Do these experiences sound familiar? I bet you’ve been here, too:
• A vague but meaningful policy is declared, then nothing happens;
• A policy is discussed and fades away;
• A policy initiative begins then fails;
• A bad policy is set;
• The organization exists without an aim: people come, put in their time, and can’t wait to leave;
• A fear of failure restrains follow-up and limits commitment;
• One’s relationship with uncertainty is less than straightforward.
Whatever the case, if you’ve experienced these conditions then there’s a problem with policy and policy deployment.
There is a better way.
There’s a proven method to determine strategy, derive tactics, and deploy those solutions throughout the organization. It’s realistic and provides management a response to both organizational and human needs.
It’s called Policy Deployment, or Hoshin Planning, or Hoshin Kanri. With these methods, realistic and useful strategies are determined, appropriate tactics are derived, and organizational solutions are generated. Strategies, tactics, and applications are tested against reality and adapted when necessary. The end results are predictable and consistent.
Policy failures, strategic and/or tactical, often result from using the command and control management model. That model is unrealistic for this application; it’s simply the wrong toolset for the job. There are a number of gaps between that model and the desired outcomes:
Uncertainties in business and management are not resolved by authority;
Good strategies, policies, and tactics are not created in a vacuum;
Management can’t support weak methods, poor strategies, or free-floating risk;
Folks cannot do what they don’t know, or if they don’t have the time and resources. Those resources include responsibility and accountability;
It’s reasonable, given any of the above, to decline to participate. Structures for accountability and responsibility are needed;
Even if the Captain knows what he wants, it does little good if the crew is acting chaotically.
Policy deployment is a realistic and rational alternative that resopects that policies are made and deployed through people. People are brought together to determine strategy, tactics, and operational responses and then given what they need to succeed.
It also respects that top management has the responsibility to determine strategy; middle management is best placed to determine tactics and transfer strategy to operators; and operators, those who add value for the customer, have the best grasp of their processes and requirements.
The operators make their requirements known and are provided with the resources, responsibility, and accountability necessary to realize the tactical response. Middle manager’s needs are made known so that they receive resources for success. Top managers provide the ultimate strategy and ensure that required resources are available. Communication flows throughout the organization, up and down the management chain. This work is done deliberately, transparently, and systemically. Risks are managed and uncertainty eliminated. When conditions change, then strategies and tactics change with speed, clarity, and the application of a realistic response.
These methods are adaptable for deployment of new management methods such as ISO, Lean, or Six Sigma. They will work to deploy a new product line or manufacturing method. Management goals such as cycle time reduction, or capacity or line speed increase are best realized by these methods. Most intriguing is to deploy the achievement of a specified profit. Yes, risk can be managed for the making of money, too.
Next Steps
For more information on this method, and for information and support for a variety of best practices, visit the American Society for Quality, and the local section – Hartford 103. The group’s dinner meetings are open and there are networking opportunities. Visit www.asqhartford.org.
Paul Deuth, a Six Sigma black belt, has worked in quality management for 12 years and is media director with the American Society of Quality’s Hartford section. Reach Deuth via www.eyeqsolutions.net.
