Introduction
Leadership of Continuous Improvement (CI) must be a constantly evolving field to meet the cumulative challenges of Leadership 4.0, the retirement of the last of the baby boomer generation, the rise of hybrid working, the difficulties of recruitment into manufacturing, industries where facilities still rely on break-down maintenance, increasingly competitive market sectors, reducing margins etc.
Though new leadership models are constantly coming in and out of fashion, when it comes to leadership of CI it is important to look behind the latest book or trend, deeply reflect on the true roots of CI Leadership and ask yourself am I prepared for the challenges of CI leadership in 2024 and beyond.
In this article that will explore CI leadership to its bedrock that precedes even the Toyota Production System (TPS), that is often credited as the origin of CI leadership, I will go back to the true father of quality and CI leadership, Dr W. E. Deming. In fact Taiichi Ohno the designer of the TPS, credited W. E. Deming with having a “Significant role in the development of the Toyota Production System.”
In this article I will discuss Demings’ 14 Principles for quality and continuous improvement leadership and show from my experience how each principle is not only relevant today, but also transformative in preparing for and upgrading current CI leadership for the challenges leading CI through 2024 and beyond.
Who Was W. E. Deming?
If you really want to get to know W. E. Deming you could do little better than reading his seminal work The New Economics For Industry, Government, Education. (1993). In this volume you will also learn how he further developed PDCA (Shewhart) cycle that so many of us hold as another pillar of continuous improvement.
Deming was a renowned American statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant who won many prestigious awards including the National Medal of Technology that was awarded to him by President Reagan in 1987.
He is most renowned for his work in post-war Japan where he was largely responsible for teaching senior executives the methods of quality management through CI that dramatically altered the post-war economy of Japan, particularly in the automotive industry. It was in Japan in 1960 that the Emperor awarded Deming the Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure for exceptional contributions and outstanding service to the betterment of Japanese society.
In Japan Deming devised his fourteen principles which remain the bed rock of today’s CI models, even though many users are unaware that they originated with Deming 80 years ago.
Deming’s 14 Principles for ‘Leadership.’
Though I would not be so bold as to question the great man, I would offer the suggestion that we should think about these points today as those for leaders as opposed to managers. By this I mean that the west has become a more dynamic place where every individual wants to have a voice and where creativity and innovation are now encouraged from the ground up, rather than from the top down. This change needs to be led by individuals who can inspire and engage people i.e. leaders, rather than managers who establish and maintain the routine. Thus, let us think about Deming’s 14 points for CI leadership.
1. Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services: Organizations should have a clear and consistent long-term vision and commitment to improving their products and services (sic).
a. One area I see in many companies is the constant changing to the latest ideas or what my professor used to call trends from the latest ‘Airport Book.’ Change cannot be erratic and chaotic; change must be planned and implemented in a measured and additive way. Never talk about the new ‘big idea,’ but being respectful about the good that has gone before always speak about change as an evolution, the next stage of continuous improvement.
2. Adopt a new philosophy: Management should embrace a new way of thinking, shifting from a focus on short-term profits to a focus on long-term growth and quality.
b. Sadly, and usually when times get difficult, decisions are still made for short term gain that invariably bring long term pain. I have seen that when a large contract has been lost that the immediate reaction is to shed the work force, loosing valuable experience that almost invariably will need to be replaced in the future, sometimes in as little as a few months. Long term growth needs a workforce that feels valued, it is then that they will be truly engaged. When times are hard it is important for CI leaders to speak up for what is right for the long-term success of the business, not the short-term P&L.
3. Cease dependence on inspection: Relying solely on inspection to catch defects is inefficient and costly. Instead, build quality into processes from the start.
c. This is one area that I consistently see where businesses now are doing well. Quality Inspection in almost every case has been replaced with cultures of Quality Assurance. Occasionally I see temporary transition point auditing, but the pervading culture is usually ‘don’t accept poor quality, don’t produce poor quality and don’t pass on poor quality.’
4. End the practice of awarding business based on price alone: Select suppliers based on their ability to provide high-quality products and services, not just their price.
d. I see this as industry dependent overlaid with the reality of the cost of raw material. Another complicating factor in industries such as aerospace is the scourge of single source supply. If a manufacturer has a monopoly, then they ‘call the shots on price.’ I see far more competition in automotive and the pulp and paper industries so buyers can have more options to source the ‘best’ rather than the ‘only.’ That said, even recycled paper is now seen more as a commodity, so buyers often have little choice. However, if there is choice, cheapest is not always the lowest ‘full life’ cost.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service: Continuous improvement should be an ongoing effort, with processes continually refined and optimized (sic).
e. This is the heart of the leadership of CI. An attitude or culture of continuous improvement brings the biggest impact to the business. This is the core of the Project7 book ‘Tomorrow’s OpEx Today,’ which focuses on building a living culture of CI that sustains continuous improvement. When the teams are engaged and are driving short interval control, process conformation, constant root cause problem solving, Gemba etc, CI becomes a self-sustaining culture of constant optimisation and refinement where the role of leadership is simply to provide the vision and remove the barriers.
6. Institute training on the job: Provide employees with the necessary skills and training to perform their jobs effectively.
f. This was never more essential, as since the days of Deming apprenticeships and work-based training has taken a major hit, and only very recently has this started to be addressed. Each employee should have a formal improvement plan to build agility and a career path. Consider techniques such as ‘Participative Action Research in Teams’ (PART) as a force multiplier for your training success, aligned with a proactive policy of capturing the experience of your soon to be retirees to use this experience to set up training and mentoring programmes. These are also key programs to provide you with business continuity planning.
