Combining Lean Six Sigma with OD

For High Impact at Thomson Reuters

Kevin Anderson
TR Organizational Development
February 2010
Session Objectives
• Explore how you can
– combine Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methods, with softer
Organizational Development (OD) approaches, in order to
have a higher impact on performance

• Examine OD tools including

– Asking Powerful Questions, Observation, Best Practice
Research, Simple Rules, etc.

• Review and discuss case studies where tools have

been successfully employed
• Discuss applications. Topic relevant for
– Lean Six Sigma and OD practitioners
– Organizational leadership

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Thomson Reuters
• Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent
information solutions for business and professionals; Operating in 93
countries with 50,000+ employees.

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Lean Six Sigma Approach (DMAIC)
Upper Spec Limit

Define Define the project through the eyes of the

customer and clarify the business problem.
Measure Select one or more output characteristics to
measure, process/value stream map, validate
measurement system, get data, and determine
current (baseline) performance.
Analysis Identify and evaluate all process inputs and
Y = f(x1, x2, x3, x4, x5…) determine which are most influential root causes
of process performance.

Identify Root Causes Improve Determine the critical inputs to improve and
identify improvement actions needed to attain
project objective. Test improvements and
Implement Solutions validate improved performance.
Control Implement a simple, effective control plan that
Implement Control Plans can consistently maintain improved performance
on an ongoing basis.

Lean Six Sigma improves processes using DMAIC Methodology.

Source: Six Sigma Academy (SSA), 2009

Copyright © 2008 4
Six Sigma Academy International, LLC
All rights reserved; for use only in compliance with SSA license.
Thomson Reuter’s
Organizational Development (OD) Mission

We will partner with HRBP’s to provide business

leaders the support they and their teams’ need to
solve problems, achieve their goals and create
systemic / transformative change.
We will do this by using strategies, methods and
approaches that enhance effectiveness,
productivity and employee engagement.
 

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 Organizational Design Framework*

•Sets direction; Link between mission

and business plans; Drives below…

Strategy
• Work processes/procedures, Networks,
•Employee skills, knowledge and
Lateral capabilities, Productivity tools
abilities; HR practices

People Processes
Culture

Power and authority, Organizational

•Goals, metrics, measures;
roles; Reporting relationships.
Compensation, Rewards

Metrics Structure

*Galbraith, 2002
[Adapted]
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Hypothesis
• Involving resources across the business to actively
consider all aspects of organization using OD tools
leads to better results

“Teams outperform individuals acting alone or in

larger organizational groupings, especially when
performance requires multiple skills, judgments,
and experiences.”
Katzenbach and Smith, The Wisdom of Teams, 1993

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Case Studies Where Have Applied OD Tools
• Design and facilitate OD process improvement projects resulting
in
– Finance group experiencing significant ROI
– A new acquisition forging synergies across the company
– Recruiting group gaining 35% more time for productive tasks.

• Drive global OD Projects including New Product Development

(NPD) project to build global agility.
– Impact: Creation of a new global NPD model
– Ability to execute on a global scale, Expand to Europe.

• Lead TR businesses global Lean Six Sigma design and

implementation
– Drive 50+ Green Belt projects in North America, Europe and India.
– Impact: More efficient and effective operations, processes, culture etc.

Note: Can apply to countless improvement efforts…

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DEFINE
For years John Chambers of Cisco had a partnership
with a middle school near the Cisco office to send
over a volunteer teenager to attend high level
strategy meetings.
John knew that this teenager would challenge the
existing ways of doing business, the assumptions,
the “we have always done it that way” mentality as
ONLY a teenager can do.

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Define – Ask Questions
• Questions are very effective when they push up
against the overall purpose and specific objectives
of a process.
• Questions allow us to gather information, clarifying
feelings, probe for examples, check out inferences,
and build consensus, leading to decision making
• Questions can energize a group, focus discussion,
lead to risk taking and spur innovative approaches!
• Dorothy Strachan, Questions that Work, 2001

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Case Study: Key Global Questions
• Market Opportunity
– Who are the potential customers, and what do they want?
– Who do we compete with, and how do they compare to us?

