Putting Lean Business Process Improvement in Context
Steve Mackereth
About Blythburgh Ltd (i.e. Me).
• Formed in July by its principal consultant, Steve Mackereth following:– Seven years management consultancy in
Financial Services and Public Sector – Five years of commercial development and
business process transformation with a major electricity utility.
– Seventeen years of manufacturing process development and production management.
Lean is an ‘in’ term in Local Government....
• It has taken about two years for ‘Lean’ to come from zero to be an accepted term in the sector’s lexicon.– “Oh yes, Lean, of course” we say without a hint
of awkward self-consciousness. – RIEPs commission training in it.– Papers about it can be presented at regional
events.– There are some case studies coming through.
The logic for Lean Business Process Improvement is compelling....
• The key drivers on the LG sector are quasi-competitive– Customer expectation is driven by
• Customer-comparison with a ‘service’ economy.
• Active regulation.– Cost and revenue pressures are ever-increasing.
• Lean’s focus on customers, customer value and waste removal is totally and elegantly aligned to this agenda.
Lean isn’t new........
• Lean in the manufacturing sector is twenty to thirty years old.
• It incorporates and ‘borrows’ from even older approaches such as Business Process Re-engineering, right back to ‘Taylorism’.
• It hasn’t changed much – as you would expect of something that is base on common sense.
So, if it’s so right and so mature.....
• Why isn’t Lean as natural as double-entry book-keeping?
• Why has it taken/ is it taking so long to tackle the service sector and LG in particular?
Declaration of interest....– I ask, not as a cynic, but as a bemused zealot!
My hypothesis......
• Lean Business Process Improvement (LBPI) for Local Government is approaching the crossroads......– Either A. it becomes central to the design and
delivery of public services– Or B. it will become something else we tried
that didn’t work and join other such notaries as TQM and BPR in the initiatives graveyard
• Path B. will be a tragically missed opportunity. • I am suggesting LBPI still needs some protection
and nurturing to deliver path A.
Firstly, we need to set LBPI in appropriate context.....
LBPI can provide....• Clarity about what is
required• Insight into where and why
there is value and non-value
• Visualisation of improvement and what benefit might result.
• Objective rationale for organisation and resource deployment.
LBPI cannot provide.....
• An alternative to tough decisions about resources.
• The necessary performance drivers for change and sustained improvement.
• An implementation plan for anything beyond the simplest changes.
LBPI is just one essential component of change leading to sustainable improvement......
To be ready to maximise LBPI benefits....
You should ensure that So that Otherwise the potential will be limited by
Focus is on performance accountability, not just resource accountability
‘empires’ don’t count. Hoarding.
It is Ok to talk about business problems and what is stopping us
We address the most rewarding issues
Hiding
Be ready and able to take tough decisions based on customer-focused rationale,
All tough decisions are objective and defensible
Fudging.
Have an up-front policy for dealing with the people whose skills and positions are displaced.
Uncertainty for individuals is minimised and participation is maximised.
Bridling.
Secondly, we need to invest the skills in management......
To deploy LBPI effectively ......
You should So that Otherwise you risk LBPI being
Devolve the knowledge and skills
It becomes a mainstream activity integral to managing the business.
an add-on burden
Support minimum standards from the centre
There is common terminology and a degree shared technique
Non-interoperable, difficult to spread, inefficiently deployed
Summing up• Lean Business Process Improvement has powerful
potential, but its not a miracle worker.– It is a component capability of Transformation
alongside leadership, performance management and change management.
– It is challenging, requiring an open culture and it doesn’t substitute for tough decisions
• Lean Business Process Improvement capability needs to be nurtured carefully to ensure operational ownership efficiently supported.
Contact UsSteve Mackereth
Blythburgh ltd.Blythburgh House 2 Langham DriveBurton JoyceNottinghamNG14 5EJ
telephone: +44 7515285853
• email: [email protected]
