensure that metrics are in place to monitor the improvement and ensure sustainability (“Control”).
My answer to the interview question was “Define.” More than a decade later my answer has not changed. In fact, I am even more certain. What I have seen a number of times in my career is the lack of adequate time spent upfront prior to beginning improvement efforts on defining just what exactly what is intended to be accomplished (“Where are we going?”), and aligning key stakeholders on the goals/objectives and plan (“How do we intend to get there?”)
The results of not taking the proper steps to ensure success with the above can be at best loss of time/money and at worst, a failed project.
There’s an old expression I was taught when I first started consulting: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
Before starting an improvement effort it needs to be clearly and precisely defined just what precisely do you intend to accomplish? I can recall a number of times where I’ve talked to someone at a company undertaking one of these efforts and one of the first questions I ask is, “What do you intend to accomplish with this project?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “to improve,” or “get better.” Those times where there is a more specific answer such as “improve quality” or “change our culture” I then ask, “Okay, so what exactly does that mean? How will you measure the change?”
If you can’t clearly and precisely define where you want to go and how you will measure progress you need to do more work upfront before starting. Another challenge I see all too often is that different stakeholders have different opinions on what “success” looks like. This is a recipe for disaster!
So what should be done to avoid these issues? One great tool to use is a project charter. The process of creating a charter and putting words on paper will force a clear articulation of the challenge to be resolved. The charter should be discussed with every key stakeholder to ensure alignment. If you don’t have alignment, don’t proceed with the project! Spend the time upfront via alignment workshops. It will take more time on the front end, but you will save time/money and reduce the risk of failure.
Food for thought on this for those who are in the process of undertaking improvement efforts such as Lean, Lean/Six Sigma, Operational Excellence, etc: if asked what defines “success” for these efforts, would everyone in your organization give the same answer? Of key importance: are your leaders all aligned?
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