Research Paper: Lean Manufacturing and its Application in Coaching

Research Paper By Hemanth Achaya
(Executive Coaching, INDIA)

Preamble and Objective:

Most innovations and new developments nowadays occur by taking two seemingly disparate branches of knowledge and studying where their respective borders overlap – or in applying original work done in one area and applying it to the other. For instance, Cancer cures now are found by the intersection of medicine with Computer Technology which has created advances in Genomics. Similarly, future computer systems are expected to mimic the human brain and work at the intersection of Neurology and Computer science.

Having worked for several years in a manufacturing organization, I was exposed to various aspects of Lean Manufacturing. The objective of my preliminary research paper is to look at the intersection of Lean Manufacturing and Coaching and examine if there is scope for further study in this field that could lead to new approaches and practices. It is possible that such approaches may be better accepted by Clients who are familiar with these techniques as used in a manufacturing perspective.

Background:

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean Manufacturing was developed on the foundation of the Toyota Production System, which was developed by the Toyota Motor Company of Japan in the 50s and the 60s, and whose principal architect was Taiichi Ohno.

Figure 1 – The 4 P Model of the Toyota Way – Jeffrey Liker

As can be seen from figure 1, some fundamental pillars of this system are Long Term Thinking even at the expense of short term goals, Respect for People and Partners, Continuous improvement and Learning, Use of a harmonious Pull system to prevent overload, and  use of simple visual systems as support structures to highlight if things go out of control.

What has lean manufacturing achieved for its practitioners?

These are impressive achievements by any stretch, especially so in the cut-throat global automotive sector. Toyota repeatedly claims that these would be impossible without the organization-wide culture that the Toyota Lean Manufacturing System has created.

We see that Lean Techniques enable dramatic improvements in efficiencies. Are there any lessons out there for us that we could use? And what of these could be applied to our lives?

The basic tenets of Lean Manufacturing are:

1. A focus on waste – of either material or time – and techniques to eliminate it.
2. A focus on improving value adding activities and elimination or reduction OF non-value adding activities.
3. A focus on the long term, transformative and permanent, as opposed to the short term, transactional and reversible.
4. Having a focus on people, and on the entire supply chain.
5. Use the genius of the workers on the shop floor to create continuous and transformative improvement.
6. Have simple and effective warning signals to alert impending problems.
7. Creating continuous and small improvements steps.
8. Using Problem solving techniques to arrive at the root cause rather than dealing with superficial issues.
9. A focus on Harmony, where all these tools are interconnected so that there is neither overproduction nor underproduction.

When we look at Coaching, we find that some of the key competencies are:

1. Use the genius of the Client to arrive at what is the best solution for the particular context.
2. Powerful Questioning – Ability to ask questions that reveal the information needed for maximum benefit to the Client
3. Focus on  Clients to help them produce fulfilling results in their professional and personal lives
4. Provide support to enhance the skills creativity and resources that the client already has.
5. Ensure that the solution comes from within, which is the best way to ensure permanence.
6. Co-create a plan for achieving what the client really wants.
7. Be a sounding board for new ideas and support in making life changing decisions
8. Challenge and expand the Client’s views beyond their perceived limitations.
9. Co-create and facilitate in execution of plans that are transformative and permanent.
10. Co-create and facilitate in execution of plans that are in harmony with all stakeholders and are attainable and measurable.
11. A focus on the long term, transformative and permanent, as opposed to the short term, transactional and reversible.

We see that several objectives in the two processes are similar. However, one is focussed on the organization and the other on the individual. Are there similarities between the two? If so, what are they, and can the techniques used on one be applied on the other?

Fundamentally, can these techniques be applied to human beings? It may be argued that human beings are not robots and cannot be programmed to operate like machines or factories. Let us now look at possible similarities between a Human and a Factory:

Facet	Humans	Factories/Organizations
Thinking and decision making	Brain, Heart	Leadership
Basic Raw material	Food	Inventory
Primary unit	A cell	A Production Cell or a Quality Circle
Assets	Talents, Creativity, Intelligence, personal assets	IP, R&D, Market Share, Brand Value, Manufacturing Assets
Output	Personal and professional  Goals	Products and services
Primary Goals	Survival, Good Health	Survival, Profits
Secondary Goals	Wealth, Recognition	Market Domination, Recognition
Key drivers	Personal Values	Organization Culture
Key stakeholders	Employers, Family, Friends	Customers, Suppliers, Shareholders, Employees
Sensory faculties	The five senses	Listening posts for Customers, suppliers and other stakeholders
Signs of poor performance	Inability to meet personal and professional goals, time wasting, misdirected efforts, ill health,	Poor Organization, Low efficiencies, High costs, low market shares, Low Profits/High Losses
Sign of good performance	Good Health, positive attitude, ease in meeting goals	Well Planned Layout  and organization, high profits and market share, happy customers

Table 1

It can be seen from Table 1 that while there are differences in details between Organizations and Individuals, the context in many cases is the same. With this insight, an attempt is now made to apply some Lean Manufacturing Techniques at an Individual level.

Some Lean Techniques that could be applied to Self Improvement or Coaching

The ‘5 Whats’  for arriving at the root cause

In Lean Management, one of the techniques to get to the root cause of a problem is the ‘5 Whys’  system. Here, one asks ‘why’ 5 times and is able to arrive at the root cause. For example, if the problem is that a part is not as per specification, the questioning could be:

By this process, one is able to dive deep into the problem and determine that the root cause has nothing to do with the product or the machine, but in the training policy and system.  The problem could be solved by ensuring that no person will calibrate the machine without proper training, and also to make the training process more frequent so that more operators can be trained in the process.

In Coaching, one cannot ask ‘why’ as we are dealing with sensitive individuals and not machines or processes. Here, a ‘5 What’  system could provide a laser technique to arrive at a root-cause analysis. For example, if the issue is that a person has a problem with completing assignments on time, the questions could be:

As can be seen, the root cause has nothing to do with a technical or professional problem and turns out to be one that dealt with self worth and identity. Facilitating the client to deal with the underlying issues could not just resolve the transactional problem of completing reports on time, but could provide a lasting resolution to   the client’s self worth and confidence.