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Lean Innovation
 When you hear the word “innovation” what do you think of?
New technologies, products, and processes are being launched at an increasing rate. They seem to come and go on a daily basis. In the past half dozen years, a number of books from innovation gurus have emerged linking lean thinking to the process of innovation.
If you think about it, the lean philosophy fits just about any process and lean tools can be used in endless combinations depending on the industry and situation. Lean thinkers are adding new tools and approaches to creatively address the peculiarities of new industry applications so it was only a matter of time before lean and innovation came together…
 Most of what I’ve learned about innovation came from Doug Hall, former product developer at P&G, founder of the Eureka Ranch (Innovation consultant to fortune 100 companies), former judge on TV’s American Inventor, and developer of the Innovation Engineering System. What I like about the Innovation Engineering system is how it was built around the teachings of Dr. Deming with value to the customer, quick cycle Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA), and the “go see” principles that are central to lean thinking.
In short, the Innovation Engineering System follows a disciplined approach with PDCA at its center while funneling ide
as through three phases:
- The Create phase focuses on developing as many ideas as possible. Diversity and creativity of cross-functional teams are critical to increase the number of ideas and time-tested tools are used to stimulate creative thinking.
- The Communicate phase helps the owner refine their ideas by forcing them to clearly articulate and pitch their ideas in terms of the benefit to the customer. Understanding the customer perspective can take the form of “go and see,” interviewing, and survey research.
- The Commercialize phase includes testing ideas with customers to gain their feedback, developing inexpensive prototypes, financial estimates, and addressing issues and unknowns that can kill a project. Hall’s “fail-fast, fail-cheap” mentality is necessary to let go of or modify ideas that lack customer interest. In Eric Ries’ book The Lean Startup, Ries referred to this as a “pivot.”
New products don’t stay new for long. Competitors bring alternatives and knockoffs into the market and before long even protecte
d ideas become commodities. For this reason, a continuous funnel of ideas must be kept flowing into your innovation pipeline. For more information on developing your Innovation Engineering pipeline, contact your local Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC) office.
Richard Wolin, Director of Training Services
MMTC-North Region at Northwestern Michigan College
1701 East Front Street; Traverse City, MI 49686
231-995-2003
"Argyris, Deming and Transformation - Our Values in Action Will Transform Us" by Our Vice Chair, Dennis Sergent
 On March 4th this year, Dennis Sergent presented his paper "Argyris, Deming and Transformation - Our Values in Action Will Transform Us" at Fordham University in New York City as part of the 20th Annual International Deming Research Seminar (see photo). This was co-sponsored by the Fordham University GBA, the W. Edwards Deming Institute and The Deming Cooperative.
In addition to his role as the MLC Vice Chairman, Dennis has been a long time student of W. Edwards Deming and Chris Argyris, a Harvard Sociologist. His study of transformation in organizations has brought him to understand much of W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK) and the synergies between the work of Deming and many other thinkers, such as Chris Argyris. Their work resonates strongly in philosophy and themes on transformation. Like many philosophers and social scientists, Argyris has perspectives about organizational transformation through understanding systems, the people in them and the power of shared purpose.
"It was a humbling experience to participate in this seminar and speak on these synergies between Deming and Argyris. To speak before so many experts and authors of research about quality, productivity, ethics was sobering. To be able to speak before the Deming family, the former chairman of the FCC and these experts was a peak of my professional life. And it was quite fun to learn from the numerous other speakers and share something with them that they did not know."
"My thesis was that as leaders, we must transform ourselves to demonstrate skilled, competent action toward our common aims with our teams. In the context of these numerous areas of Argyris’ observations, it seems that we can transform organizations by transforming ourselves first. In his practice and writings, Argyris provided us hard evidence of Deming's points and provided actionable solutions that we can use with all of W. Edward Deming’s writings, philosophies and practices to make a difference in our work and the work of others."
Anyone in the MLC who would like to get a copy of the research or the slide deck on this can download them from the MLC website or contact Dennis directly.
