Take a long-term approach
You can’t eliminate waste until you know what it is. You have to know what points to the end goal and what doesn’t, so you need to know your target.
“First and foremost is to adopt a long-term philosophy,” Morey says of lean. “In other words, I’m not doing this in order to meet some quarterly financial statement goal. The things that we do are aimed at achieving outstanding long-term performance for the company and for our people.”
To make sure improvements point toward long-term performance, start with your overall vision and work your way down.
At Morey Corp., the vision starts when owners set high-level performance goals — like revenue growth, profitability, cash flow and other financials. As those trickle down through the company, more of the 550 employees get involved at each step.
“From there, we will get our top leadership team together and we’ll go through a process that says, ‘OK, this is what it is we want to achieve. Here’s where we’re at today. What are the major types of initiatives that we need to focus on over the course of the coming year or two years?’” Morey says.
That sets high-level strategic initiatives — processes, capabilities, products and services that will contribute to corporate goals.
“From there, we’ll bring in our next layer of management,” Morey says. “We just start asking the questions: In order to achieve these strategic initiatives, what do we need to be able to do at a functional level? So everything is at this point still based upon these levels of performance that we want to achieve. We’re not focused on how we’re going to do it. We’re not focused on the sequence of events. We’re simply trying to get a clear picture of what it is that we need to try to achieve as a company.”
Keep moving the goal down, involving employees at functional levels to uncover tactical improvements that will contribute to those strategies. Teams at Morey Corp. meet to identify specific projects — and time frames for them — that will help the company achieve its objectives.
Even the way those projects are documented can get employees thinking about the connection between present and future. Morey Corp. uses an A3 — which refers to the size of paper they use.
“In the top left quadrant, you’ll have the stated goal and the specific metrics you’re trying to achieve,” Morey says. “Right below that in the lower left-hand quadrant, you will map out the current state. That’s where you’re going to get people all the way down the line involved in identifying what is our current state.
“Then in the top right-hand corner, we create a future state map. In other words, when we have achieved our objective, what will it look like? How will we be operating in the future? Then in the bottom right-hand quadrant, we create an action plan, which is simply a step-by-step, ‘This is what we’re going to do. This is who’s going to do it. This is when it’s due.’”
By trickling goals down that way, you ensure alignment between the high-level corporate vision and front-line improvements. You also encourage buy-in along the way by involving employees.
“The idea with this process is that, in the end, every corporate goal and objective — and improvement associated with them — permeates the daily tasks of functional area, team and individual employee,” Morey says.
