Operational Excellence

Operational Excellence is a way of doing, and a way of thinking, that elevates competitive advantage and customer satisfaction across all facets and functions of the organization.

Operational Excellence includes a variety of topics such as the ones listed below. For more information on how we can partner with your organization, please contact us.

Operational Excellence as a Way to Work, and Think
There are a number of core building blocks that must be woven together to ensure a positive impact on how the organization does its work. Of course, knowledge of the principles and tools is essential, but achieving excellence goes beyond how you to do things. It is essential that leaders learn how to think about things, and how to create alignment and momentum around that thinking.

Problem Solving
The ability to see and solve problems is critical to achieving and sustaining operational excellence. It starts with developing the ability to define, and focus on the core problem. (This is a skill in itself.) From root cause analysis to cause and effect diagramming to 5 Whys to countermeasures…real opportunities for improvement and growth start here.

Value Streams
Value stream thinking provides the big picture, and fuels bigger ideas for improvement. Mapping processes enables us to understand the content and the timing of each process step in the value stream. Where is value being added? Where is the waste that can be eliminated? Over time, the goal is to optimize overall systems, not just local processes.

Leadership Perspective and Skills
Effective leadership is essential to actually achieving excellence in complex processes and organizations. The change from the current state to a future state is not just a change in process or activities. It requires changing minds and attitudes. Learning how to effectively lead these changes an integral element across all of our teaching.

Applications
Learning and doing must be closely coupled to effect change. This includes going to the Gemba (where the work is done) to see processes first-hand and to gather input. We use simulations to approximate real-life scenarios and provide real-time feedback. In many instances, we include “live” projects—with specific goals, tollgate reviews, and coaching—as a crucial component in our programs.

Lean Management
More that a series of activities, operational excellence is a dynamic system to be managed. All facets of the discipline—from problem solving methods to data and analytics to change management to KPIs—must be part of the management domain. Ultimately, we focus on teaching leaders how to effectively manage operational systems between and across the entire organization.