Entries Tagged 'Career' ↓

When you do your work, are you:

• Task oriented? Or…
• Result oriented? Or…
• Process oriented?

Why it is important? It is important since different orientations get you different results.

by ogimogi

As part of my quest to become more effective and efficient (read – competitive) I was reading a book by Masaaki Imai, Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success. Masaaki Imai shares in his book the difference between Process Orientation and Result Orientation:

"KAIZEN generates process-oriented thinking, since processes must be improved before we get improved results. Further, KAIZEN is people-oriented and is directed at people’s efforts. This contrasts sharply with the result-oriented thinking of most Western managers."

Process Orientation

Seems wrong to me comparing process orientation vs. task orientation vs. results orientation. The process consists of tasks that must be completed in order to achieve results. If there is no process chances there are tasks that might be redundant or unnecessary, if the process is overcomplicated then the results won’t be justified by the investment. If the process is wrong then no results will be achieved. The simplest way I found to achieve results is:

• Define how a good result looks like.
• Model the path to the result.
• Break the path into small tasks with its own results.
• Identify what needed to perform the tasks.
• Prioritize the tasks.
• Allocate the time for each task.
• Act. Now.
• Compare the time allocated to time invested.
• Adjust the allocated time.
• On track?

Got better idea?

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it. “ – Thomas A. Edison

Self Test

• Are you doing or achieving?
• Do you have a feeling of "if I only had a little more time…."?
• Do you practice Rituals For Results?

"Gemaba Kaizen" means "workplace productivity" in Japanese. Not just productivity but effective low cost no-friction productivity.

I have read a book Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management  by Masaaki Imai. I have no doubt it is highly relevant management book for our tough times. According to the author, Toyota Motors applies similar approach which only proves its effectiveness.

The author distills the approach into three keys: Housekeeping, Cutting Muda, and Standardization.

Key #1 – Housekeeping

According to Masaaki Imai Housekeeping is key to effective management and employee self-discipline. You can describe this process with the “Five Ss.”

1. Sort – Separate everything unnecessary and get rid of it. Put a red tag on unnecessary items (for example, unused machines), then remove them.
2. Straighten – Put key items in order so they can be found readily. Straighten logically, so items can be located with a minimum of wasted effort.
3. Scrub – Tools and workplaces should be clean. Dirt and foreign particles can cause machinery to malfunction.
4. Systematize – Make a schedule for cleaning and for checking that all is in order. This ensures that housekeeping is maintained constantly.
5. Standardize – Make the preceding steps part of a regular process.

Bullet #1 resonates a lot with Covey’s prioritization approach that I have adopted (more on it, here – Prioritize What You Do – Steven Covey Way [The Way That Works]). It really encourages spending your energy on most important things.

Bullet #2 is another view on David Allen’s GTD (Getting Things Done) approach, using simple lists of action items that are easy to process one-by-one. Read more on it here – The Secret Behind GTD [Getting Things Done] Revealed.

Bullet #3 – more on it in the second key – Cutting Muda

Bullet #4 – I am a big fan of scheduling. In fact I treat time as budget. This helps me allocating it systematically to the most important activities that get me results – daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. More on it – Time Is Not Money. Time Is Budget.

Bullet #5 – creating a routing proves to be very effective. I applied it for my professional needs (Security Development Lifecycle, Performance Development Lifecycle) and life too – Personal Development Lifecycle.

Seems like I was practicing first key of Gemba Kaizen for some time. I can affirm it got me results I wanted.

Key #2 – Cutting Muda

Masaaki Imai suggest that the second key element Cutting Muda, or waste. Muda is anything that does not add value. Not cutting budgets, not cutting jobs – but eliminating waste. It resonates a lot with #3 in key#1 – Scrub. Everything should be clean – work desk, work plan, everything. Reduce noise, eliminate waste, focus on what’s important. Keep the objective before you.

Key #3 – Standardization

Masaaki Imai describes Standardization as the four-step, plan-do-check-act
cycle:

1. Plan – Set a goal for improvement and formulating a strategy.
2. Do – Put the plan in motion.
3. Check – Determine if the plan is working.
4. Act – Standardize the new procedures.

To me such simple procedure encourages incremental results over short periods of time. It reduces the risk of low ROI when heavy investments made with minimal if any results.

Adopted Gemba Kaizen for work, adopted Gemba Kaizen for life…

Are you hiring manager? Want to hunt the best talent? What is the most effective and efficient technique? Is there one?

Yes, there is. The technique is called “Hiring Smart”.

by apesara

In his book 45 EFFECTIVE WAYS FOR HIRING SMART: How to Predict Winners and Losers in the Incredibly Expensive People-Reading Game Pierre Mornell outlines 45 techniques for hiring smart. My favorite is #45 – “Design Your Own System”.

For me the easiest way to design my own system is adopting working one and adapting it to my needs. So here it is, below is the template I adopted form the book. There are many techniques from the template I already use and they are effective for me. Some look way farfetched like #27. But I still leave it in the list – some day I might decide it is exactly what I needed. Use “TODO’s…” column to capture actual facts. Use “What I think” column to write down assumptions, conclusions, and questions. Enjoy.

Think it is too time consuming? Think twice and listen to those who are in the know:

“You cannot spend too much time or effort on “hiring smart”. The alternative is to manage tough, which is much more time consuming” – Gary Rogers, Chairman & CEO, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream

Happy hiring.