Continuous Decay Manager

1/9/13...Underappreciating decay seems somewhat of a misnomer. After all, why should I appreciate decay? Well maybe because I underappreciated the effects of decay in  my past work experiences. Not until recently did I finally begin understanding the true depth of this concept and the effects in a manufacturing environment. Since my role is continuous improvement, my focus is naturally on improvement. However I wonder if there should be a counterpart to a Continuous Improvement Manager called a Continuous Decay Manager.

Dr. Donald Wheeler, a renown statistician, illustrates this better than any other person I have come across (see diagram below). Check out his website at www.spcpress.com. In his book, Understanding Statistical Process Control, Wheeler discusses the 4 possible states all processes are in, but more importantly, how entropy or decay is constantly counteracting improvement. Wheeler's focus is SPC, but conceptually I understand how his diagram applies to everything in an organization, including a Lean Transformation.

In my experience, I have found most people love improving something or making something better. This is gratifying. Once our improvement is complete, pat ourselves on the back and let's move on to the next improvement. Managerial levels within an organization from Plant Manager down to Team Leads exhibit this behavior. But according to Wheeler, as soon as improvement is complete, decay begins. How true this is. From a cultural standpoint, more people are rewarded for making something better versus preventing something from decay. I believe this is ingrained in all of us. Certainly in my career, it is more about what I accomplished (i.e. improved) lately versus what decay I prevented.

Dr. Wheeler also helped me understand both decay and improvement take effort. I wonder if I conducted a poll, how many people if given a choice would rather place their efforts in addressing decay or making improvements. My guess is most people love putting forth effort to improve but far fewer enjoy addressing the decay. There is more glory in hitting home runs then there is in laying down sacrifice bunts.

TBM, a Lean consulting firm, in part addresses this issue with what they call MDI or Managing for Daily Improvement. I found most of the concepts of MDI are from a book originally wrote by Ryuji Fukuda called Managerial Engineering, a book published in 1982. In part, such use of tools as T-cards, layered auditing, tiered meetings, kaizen newspapers, and A3's if used correctly will help this problem of decay. From my perspective, which I acknowledge is limited, I am not sure regarding the effectiveness of these tools. Based on how I was taught, there seems to be alot of room for system improvement.

In this coming year, I hope to make a "step change" in my thinking and execution of this topic. Maybe I should ask my Plant Manager to change my title to Continuous Decay Manager for an entire year. I wonder if I did, what changes would occur in my thinking and those I work with?