This is the third part of my post about my presentation at LASTMelbourne on 29th June 2017. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here.
These are the final 5 factors to consider with a transformation.
6. Technology; make the toolsets enablers of the people and the process. Ensure that they are actively supporting the transformation, invest in tools that allow the work to happen, or even better, tools that accelerate or automate the work. Tools are there to reduce the cognitive load – let machines do what they can do so people can do what they do best….Think! Focus people on solving the true problems – not churning out “widgets”. Use tools to assist in creating “Standard Work” via automated work practices. Leverage tools that allow quality assessment and quality management to be built into the delivery pipelines.
7. Standards; To build a great team – set and maintain high standards, do not tolerate deviation from the standard. Aim for the high mark. Don’t use your standards as the “lowest common demoninator”, set them as the “highest bar”. Set expectations clearly and prominently. Set the standards to be holistic and assess-able. Make sure that you set the standards to be appropriate for the teams level – but with a stretch goal. As the standard is reached – grow the goal – in alignment with the vision and roadmap.
Create Standard Work for ease of work processes, establishment of Takt time, baselines to watch for deviations from.
8. Respect; above all respect the people you are working with, respect yourself and treat everyone how you would like to be treated. Dont forget that your values drive your behaviours, and your behaviours drive your actions. This applies to team members as well. We must respect the people in the transfomration, their experience and background. We must respect the history they have created. From a transformational perspective we must not do things “to” the team – but focus on doing things “with” the team, become immersed (but not used up by – we are a catalyst) in the transformation. Be part of it, not above it. Never forget the Lean Principle – always respect the people!
9. Failure; Fail – fast, publicly, often. This fosters the learn and grow mindset. If you’ve made a mistake, don’t try and bluff it through – if it’s wrong, stop and fix it. Allow failures to surface so that you can build a continuous improvement mindset. Structure your transformation as a series of experiments. Never forget…..
“today’s solutions are tomorrow’s problems”
10. agility; practice all the attributes of agility. Mindset, culture, nimble, flexible. Respond to environment, circumstance, knowledge as it grows and changes by making changes to the plan. As you are part of the transformation remember to learn and grow together with the team, learn from each other and work together to solve issues. Collaborate constantly to grow that shared understanding and keep the focus on the over arching goal.
Keep the end in mind, don’t get caught up in the minute
enterprisingagility.com 