Five Whys of Thanksgiving for Process Improvement

Five Whys of Thanksgiving for Process Improvement

Many people have heard of the Five Whys of Lean; the point being to keep asking “why?” about an issue until you come to the root cause.  If there is no real reason (classic: “because it’s always been done this way”) or no one seems to know of a good reason, that is indicative of potential room for improvement. 

For example, in a process improvement Current State Mapping session I conducted with a client last year, we discovered that the QC team was measuring something which the technicians at the equipment had already measured and passed on.  I asked a technician “Why do you measure this parameter at the equipment?”  The answer: “Because rework is required at the equipment if the parameter is out of control.”  Seems like a reasonable answer (though ideally we’d push for no defects at the equipment at all).   

Moving on in the process, however, I then asked the QC team why that parameter was measured again just after the employee already passed the measurement at the equipment.  In that case, the answer was that the QC team didn’t know it was being measured upstream of them; they had always taken that measurement.  Then the production manager spoke up that he instituted the parameter check a few years ago at the equipment, but never told the downstream QC team.  This resulted in a duplication of effort at the subsequent QC step which gated the product moving to the next stage of production and caused unnecessary delays to the overall process.  Needless to say, the team was pretty thankful for the Current State Mapping session highlighting this issue so they could stop the duplication of effort and save time in getting the product to the customer.

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, it is worth exploring five reasons why teams are often thankful when external consultants are hired to facilitate process improvement efforts such as the example above. 

1)      Hiring a consultant demonstrates that Management recognizes employee “pain” and is willing to spend money to help

2)      Employees are relieved that someone else will guide their improvement efforts since they don’t have time, given their “real jobs,” to take on this added responsibility themselves

3)      Peers do not feel like the “bad guy” for exposing inconsistencies or waste in other areas of a process (and consultants typically maintain neutrality as they consider process problems, not directed at individuals)

4)      Exposure to an entire end-to-end value stream or process is enlightening for individuals and facilitates understanding and empathy between departmental “silos”

5)      An outsider will often ask questions that an insider wants to understand, but is afraid to ask for fear of being perceived as ignorant

As the owner and Principal of AJC, I am thankful that my clients recognize the value of hiring an external consultant to facilitate process improvement efforts.  Why?  There are at least five reasons (of course J) but the main one is because I feel good when helping others in a meaningful way – just like most of us, I suspect.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.