Have you ever wondered why it is difficult to get your organisation to accept new ideas, whilst others accept new ideas readily?
This article relates a real example how a continuous improvement culture started.
1. Why are some organisations more accepting to change than others?
The other day, I was having lunch with a friend and we started talking about different organisations and their improvement programs. I related my experience with an organisation that I had engaged with in implementing their continuous improvement program. I was so excited sharing about the changes, until he interrupted me with the following comment “sounds like the organisation you worked with was more accepting to change than ours”.
What my friend said was true and that got me thinking.
Comparing my previous workplace and my friend’s current challenges, it clearly had been easier for me to assist my client to implement new ideas. The people in the previous organisation were more willing to try new things, do something out of the ordinary. Instead of focusing on what couldn’t work, they focused their energy on what they could do to make it work.
When I look back, I realise it didn’t start that way. We started like any other organisations.
When the company started to embrace a transformation program four years earlier, we had the usual responses such as; why fix things when nothing’s broken, we are short of resources, in an ideal situation it will work but not with us, we have tried it before and many more reasons.
We initiated the program in any case. We started with a massive launch party going all out with the usual celebratry attire from balloons to catering a feast for the masses. We started to form teams, have regular meetings and implemented some of the ideas despite some reluctance. At this stage, everyone in the company was watching to see how things would pan out and how it would fail (again) as it had many other times.
We achieved what we believed to be some success in the immediate. However not long after, these successes subsided. The meetings became less frequent, changes made were not sustainable and people went back to the old established ways.
2. Hang on tight.
In hindsight, one thing we did right, was that we kept the transformation flame aglow, even though it was a dying amber. We sent out information, kept knocking at the doors of different departments, and continued to market any success stories no matter how small the win was.
Eventually, on that fateful day, we hit a massive improvement. We reduced an operational process from fourteen days to one day, which in turn sped up processes downstream, reducing our overall lead time.
This success was an eye opener for everyone. What we thought was not possible before, now was measurable, quantified and qualified. Everyone became extremely excited and motivated.
To cut a long story short, when these people had seen and felt success, their outlook about the transformation program changed. They more readily accepted unconventional ideas and open to taking greater risks in trying new things. The next time someone has an idea, it was looked at from a more positive and enthusiastic perspective. This company continues to improve up until today.
If you are starting out with your continual improvement program and experience resistance, all is not lost. Resistance is only natural and doesn’t mean that people are against you. They have not seen the other side of things yet. This is like telling someone the orange you are eating is sweet. They won’t believe you until they have tasted it.
So, if you are looking to build a culture of continuous improvement and promote acceptance of change, you must keep knocking and chipping away at the edges, bit by bit. You do that relentlessly. Eventually, the message will get across and people will be more accepting to change.
3. The seven steps.
Here are some suggestions as to what you can do to create the culture of continuous improvement in your organisation.
- Predefine your overall continual improvement program and keep up with the activities. Avoid allowing for slack, even though progress is slow.
- Have a reporting structure with fixed timeline. Keep everyone posted on your progress.
- Promote success stories via internal emails or videos.
- Regularly meet up with like-minded personnel in your organisations. This will keep the flame aglow.
- Identify and fill in any gaps in skills set. Attend training and or ensure the team are trained. Visit other organisations to get insights.
- Be an example. In your daily work, challenge yourself to do things differently. Challenge others to try new solutions whenever possible.
- Don’t leave out senior management. Get them involved in any way that is appropriate. It can be simply to attend your team meetings or give out movie tickets for winning ideas.
I trust you find encouragement in knowing that, it is possible to create a culture that accepts change, but it always has to start somewhere.
All the best with your endeavour.
K Y Loke