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Hi everybody. 
This is Sean and we are dusting 

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off the microphone for another 
episode of Everyday Quality, a 

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quality systems podcast that 
should hopefully help make stuff

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a little better, a little easier
every day, because that's 

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ultimately the goal of what 
we're doing with all this, this 

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quality stuff. 
You know, it's been a while 

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since the last episode and it we
tend to do four in a row and 

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then nothing for months. 
And that's how it's going to be 

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been busy, been busy trying to 
to change and improve an an old 

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system and lunch and change lots
of stuff. 

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You can tell this is totally 
scripted. 

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But I, I visited A vendor 
recently and most of the staff 

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there had been been with the the
company for 20-30 years and 

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they, they don't do big changes 
all the time. 

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And, and to this state, I've, 
I've really made my, my quality 

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career on revamping entire 
quality system, starting things 

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from scratch, doing giant heavy 
lifting projects. 

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And I didn't see that at this 
vendor. 

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And it, it made me think, you 
know, all of the, of all of the,

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the, the books that I've read, 
all of the Kaizen stuff and it's

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really quality continual 
improvement isn't always about 

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giant big changes. 
It's about change making things 

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better, not just for the, the 
sake of change, but to make the 

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job easier. 
So today we're going to talk 

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about that. 
We're going to talk about, you 

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know, the finding tiny wins to, 
to have a big impact and really 

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making continual improvement a, 
a daily habit, not just a, a 

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thing that needs to be brought 
up in a, a project charter or a,

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a big plan to, to roll it out. 
So really we're going to talk 

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about why good solid quality 
systems aren't built really on, 

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on giant changes, but on small 
little ones that make everybody 

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more involved in the process, 
more aware of what's going on 

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and make the the system easier 
to interact with. 

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So let's go back to that vendor.
Is it, you know, walking around 

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there, all of these, these very 
experienced staff that have been

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there almost since the, the 
origination of the organization.

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It was, it was a a different 
perspective than what I'm 

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accustomed to, You know, in, in 
most situations, you know, 

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quality managers right now are 
sticking around for a year to 

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maybe 18 months and then moving 
on, because quality is not a, a 

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field that really rewards 
sticking around from what I've 

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seen. 
At any rate, it's it's a field 

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that needs those fresh ideas 
that that new kind of set of 

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eyes in a place to help find out
where that low hanging fruit 

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might actually be. 
It's also unforgiving and tiring

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and thankless and not, say a big
showy job. 

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So seeing a quality manager in a
in a single role for 30 years 

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and meeting this person was kind
of kind of neat. 

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It was neat to see that it can 
be done. 

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I don't plan on joining them in 
that kind of situation, but it's

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neat to see that it can be done.
So we're, we're sitting around 

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this career that had been there 
for a very, very long time with 

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an old technology in a field 
that doesn't have a ton of 

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change because the, the customer
base just expects the same thing

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over and over and over again. 
And they don't really need it to

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change. 
But they're ISO certified, So 

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they got to improve stuff. 
They got to look at things and 

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they got to say, OK, let's make 
that better. 

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And not even from an ISO 
certification point, but from a,

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how do you make your employees 
happier, faster, stronger, more 

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effective and enjoy their work 
more? 

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You got to improve things and 
what I what I got in there. 

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I didn't see any of this this 
stuff that I was typically 

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implements. 
You know there's no obeya rooms.

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There's no daily management 
system on on the floor. 

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There's no clear indication that
metrics are are clearly on the 

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wall for people to read and yeah
disseminate on their on their 

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own. 
There's no major posters about 

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hey, we're doing this big 
change. 

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There's no signage celebrating a
a giant change. 

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What we did see was quiet 
change. 

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A little, little adjustments to 
processes, little interactions 

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between management and the the 
operation group asking what can 

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be improved. 
What made yesterday tough? 

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How can we make it better today?
It wasn't a lot of theatrics 

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involved in improvement. 
It was habit. 

