Author Archive
Connecting Continuous Improvement and Appreciative Inquiry
Posted by: | CommentsMy recent foray into Appreciative Inquiry was spawned by Ankit Patel, principal partner with The Lean Way Consulting firm. While doing some work with the Cleveland Clinic, he discovered Appreciative Inquiry and saw an opportunity to blend it with his work in Continuous Improvement. I found the work fascinating and this them is the subject of next weeks podcast. For an introduction you may want to listen my most recent podcast, Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative with Sara Orem, co-author of Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change (Jossey-Bass Business & Management).
An excerpt from the upcoming podcast:
Joe: When you talk about problem solving, people think of it very much in linear terms. The things that I’ve read on Appreciative Inquiry, they’re talking about circular questions. Is there a difference in that thinking? Is there a basic difference between the two?
Ankit: I would say that traditional process improvement is a little bit slightly more linear, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. I think that’s actually a very needed skill set. I think where the AI process really excels is at non‑linear type, breakthrough type of issues. So if you want continuous improvement, traditional continuous improvement tools are great for that. If you want serious breakthrough types of initiatives, there are some tools in the continuous improvement belt that help with that. AI seems to work much, much better for that because of the non‑linear nature. It allows folks to break free of necessarily what they think is possible because it lets them just think bigger. So you do end up getting much, much larger types of initiatives.
So I’ll give you an example. Roadway Trucking. They did an Appreciative Inquiry, what they call, Summit. They actually had their own drivers come up with their initiative for a specific depot that could save $1 million. I think that was, if I’m correct, for Roadway Trucking, about 40 percent of a total revenue. It was an extremely aggressive goal, but they came up with that goal because of this whole process.
Now would they have achieved that otherwise? Possibly. It might have been an edict from the top down, but because they came up with it they were actually able to achieve it and get a lot of good cultural outcomes from that as well. People felt more empowered. People felt more engaged. You get less turnover from your folks. People are happier to be at work. It’s just a really, really neat way to approach any kind of problem or opportunity.
What I have found is that I am actually applying many of these methods through Lean and my continuous improvement efforts. I tis actually not that much of a shift. David Cooperrider, who is generally credited with coining the term Appreciative Inquiry had told Ankit that Toyota is currently using AI in their Hoshin Planning or Strategy Deployment efforts. Recently, I published my My Engagement Strategy – Appreciative Inquiry and discovered it was very Appreciative friendly.
The real attraction of AI to me is that it may provide a better way for cultural change. It may provide a stronger pathway in changing culture in a Lean Transformation. If you think we are already applying the best method or best path, I encourage you to participate in this LinkedIn discussion: When Lean fails, most people draw the wrong conclusion and assume it is Leadership. They blame leadership as being shortsighted. I think this view is not only wrong but it is dead wrong.
Related Information:
Getting Resistance to Appreciative Inquiry?
Lean Engagement Team Book Released
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving
Prototypes provide a Pathway for Connecting with Customers
Posted by: | CommentsPrototyping is a way to introduce our products or services in a very disarming way. It is a way of saying, “I respect your opinion.” Creating that empathetic connection with others can have a profound impact on your company.
We all prefer to buy products from people that we perceive to be experts in their field. The role of the expert has changed. It is no longer the expert with superior product knowledge; it is the expert that shows knowledge in how the product is used. We have gone from a world of selling benefits and features to a world of listening and collaboration. That connection with a customer clarifies how the product is perceived, not how it may look to us.
Traditional sales approaches in the past center on improving customer experience through techniques that tries to manipulate the customer emotions. In the book Listening With Empathy
The new approach is participatory rather than manipulative – teaching you how to shift inwardly from negative to positive moods, and thus become genuinely friendly and helpful. Our Listening with Empathy method will enable you to move through the following four customer-encounter phases with high success:
Phase1 – Preparation: Before meeting with a customer or client, it’s vital to put aside any stress, worries, or judgments that may pollute the encounter – and shift your focus toward positive feelings and heart-centered emotions.
Phase 2 – The Moment of Encounter: Right when you meet someone, you need to present an honest, friendly, nonjudgmental greeting, and offer relaxed space. New techniques can help you maintain a bright inner center, emit a friendly presence, and converse with relaxed spontaneity, acceptance, and enjoyment.
Phase 3 – Empathic Communication: When you begin talking business, you need to maintain clear intent to be of service and to enable your customers to truly satisfy their needs. By encouraging an enjoyable emotion atmosphere, you can make sure your customers feel good hands and well taken care of.
Phase 4 – Processing: This fourth phase involves pausing after a meeting to reflect on a recent sales or service encounter and to decide purposefully how to follow up on it. You’ll learn to re-experience positive aspects of the encounter and focus on your desire to meet with the customer again.
Prototyping can be a powerful tool but only if you are willing listen and make that connection with your customers. The ability to reach outside of companies and connect with our customers develop a shared outlook of our markets and will allow us to develop new opportunities faster than their competitors. It is a simple fact that the companies that know their customers best are the market leaders. They understand what is important. The companies that don’t, market to the general public and as a result get average results. Our new products, our prototypes are shared experiences. Prototypes should serve as models not just for improved design but for improved connection with our customers.
P.S. The easiest form of engagement is listening. Well, maybe not the easiest.
Related Information:
Your First Prototype is with Pen and Paper
Why Prototype? Customer Interactivity is the Most Meaningful Part of Design
Lean Thinking: Prototype early and often
Will the Mvp crush the Lean Startup?
Lean Sales and Marketing works because of Leader Standard Work
Posted by: | CommentsPeople struggle with Lean in sales and marketing because they don’t believe that many of the fundamental concepts of Lean, such as Standard Work can apply to the S & M discipline. If you review the slide shows under the Lean Engagement Team section on Slide Share, I think you will find how much they are based on standard work. Think about Leader standard work, it is intentionally designed to focus multiple layers of attention on the same process. For example:
The Team Leader’s Standard Work might including adding new call scripts into a follow-up campaign for a certain webinar or trade show. The team leader also heads a brief daily stand-up meeting with the team which is part of the regular agenda to ensure that appropriate action has been taken or initiated. The Team Coordinator should attend but not head the meeting.
The Team Coordinator might then work with the team to go over playback of scripts for training. He may bring in additional trainers as part of a weekly program to improve delivery. The TC ensures that program has been coordinated with other actions in the marketing communication department.
The Marketing Communication department sends follow-up emails, auto-responders and/or direct mail.
The Value Stream Manager might allocate budget for calling program and meet once a week to check progress and to lead a regularly-scheduled meeting with the TC, TL and MC to discuss the problems or opportunities.
It is this way that standard work is layered to ensure focus on the processes that produce the results. It is one of the most challenging aspect of the transition from a traditional results-only culture to a lean results-and-process-focused culture.
A quote from Dr. Michael Balle, “Lean is not a revolution; it is solve one thing and prove one thing.” Leader Standard work is the foundation of Lean Sales and Marketing and the fundamental process that replaces the "Silver Bullet" found in most typical marketing jargon.
What are your thoughts? Is your marketing efforts based on standard work?
Systems2win(who I work with) has an excellent description on the website, Leader Standard Work tool.and a new video out (below) that explains Standard Work.
Related Information:
Blog Carnival Annual Roundup: 2011: The 99 Percent Solution
Six Sources of Influence in Change
The Difficulty of Mastery = The Difficulty of Lean
Even Seinfeld used Standard Work
