Page 41 - Lean six sigma demystified

20 Lean Six Sigma DemystifieD
? still struggling

While dealing with getting things done and day-to-day crisis management, it’s
hard to rise above chaos and study what’s causing all of the firefighting and
rework. to prevent this daily firefighting, you have to get outside of the business
so that you can work on it.

Secret 2: Watch Your Process, Not Your People

Startup businesses succeed because smart people figure out how to turn a
profit. Customer-serving processes grow up in an ad hoc fashion. Business
owners come to rely on their people, not their processes, to deliver a consistent
return on investment.
Because companies often start from humble beginnings and grow rapidly
beyond their grassroots capabilities, it’s easy to get hooked on the excitement
of crisis management and firefighting. It becomes a way of life in most busi-
nesses. When daily heroics are required to avoid missing commitments and
preventing mistakes, companies come to rely on heroes. The clinical side of
health care is especially prone to this process. There’s even a place dedicated to
heroics: the emergency room.
This is another mistake. This often comes from your business orientation.
People-oriented companies focus their attention on who is doing the job. People-
oriented businesses believe that quality and productivity are a function of their

people, not their processes. They think “If I could only get the right person in this
job, everything would be peachy.” Unfortunately, great people come at a premium
price, and when they leave, they take their wisdom and process with them.
Process-oriented businesses, on the other hand, rely on mistake-proof pro-
cesses to ensure that care is delivered on time and error-free. Process-
oriented companies focus on developing and following the right process.
They depend on good processes to produce superior results. Here’s some
good news: with a great process, you can hire and train the lowest-skill-level
people available. They have procedures for everything from cleaning
restrooms (e.g., McDonald’s) to maintaining Navy jet fighters. If the Air
Force can teach 18-year-olds to maintain $30 million jets, you can develop
processes that anyone can follow.