7. Adopt and institute leadership: Effective leadership is crucial for driving quality improvement throughout the organization.
g. Businesses need to have effective leaders who model company values and expectations, who foster diversity and who are given the tools to be successful. Again I see that the skills of leadership are often expected to happen more through osmosis than policy. Importantly leadership growth is not the sole responsibility of HR; in fact, I would say they have the minimum responsibility here. The MDs, GMs and Department heads have the responsibility to define what they need for leadership and to play an active part in the development and mentoring of that leadership. HR may help in selecting outside agencies to help build the framework for the training, but the ownership must be with the business not the consultant.
8. Drive out fear: Create an environment where employees feel safe to voice concerns and suggest improvements without fear of reprisal.
h. Psychological safety and emotional intelligence along with Authentic Leadership are essential to create and nurture an innovative and engaged workforce. Without exception, adopting these new disciplines always brings business results. There are still toxic businesses and toxic ‘bosses’ out there who ‘rule’ by fear. My advice if you find yourself in such a situation, begin your exit plan today, you deserve better.
9. Break down barriers between departments: Promote cross-functional collaboration and communication to improve processes and products.
i. I still see departments in business separated by metaphorical ‘walls.’ Foundry staff that will not speak to CNC machinists, painters that will not speak with welders, printers who will not speak to the people who mix their inks, wastepaper yard operations teams who do not speak to the paper machine operators. Business is improved every time these ‘walls’ are removed. How are they removed? In my opinion it starts simply with communication? Ask people what they need, give them an opportunity to contribute, ask why they do not speak up. It will sometime be through lack of opportunity, sometimes it is due to misunderstanding, or an incident that happened years ago, or ‘it is just the culture,’ etc. This is something leaders can change by simply taking the lead.
10. Eliminate slogans and exhortations: Remove motivational slogans and instead focus on creating systems that encourage intrinsic motivation and pride in work.
j. Gimmicks to not motivate, value and mission statements that are not the lived experience of the work force are damaging, promises broken destroy trust. Building a motivated work force takes leadership effort and is the primary day job. Leaders must create systems that work in an environment of respect and recognise that the team may know best. We all know this, so why is it not made a primary focus. Often, it is a case of the ‘squeaky wheel gets the most oil.’ Do not waste your time running around ‘putting out fires.’ Put your effort into creating systems and culture. Make it a priority on your daily Leader Standard Work and then hold yourself accountable. When the systems and culture are working, you will not need slogans or exhortations neither will you spend the day chasing the next fire.
11. Eliminate numerical quotas: Do away with arbitrary production targets and numerical goals, which can lead to poor quality.
k. I consulted in one company whose sole focus ‘as a production centre’ was producing tons. They were far less concerned that the tons were first quality or would command the highest price. They were actually quite proud of the fact that they had a steady income stream from second quality product. WIP was ten times more than what was required, and they were about to rent extra warehouse space to store even more ‘WIP,’ that was in fact off-quality product for re-work. By adopting a CI culture I reduced WIP by 40% and increased first pass yield by 15% in just 4 months. Focus had to be good tons and robust systems to sustain the change, not ‘tons at all costs.’
12. Remove barriers to pride in workmanship: Foster a sense of pride and ownership in employees’ work by allowing them to take pride in their contributions.
l. The primary role of any leader in a CI culture must be to set the vison and remove the barriers. Your people cannot have pride in their work if they are constantly hindered and frustrated by physical and metaphorical barriers. So how do you find out what the barriers are? There are many extremely useful statistical tools, but why not start by simply asking your teams what you can do to improve their day? They will be quite candid if you are courageous enough to ask the question, and many will even offer solutions just for being considered able to offer a solution. What you as the leader must reflect on after listening to their comments is to ask yourself “Am I a barrier?” If you are a barrier, then you have a positive data point for your own CI.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement: Encourage employees to continuously learn and develop their skills.
m. Invest in your people. In one plant where I was the quality leader, the teams wanted to do something for charity and to get to know each other outside of work, so the business decided to support a local food pantry. There was a cost, as the business paid the hourly rate when they were at the pantry as if they were at work. However, the forward-looking GM saw the value in building morale, team spirit and giving people the time to just get to know each other. The pay-off was that the teams brought these relationships back to the factory and new dialogue and opportunities were found that were not expected at the start of the scheme. Meet the point of need for all your people and look for the opportunities not the disadvantages.
14. Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the transformation: Quality improvement should involve all employees at every level of the organization, not just a select few.
n. In the recently published Project7 Consultancy book, ‘Tomorrow’s OpEx Today,’ (2023) we specifically address the issue that continuous improvement is not just the responsibility of quality, maintenance, and operations but that the tools of CI and more importantly the culture that sustains CI must have input from all departments HR, Suppliers, Purchasing, Logistics, Finance, Customers etc. I have seen that when CI is implemented in each of these areas, the business benefits through a common vision and from speaking a common language. Everyone in CI leadership must as a priority look for opportunities in each department to show quick wins and move CI culture forward.
Conclusion
Deming’s 14 principles have been influential in the field of quality management and continuous improvement since the 1950s. They have been adopted by many organizations worldwide as a framework for achieving continuous improvement and importantly these principles are as key to business success today as they were 70 years ago, and they will continue to maximise the potential of business going forward. Key to this success is how CI is led and how that leadership builds an attitude and culture of continuous improvement, and it is not just about the tools and techniques it is just as much about all your people. Driving CI is about People + Processes to provide Performance and neither on its own will change or sustain business. Deming knew this 70+ years ago and I advocate that as leadership fashions come and go, that we hold fast to his principles to drive and sustain continuous improvement.