• Value Proposition
– How does the value proposition address customers’ needs? [e.g. what is
impact on customer metrics?]
– How will the value proposition address the challenges and allow us to
leverage opportunities?
• Sales Process
– What do salespeople need to do to be successful?
– How can we create a highly coordinated adoption and usage program?
• Sales Force
– What skills do our salespeople need, and how do we make sure they have
them
– How should we structure the sales force and sales management to ensure
flow of information and effective global co-ordination ?

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MEASURE
“As Jonathan Swift said: vision is the art of seeing
things invisible to others. And why does so much of
what's in front of us seem invisible? Well, perhaps
because people only see what they are prepared to
see (Ralph Waldo Emerson), and because: what
we see depends mainly on what we look for (John
Lubbock).”
Andrew Leigh, http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Leigh , 2010

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Methods – No Substitute for Observations
• Review Existing Documentation
– To leverage existing data and analyze for additional wins
• Interviews
– To gain context around issues and learn where potential
improvements may exist
• Process Mapping
– To identify areas for improvement through analysis of the high
level work processes. Explore resources, requirements, metrics.
• Best Practice Interviews with TR Businesses/Industry Scan
– To benchmark and learn from other groups
• Observations
– To understand and verify first hand how the process works

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 Case Study: Organization Chart Create Lean
Organization
Higher Quality > Effective &
Work Output Efficient
Leverage
Leverage
Central Hubs
Global Org

ID Operating Mechanisms
FTE Savings Across Departments

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ANALYSIS
“No matter how it is done, the greatest value of a
best practice approach is to trigger learning about
alternative processes. That background enables
the company to make explicit decisions about ways
to make the process as simple and effective as
possible.”
Ron Ashkenas, Simply Effective, 2010

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Analysis - Best Practices
• Best practice sharing often suggests opportunities
for making informal processes more rigorous and
disciplined
• A best practices approach is particularly useful for
highlighting and reducing local differences that
have evolved over time or come in with mergers
and acquisitions
• Best practices can be done across different units of
the same company, across two or more
companies, or across an industry
Source: Ron Ashkenas, Simply Effective, 2010

Books 24*7 – Source for best practices…

http://www.books24x7.com/login.asp?ic=0 16
 Research from the
Case Study: Highlights Specific
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Industry Benchmarks
Best Practices Strategies Other TR
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“Off the Wall” Idea:
Throw any data at people…create a spark!

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IMPLEMENT AND CONTROL
“When most people are asked why they vote for
someone or believe something, they point to a logical
answer, relying on facts. In truth, logic is least likely
to succeed in persuasion.
My fishing friends always kiss the minnow before
putting it on the hook. I asked it it’s superstitious.
‘No,’ they say ‘Common sense, I don’t want to jinx it’.”
• Kevin Kling, Holiday Inn, 2009

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SIMPLE RULES
CARRY THE CODE…

• Foundational agreements about expectations

and relationships that guide the behaviors in
an organization.
• Broad statements tell members how to behave
and/or relate to others
• May be spoken or unspoken
• Understood by all members of the organization
• Give rise to routines, relationships, patterns, and
traditions
• May be used to examine the past or to shape the
future
• Bring coherence to the organization, across levels,
departments, and within the market
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CREATING SIMPLE RULES…
• Step One: Talk About Simple Rules
• What are they? What do they mean? What been in past?
• Step Two: Brainstorm a List
• Create rules that answer the questions: What do we
value? What do we want to create in our relationships?
How do we want to function? What is important to us?
• Step Three: Cluster and Refine the List
• Cluster into “like” rules, Refine the list: Which rules are
redundant? Which rules are subsets of others? Anything
missing?
• Which rules are most critical to our shared success?

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Case Study: Simple Rules Example
• Understand each other’s roles
• Engage each other in our projects
• Provide each other honest feedback
• Work collaboratively to hit our goal
• Provide us with corporate updates often

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Closing
• By combining LSS methods, with softer
Organizational Development approaches, you can
have higher impact on performance:
– Define – Ask Questions
– Measure – Observe Often
– Analysis – Identify Best Practices
– Implement and Control – Articulate Simple Rules

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