Principles for Process Management

A well run organization always has well defined and executed processes. If you look in the Toyota Production System (the basis of today's Lean) Basic Handbook they give to employees, the foundation their entire system is built on is Stability. The focus of Six Sigma is to reduce variation and increase process control. Great literature from Sun Tzu's The Art of War through to Henry Ford and on to Jack Welch focus on discipline and the need for stability. Quint Studer looks towards 'disciplined people and disciplined processes' in Hospitals and in his research on companies that moved from Good to Great, Jim Collins found that they all had a culture of discipline.

This quest for discipline and stability creates consistent process that customers can count on. It reduces waste and the costs of poor quality. It reduces the need for supervision and inspection. It is also the basis of improvement. How can you improve a process that is not completed the same every time? Even if you were to make a change, would that change continue to benefit if you can't count on it being performed consistently?

Three Principles for Process Management:

1. Solve Problems
2. Create Robust Management Systems
3. Continuously Improve

How do you bring about stability and discipline? Start with relentlessly raising and solving problems. Leave no stone unturned and ignore no problem however small. Ask Why five times for every problem you find and be sure to follow through. Once problems are starting to be solved it is easier to create consistent and robust management systems for all processes. These systems are the lifeblood of a successful company, not a paper exercise for auditors. With a culture of problem solving in place and robust systems in operation, then a company can focus on reducing waste and continuously improving every day. Use the best and brightest you have to drive change and then incorporate that change into your robust systems so you can be sure of the benefit.