Planning for the People Side of Change
Many organizations invest significant resources into lean culture and process improvement initiatives. Despite the time and effort, the failure rate for these initiatives is a staggering 80%. Why such a high failure rate? There is a common root cause that accounts for much of the failure: insufficient support to sustain essential process behaviors. Process improvement is about people doing things differently. It’s about behavior change. Those who implement lean and who understand and leverage the power of behavioral science have a tremendous advantage to ensure sustained success. This blog will highlight some common failure points and how Behavioral Lean mitigates these challenges.
Process improvement implementation includes training in new processes and the development of metrics to track improvement. There is usually follow-up after initial implementation, typically at 30, 60, and 90-day increments. The initial stages of change tend to get significant attention and support, but as time goes on, that support wanes. Once early success is demonstrated, the temptation is to assume the improvements will persist and to shift attention to other organizational priorities. However, without on-going support, process improvement change efforts fade and people often revert to old habits.
This pattern of early success waning over time is predictable if you understand behavior scientifically. Sustained behavior change requires on-going support. Most Lean implementations fail to include sufficient feedback and consequences to ensure the process change behaviors become habitual. So how can Behavioral Lean help?
Pinpoint critical behaviors at all levels.
Process improvement requires behavior change at the top of the organization down to the front line. Many Lean implementations don’t clarify the most important behaviors are at each level. Pinpointing means being specific about the who, what, and when of the most critical behaviors for ongoing success.
Develop leading indicators (metrics) that track those behaviors.
Pinpointed behaviors ensure clear communication of what is expected. The adage, “what gets measured, gets done” is only partially true. In fact, it’s what gets positive consequences, gets done. Measurement enables the use of consequences. Measures of critical behaviors serve as useful leading indicators to track progress, and importantly, enable the use of positive reinforcement to ensure those behaviors will continue.
Develop and implement a Process Behavior Maintenance plan.
Putting this altogether, the key to sustainability is a Process Behavior Maintenance plan, which includes on-going feedback and reinforcement for the critical behaviors at each level. Process Behavior Maintenance plans ensure improvement initiatives weather changes in organizational priorities, the temptation to find workarounds or shortcuts, and the natural tendency to revert to old habits.
Lean and process improvement efforts require significant resources to get started. To ensure a return on that investment, develop a Process Behavior Maintenance Plan to ensure the essential behaviors persist and improvement is sustained.
