Businesses can be compared to the human body: they’re organisms made up of various systems, with each system containing numerous components and processes.
Jim CastigliaWe have a musculoskeletal system, reproductive system, nervous system, respiratory system, circulatory system, gastrointestinal (digestive) system, sensory systems, immune system, endocrine system, urinary (excretory) system, lymphatic system, cardiovascular system, and the integumentary (skin) system.
Businesses have management systems, financial systems, marketing systems, and many sub-systems. And as we humans can take our bodies for granted, businesspeople can take their organization’s systems and processes for granted. And anything we take for granted loses its value. In business, systems and processes that aren’t valued can fail, causing organizational waste and ultimately leading to profits being lost. Human systems that are ignored can lead to sickness, disease, and death.
Paying attention to systems and processes, both personally and professionally, can yield significant dividends, leading to a healthy business and a healthy life.
This month’s article will focus on simple ways to identify key business processes, step back and assess them, then take direct action to move toward health and excellence. You can improve your business by improving those processes.
A Process Improvement Story
At the end of World War II, Japan was devastated. Almost 700,000 civilians had perished, all major cities except for Kyoto had wide-scale damage, its industrial base was in ruins, the people had little food, Japanese morale had collapsed, and the people had lost confidence in their leaders.
Dr. W. Edwards DemingIn stepped General Douglas MacArthur, as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), the occupation forces. In 1947, he recruited Dr. W. Edwards Deming to help prepare for the 1951 Japanese census. Deming immersed himself in the culture and developed a high regard for the Japanese people and their culture. This respect was returned to Deming. He was invited to a meeting of the Japanese Cabinet Bureau of Statistics. In March 1950, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) invited Deming to deliver a course on quality control. On June 19, Deming delivered his first lecture to a standing-room-only crowd of 500. He eventually spoke to most of the major leaders of Japan’s leading industries. They embraced his philosophy and established the Deming Prize in 1951. He taught the Japanese how to improve quality. They became world-class manufacturers, rising from the massive destruction of World War II to dominate the auto and electronics industries. The Japanese not only learned his message but also absorbed it.
Interestingly, Deming was ignored in the USA until the 1980s, living not far from the White House. On June 24, 1980, NBC broadcast a documentary on Japanese excellence narrated by Lloyd Dobyns. The last 15 minutes showcased a large American company that Deming had helped turn around. Ford Motor Company and General Motors, which were getting creamed by the Japanese auto industry, reached out to Deming for help. Dow Chemical, Hughes Aircraft, and many others also reached out. Attendance swelled at his four-day seminars.
I had the opportunity to learn Deming’s philosophy in 1989 after meeting one of his acolytes, a brilliant industrial psychologist, who worked at the Naval Personnel Research and Development Center (NPRDC) in San Diego. She invited me to deliver a segment on communications at the quality training she offered.
As I began to understand the concepts of process improvement and quality control, I began to appreciate the impact these strategies would have on a company’s growth.
Embrace the Process Improvement Philosophy
One of the most powerful strategic initiatives you can adopt is to improve the core processes of your organization. If you’re already NADCAP certified and getting audits, you’re on the right track. If you think NADCAP status isn’t for you, you can still have a process improvement approach. Here’s how to start:
- Understand your company’s core processes. Get your leadership team together and map them out. Keep it high-level. Don’t get sucked into too much detail. You can even use some of the tools of statistical process control to help, like flow charts and cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagrams.
- Bring the processes under control. All processes have variation. Identify the causes of process variation by seeking the existence of “special” causes.
- Improve processes by eliminating special cause variation.
This simple three-step process alone can begin to pay back big dividends. You’ll be shocked at how out of control many of your core processes are. Just by meeting and discussing these various processes, looking at the steps in them, and brainstorming ways to improve, you’ll be way ahead of the game.
Please contact me at jvcastiglia@icloud.com or text me at 949-338-7141 if you have any questions or would like assistance. I enjoy working with seasoned business owners who aim to maximize the long-term value of their organizations.
