Implementing change
Most change management in companies fail because it starts with one concept or another, rather than the problems the company is facing. There are two main reasons for that. The first is that the change manager only knows one or two concepts and therefore wants to implement those. The other is that a certain concept is popular at the moment and therefore management wants to implement that. Over the years the concepts have been many such as business process reengineering, LEAN, modularisation, six sigma etc. Not all such implementations fail because sometimes, by intention or not, they actually solve a real problem. To make sure success is not only luck, change has to start with real problems perceived by the organisation and someone with the expertise to be able to help solve them.
This is the way Toyota explains the Toyota Production System or what Toyota themselves call True Lean. Toyota uses a systematic way to do problem solving that is used from the chairman of the board to assemblers at the assembly line and they all use the same problem solving technique. The basic idea is to find problems, fix the problems and most important of all, make sure that the problems do not come back. This is what Toyota calls continuous improvements.
The popular A3 methodology used by Toyota to do the systematic problem solving. Anyone that wants to use A3 problem solving should remember that the A3 technique was developed by Toyota to solve the problem of how to make systematic problem solving. This method used by everyone in the organisation. In fact problem solving at Toyota today has eight steps but it had only four from the beginning. Through problem solving A3 has continuously been developed over time to solve new problems.
With this understanding Uniter supports their customers to use the right methodology to solve real problems. The deep and wide knowledge of all types of change work by Uniter sets the basis for a thorough analysis of any company or organisation. In cooperation with specialists like professor Udo Zander, Uniter will find the real problems by doing deep interviews throughout the whole organisation. Professor Zander has both the knowledge of what types of problems there is, as well as the known solutions. When the analysis has found the problems, consultants from Uniter are able to support in the actual problem solving.
Over the years Uniter has acquired deep knowledge in the problem solving techniques used by Toyota, the modularisation used by Scania, flow thinking in any kind of organisation etc. Uniter has a firm belief that every improvement work in any organisation has to start with the customer demand in focus and this demand has to be pulled through the organisation in the most efficient way possible. To create the innovative culture needed to solve advanced problems like these Uniter has a vast set of training methods and facilitating skills to use. Methods like the Customer Perspective Improvement Group will support organisation both to do stepwise improvement work and to keep the customer demand in focus throughout the process.
Our suggestion is not solve all problems with a hammer. Get our qualified help to solve your real problems that will really make a difference.
“It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
– Abraham Harold Maslow