When Growth Leads to Performance Decline

As companies grow, often the capability of the original founders does not get designed into the systems they use to manage the business as it grows larger. As a result, the capability responsible for the early stage success doesn’t transfer well to the people they bring in to help expand operations. This occurs for technical reasons.   In small, stable companies, close proximity and high levels of interaction create a shared mental model. When a shared mental model is in place and working, much of it goes unnoticed. Why? Much of the model is tucked away at higher order thinking levels operating inside the minds of the participants.  Like the tip of an iceberg, the shared mental model is only partially visible. Without visibility, the mental model is not available to be fully shared with new people entering the company.

As a company grows and the growth pulls the originators in different directions,  people are brought in to fill the gaps and technical systems are developed and put into place.  This is smart. Systems are needed to keep the business moving in the desired direction. As the company deploys the systems, everyone involved counts on them to secure company performance into the future.

As time goes by, it becomes clear that the systemization efforts are failing to maintain performance. Quality problems and rising costs are frequently the first visible signs that the shared mental model is becoming fragmented. Without the shared mental model in place to drive success, poor decision-making creeps in. Corrective actions fail to successfully contain the problem because the root cause of the problem is unrecognized.  Waste builds up and profit margins go down.

Unless the shared mental model can be captured and built into the working fabric of the enterprise, performance will continue to decline. In a favorable market, the company may continue to be operational and even profitable but at lower levels of performance and with stunted growth. In an unfavorable market, the company may not survive, or it may be sold to a larger enterprise.   In either case, the full potential value of the original company is never realized and has been lost.

Similar discussions of shared mental models can be found in The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge (Random House).

Relationship Practice and Leadership Influence

“Who’s coming with me?”—Jerry Maguire

Craig's note: This guest post is written by Brad Duggins, a new, welcome member of Systemental team.  Brad has a passion for applying his deep Organizational Development expertise in the service of others.

My daughter is a swimmer in a local club organization, and as I was watching her practice the other day, I began to think the parallels that exist between in swimming and human relationships.   I know, you’re thinking Brad really needs to get out more.  Humor me and take a look.

Swimming takes place in water.   Relationships take place in the world.  I cannot change the nature of water and I cannot change human nature.  I do not control the path others choose to follow.  I can only hope to exert a positive influence through my relationships.  It takes time and practice to develop a relationship with the water and it takes time and practice to develop your relationships with others. 

It takes a lot of thinking, discovery, practice and repetition to become an excellent swimmer.  You try, evaluate, modify, and try again.  Each time you get closer to developing the best possible relationship between you and the water.  As you study, you learn the unique mechanics that work best for you, to swim faster and find your winning form. 

It’s the same with relationships; lot’s of thinking, discovery, practice and repetition through which you develop the best possible relationship between yourself and others.  Along the way it’s helpful to remind yourself that you cannot change human nature.  You must find the unique mechanics that work best for you.  You must study and practice to find your winning form. 

My daughter is twelve years old.  She studies swimming mechanics and develops her personal form.  Now she is winning in the water.

How well developed are your relationship mechanics?  Are you studying and developing your personal form?  Are you winning in the world? 

An Early Stage Lean Transition Shoots Itself in the Foot

The management of a traditional operation issues a directive to make a transition to “Lean”. The assigned “Lean Team”, a group of professionals with relevant experience, finds itself in a tough spot. Top management sees them as Lean experts. And they are experts, just not early-stage transition experts.

Read the rest of the story here.

Top 10 Reasons Coaching is Effective

Top 10 Reasons Coaching is Effective

Coaching -

1. adds what is needed, when it is needed

2. increases engagement by synchronizing development with learner readiness

3. works to successfully deliver real-world projects as education takes place

4. eliminates learning waste to deliver higher educational ROI

5. applies different learning approaches to accommodate different learning styles

6. grows capability organically to boost success in a specific environment

7. pays for itself by boosting performance immediately

8. is appreciated by employees, which leads to higher retention and lower recruitment costs

9. is flexible, always focusing on what is most important as circumstances change

10. optimizes the benefits of other forms of training

Coaching doesn’t replace the need for other educational methods; it enhances the results they deliver.

Cross-functional Initiatives: Problem Solving or Problem Resolution?

The process that drives the success of cross-functional efforts is problem resolution, a special form of problem solving.

You can think of problem resolution as a building approach; it emphasizes building improved performance on top of the “success assets” already present in the environment. (This doesn’t mean nothing will be brought in from the outside.)

This special form of problem solving puts a special twist on the requirements for leadership. A problem resolution leader will:

1. look for the strength to solve the problem in the environment and among the participants

2. evaluate for missing requirements – skills, expertise, experience

3. bring new methods in to close the gaps

4. be open to tailoring tools and methods for the preferences of the group

5. drive for both agreement and the expected results

A cross-functional problem resolver will see the absence of agreement  as an element of poor performance.  He or she will try to correct the lack of agreement by demonstrating the required behaviors or through personal intervention and negotiating. 

Don’t be an Answer-Man Super Hero

If you are a young, zealous technical person and you think the boss wants you to personally come up with the answers, you might want to know how my first manager set me straight:

1. I wasn’t supposed to come up with the answer; I was supposed to orchestrate the development of an answer using the best expertise I could find for every aspect of the problem.
2. Any answer not developed in partnership with the people who do the work was unworthy of his time or attention and would not be adopted. 
3. Start small, with a trial or prototype, to check things out more thoroughly before spreading any changes throughout the operation.
4. Keep everyone informed and take their input and concerns seriously, no matter what their position, expertise or title. Find a way to show them you have put their best ideas into your plans and actions.
5. Don’t make changes without the support of the people who will be impacted by them.
6. Be very thorough in the last phases of implementation to make sure the changes implemented will last. Expand your communications and solicit input from the larger group to make sure you have done everything required to ensure you’ll get the best performance around the improvement you’ve made after the fact.

If you put your mind to it, you can quickly start working this way and begin picking up on the behaviors you will need to be successful. However, for many people, it takes patience and persistence to gain a complete understanding of why it is so important to do technical work in this way. Take the time to develop your skills in this regard and you’ll always be appreciated as a thoughtful, careful, and thorough problem solver.

Excellent Lean Blog Post about Lean Culture

Check out Mark Graban’s post about how the CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital is building a true culture of continuous improvement.  Another Hospital CEO Talks Lean Culture

If you want to learn more about how to establish a company culture genuinely supportive of Lean, I recommend you read the full article appearing in the online periodical Smart Business Akron/Canton | August 2010  William Considine embraces Lean Six Sigma to improve Akron Children’s Hospital

I particularly like the following statement by CEO Considine:

“You’ve got to believe in your people, you’ve got to trust your people, empower them, and you’re going to be blown away when you see what they come back with,” he says. “They’re going to show you improvements that you would never have thought about. They’re going to show you ways to be efficient that the high-stake consultants you could bring in wouldn’t be able to find. You just have to keep celebrating that.”

Excellent!