August 3, 2016 Industry Forum Blog Ashley McKenzie, continuous improvement, Cool Runnings, Dick Fosbury, Fosbury, Fosbury flop, improvement, improvement cycle, Jamaican bobsledding team, Olympic athletes, Olympics, Sir Dave Brailsford, Spirit of improvement The mind set we use for successful improvement is one that our Olympic athletes demonstrate year in, year out. These 5 spirits of improvement apply whether we are running a kaizen activity or carrying out our daily jobs. Spirit 1. Challenge all the fixed ideas. We often find it difficult to break out of a long held habit or way of doing things. But unless we can challenge our fixed ideas in a positive way, we will never move forwards. This is exactly what Dick Fosbury did in the 1960’s. To help him jump higher he challenged the existing straddle technique. The resulting “Fosbury Flop” is now used by all the elite high jumpers. Fosbury also demonstrated the next spirit. Spirit 2. Do it now! No excuses. It is tempting to put off implementing a solution until it is perfect. The problem is you may never get round to doing it. Try out an improvement idea immediately. Even if it means mocking it up to prove it works before investing. Fosbury experimented over a number of years. First he tried the scissor kick before gradually adjusting his technique. He persisted, despite criticism for his style, and his results kept improving. End result – gold in the 1968 Olympics. Spirit 3. Use your wisdom, not money! You can always make initial improvements without having to spend. The trick is to think of ways to modify what is currently done. Then, try out your ideas by mocking up a solution. When you get it to work then you can invest. I couldn’t resist using the example of the Jamaican bobsledding team here. This tropical nation first competed in the Winter Olympics in 1998. While I found no proof that they practiced using a bath tub and a refrigerated van, as in the film Cool Runnings, it is true that they borrowed other team’s spare sleds. After 7 games appearances, in 2014 they appointed their own experienced coach, having started with support and advice from other bobsledders at the games. Spirit 4. Get to the root cause by asking why? – 5 times. The key to solving problems is to use a logical approach and get to the root cause of the problem. It’s no good applying a sticking plaster to the symptom. One way to do this is to keep asking “why?” until the root cause is established. I didn’t find any examples of Olympians using Problem Solving techniques, please share any you find. However, one of Team GBs current hopefuls sums up the perseverance required to make this technique work. Ashley McKenzie, who competes in the 60kg Judo category says “I am arguing all day, until you tell me I am right.” Spirit 5. Improvement is infinite, better is not good enough. This reminds us that the improvement cycle never stops. If you sit back after you have made 1 improvement then the competition will overtake you. All our athletes demonstrate this, however, Sir Chris Brailsford summed it up best, “Sport is about continuous improvement, it’s about getting better. It’s about being better next year than you are this year.” His cycling teams examine every single aspect of their sport and try to increase each one by even 1%. These all add up to give significant advantages. He adds “We’ve got to keep looking, researching and working – trying things. And that’s what it’s all about.” Contact our team to find out how Industry Forum can help improve your manufacturing competitiveness today.
July 27, 2016 Industry Forum Blog British Cycling, continuous improvement, Hoshin Kanri, How to lead, leadership style, leadership techniques, Olympics, Policy Deployment, Sir Dave Brailsford, Team Sky, Tour de France If you are seeking leadership techniques to get the best from your team, look no further than Sir Dave Brailsford, Principal for Team Sky. Team Sky crossed the finish line for the 2016 Tour de France with arms linked. Their 4th win in 5 years. Prior to this Brailsford was performance director for the British Cycling Olympic team. They built their medal haul from 2 in 2004, to lead the 2008 table with 8 golds. They repeated this feat at the 2012 Olympics. Between 2003 and 2013 British cyclists across disciplines as diverse as road, track, BMX and mountain bike racing won 59 World Championships. When he said “Sport is about continuous improvement, it’s about getting better” I realised he would have some good lessons for those of us leading our own business improvement teams. I’ve compiled these top 4 tips from interviews and articles about Brailsford’s leadership style. 1. Start with a clear vision and understand how to win Is your vision and goal compelling? Is your stated goal to win or just finish the race, maybe in a better place than last year? What effect will a wishy-washy goal have on your team? Will they be committed and accountable for their actions? Probably not. Each of Brailsford’s cycling teams’ starts by defining what winning looks like. They then work back and create a plan to get them there. Everybody in the team, not just the cyclists, have a clear role and tasks to accomplish. This is the crux of Policy Deployment, the technique we use in business to point everyone in the organisation in the same direction and navigate them to the desired end point. It’s also known as Hoshin Kanri. 2. Do the simple things excellently On the rare occasions where Brailsford’s team have not been successful he has analysed what went wrong. After the 2010 Tour de France he is reported as saying they concentrated on the peas rather than the steak. By this he meant they focussed on the clever touches rather than the basics of performance. This is just as true when leading improvement programmes. If you don’t concentrate on maintaining the basic standard created by deploying the foundation tools, you won’t have a stable base for the clever techniques to further enhance performance. 3. Behavioural change only comes from within Brailsford believes that you can’t force change on an individual. He states that change in behaviour will usually only happen when either the suffering is great enough or the reward big enough! That doesn’t mean you have to make people suffer to want to change. Remember the tale of the team and the newt. What he means is find what makes each individual want to improve and as leader, tailor your messages accordingly. 4. Give ownership and make people feel genuinely valued By creating the right culture for individuals to flourish Brailsford believes you get 30% more. He uses a coaching style and gets teams to create their own rules. The opportunity to influence the group improves buy in and individual engagement. These are just a few of the ways in which Brailsford prepares his team to win and continue winning. The good news is that they are all directly transferable to our teams at work. Examine your leadership techniques and see if you can benefit from a blend of Brailsford and business improvement techniques. If you would like to know more about Leadership and management for manufacturers, why not check out our Leadership Development Programme?