Lean in Action
 The Henry Ford Health System’s journey of continuous improvement and commitment to providing high quality, safe care, and services is ongoing. Under the overarching umbrella of PDCA, Lean principles and tools are critical to our process improvement efforts. Lean principles and methods align well with the system’s “can-do” philosophy and are evident in daily operations as well as in focused improvement projects. We are working to build capacity throughout HFHS through a variety of educational programs offered through the HFHS University. The one-day Lean Leadership Boot camp and the two-day Henry Ford Production system Lean training program continue to be extremely effective in spreading the lessons learned, the philosophy and practice of Lean throughout the system. In addition, the Process Management Optimization (PMO) program being taught at HFMH follows the PDCA cycle, and incorporates Lean, Six Sigma, and other proven change management principles over the course of the training. The approach includes classroom sessions, hands-on exercises, mentoring, and application of learnings to real world projects. The concept of A3 thinking and documentation is spreading – process improvement efforts begin with focused charters and include root cause analysis, value stream mapping, stakeholder analysis, and A3 reporting. Production control boards, visual cues, and standard work are being integrated into daily operations. Clinical and operational policies are developed based on best practice and standardized across the system. Additionally, Lean principles and tools are being utilized in the launch of our system wide electronic medical record (EMR). Key stakeholders are engaged in the rollout process to ensure that the product, a fully integrated EMR meets their needs and expectations. We recognize that we are continuing to evolve and while we have made great strides in our journey, we have a long way to go, and much to learn and we are truly excited about our future.
Hosting an Event
If you should ever be approached by a MLC member … or if you have ever entertained the thought of hosting an MLC Event at your organization, but stopped and asked. What is in it for us? I can answer that question for you. We hosted the first annual MLC Healthcare Summit in 2012 and we are very glad we did. Yes, it took time to plan and coordinate, but the MLC volunteers were there to help every step of the way and it was well worth the effort. Hosting this all-day conference allowed us to showcase our new education center as well as the great work that our clinical and operational staff are doing to improve the quality and safety of the care we provide. As sponsors of the event, we were able to extend an invitation to attend the conference to a number of staff members at no cost to them, a benefit that was greatly appreciated. Staff and other participants, saw our leader’s commitment and involvement in the session as a demonstration of our growing commitment to continuous improvement and learning.
Perhaps an 8-hour session is more than you want to commit to right now, but consider hosting a half-day session sometime in the future. The MLC facilitates monthly workshops at various locations throughout Michigan. They are typically held on a Friday afternoon and are 4-hours in length. While the speaker dictates the size of the audience, based on the nature of the event, they usually range from 20 – 40 people. Sponsoring an event, by providing meeting space and snacks (optional) highlights your organization, as well as reserves up to 6 free registration spots (a $300 value) for members of your staff. A member of the MLC Event Planning Committee is always available to coordinate the arrangements and address any concerns you might have.
If you are interested in hosting an event this year or have questions about the logistics and benefits of being a host site, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Vera Szram-Senyk at Vera.Szram-Senyk@mclaren.org
Kate Sweeney at csweene1@hfhs.org
We look forward to working with you!
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Lt. Gov. Brian Calley will be another keynote speaker along with Mike Rother! You won't want to miss them!
Since 2008 Theresa Coleman-Kaiser has been a leader in Michigan Technological University’s Lean journey. The effort has grown from two inaugural kaizen events facilitated by an external sensei to a sustainable, campus-wide continuous improvement practice lead by the Office of Continuous Improvement, currently staffed with a full-time manager and three part-time student employees. Their work is supported by 24 trained Lean Facilitators who volunteer to assist departments across campus with improvement events and 11 Lean Implementation Leaders who practice day-to-day continuous improvement as departmental leaders in various departments. The Office of Continuous Improvement reports to Theresa, who is also an active Lean Facilitator and Lean Implementation Leader herself at Michigan Tech.
