I believe that businesses strive to live by the principles of Organizational Excellence (Shingo principles). Can we think of an organization that would not? Of course not. Whether we understand the principles or not, they are in play, every day, in every industry, helping us to understand the impact of our actions when we live by them or disregard them. Even with the desire to live by them, how can we do it? It can take years to transform a culture.
There are a few tips that you might find helpful as you think about living the principles in your organization.
1. Principles: Name them – learn them-embrace them- teach them.
- The Shingo model codifies 10 guiding principles. Each one is based on a foundational truth, is simple, actionable, and like other principles, exists universally.
Which of the 10 is the most important?
- As a human being, I realize that “respect every individual” is relevant in every aspect of life. We can find beauty in the world as we practice respect for every individual and observe others doing the same. We see a grandmother holding a child’s hand to keep him safe crossing the street, a teacher listening intently to a student’s story, and a clerk smiling and asking, ‘How may I help you?’ We can actually feel the goodness of the impact of living the principle.
- As I support a team to eliminate a problem, the continuous improvement principles are extremely powerful in helping people to learn about the design of their work and make it better.
- If I owned a company, I imagine that “constancy of purpose” and “leading with humility” would be of primary focus to empower my team to deliver value to our customers.
Of course, there is not a right answer to the question of which is the most important. Lucky for me and for all of us, we don’t have to choose. There are 10 principles that are simple to understand but powerful when we apply their guidance to make sense of our current work and world to determine the behaviors by which we live. The Shingo Institute’s categorization of cultural enablers, continuous improvement, and enterprise alignment provides a helpful way for us to internalize the intended outcomes of living them.
2. Principles - Design them into the organization.
- It can be all too easy to find and observe examples of people not living the principles which can be disheartening.
- Leaders can design systems that take the very same behaviors that people display in ignoring the principles- (an example might be to make a customer wait for a service,) and convert them into actionable activity (like calling for help when we get behind meeting a customer need) that drives respect, empowerment, alignment and improvement. In our businesses, we can benefit from understanding the guiding principles because their instructions help us to understand situations, why they occur, and how to improve them.
- Often when we think about designing these systems people will lament that it's too hard, time consuming, and expensive. This is part of the problem. In actuality, we should be thinking about simple systems that are easy for people to use and adapt. In these systems we make information visible to all, empower people in a meaningful way to share ideas and to work together to create more value for their own customers. They are systems in which leaders can be genuinely curious, supportive, collaborative and present. Leaders design their own work to engage people, break down barriers to improvement and drive learning across the organization.
3. Principles - Seek them out.
There is so much value in learning the principle and then going to the place of work to see and make sense of the situation. Seek them out.
What might we expect to see when people are living the principles? You might come up with a “test” for yourself that you can use.
A few things come to mind for me:
- People will be focused on someone else. Their actions may involve taking care of a customer, listening to a co-worker, or solving a problem with their manager.
- The behavior that I see is something that I would like to learn to do.
- Information is visual and people are using it in the course of their work.
- There is a sense of calm – people are performing at a comfortable pace and processes are in control.
- Customers are happy and satisfied.
- Ask, “How does this observation, make me feel?” Hopeful? Inspired? Humbled?
4. Principles - Live them.
- Use the wisdom of the principles to inform your own actions as you interact with people, serve a customer, improve your own work, and develop your team.
- We can seek out and acknowledge, reward and replicate the behaviors when we see people living the principles. We can build them into our own skillsets and teach others. Modelling the behaviors that we are trying to drive into an organization goes a long way to help people feel respected and in turn respect and support the next person.
There is no better time than the present to learn about Organizational Excellence principles. Join us for a virtual Overview of the Shingo Model and Principles to gain insights into their practical power. We’ll help you to name them, learn them and apply the learning to discover the principles that live within you and your organization.
Learn more about upcoming dates for The Essentials of Excellence: An Overview of the Shingo Model