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And that habit is so difficult 
to build. 

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But that is really what 
continual improvement is 

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supposed to look like. 
You know, there's no in, in my 

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past with big giant 
improvements. 

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It's it's, you know, somewhere 
along the way it became that 

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improvement has to be a dramatic
thing. 

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You know, we've got new org 
charts, new software, new 

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systems, new processes, new 
quality manuals, new ways to 

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share information, new 
dashboards. 

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It's always about new, not 
necessarily improved. 

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And those are two very different
things. 

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Nothing can be new and improved.
It's just a revision 2 or a new 

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product. 
So what I'm accustomed to is 

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something big enough to have 
like an announcement or you need

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a slide deck and all hands 
meeting to to talk about. 

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Big improvements are very tough 
though. 

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They're very rare and really 
they exhaust the crud out of a 

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team because that change, if not
managed well, if not explained 

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why it's happening. 
If you don't have that initial 

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buy in and you won't have full 
buy in, you're going to have 

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your early adopters, your 
laggards who eventually come on,

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your enthusiastic adopters who 
who take it on eventually. 

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And then some people will never 
come along. 

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And for them that that kind of 
changes especially exhausting 

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because they just don't get it. 
They, they start to think like, 

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well, it worked this way for so 
long, why can't we just keep 

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doing it like that? 
I'm like, yeah, sure it worked, 

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but it cost 5 times as much. 
It took 10 times as long. 

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Let's do it better. 
That's, that's the logical side 

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of everybody's brain says that. 
But a lot of people don't get 

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that. 
So they get tired along the way.

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People driving the change, if 
they're getting all that 

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resistance, they get tired. 
So change is just tiring. 

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And if you got to do it all the 
time with giant big things, no 

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wonder quality professionals 
leave so quickly in the jobs 

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these days. 
Even in the past, you know, 

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it's, it's not, it's not an 
unheard of thing for quality 

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people to move around a whole 
bunch. 

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So, but, but what what I want to
say here is that if you're only 

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doing big changes and you're, 
you're getting that exhaustion 

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or to the point of exhaustion 
from doing all of these sort of 

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big things. 
And it's a rare occurrence when 

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you find something really big to
change. 

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If it's only big stuff, it's not
going to happen that often. 

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And if it's not happening that 
often, there's no way to build a

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habit. 
And if you don't build a habit, 

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nobody cares to participate in a
continual improvement 

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environment. 
It's a real improvement. 

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It's got to be small, it's got 
to be constant. 

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It's got to be almost invisible.
You know, I'm reminded of the, 

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the Paul Akers 2 second lean 
book where the, the goal was to 

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just shave 2 seconds off of 
whatever you were doing. 

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And that that works fine in a 
production environments of of 

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any sort where you're tracking 
time. 

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But maybe it's, you know, 
shaving off a little bit of the 

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hassle. 
Maybe it's removing a little bit

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of the, the, the transport waste
that we're going to deal with. 

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What, what really matters is 
just making it so that these 

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improvements in a nice 
environment are documented, but 

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are also something that that 
people just see and they go, oh,

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yeah, that makes sense. 
Cool, let's do it that way. 

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If you can get that kind of 
improvement culture going, that 

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is perfect. 
But how do we, how do we do 

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that? 
Well, here's kind of what I saw 

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at this this recent vendor step.
They didn't talk about a 

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continuous improvement program. 
You could see their machines 

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were older than I am. 
They were, you know, we they 

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move stuff around. 
They bought some new equipment, 

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got in some new tools. 
Nobody seemed excited about 

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those though. 
That was really interesting. 

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They had the young kid in the 
shop handling all of the the 

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really new machines and then 
they had their experienced staff

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on the the harder to work tools,
items that required a lot of 

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manual movements and set up and 
and all of that. 

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But what we saw were simple 
checklists at each thing, a lot 

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of them from an ISO compliant 
side. 

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It was kind of a nightmare 
because the checklist had items 

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that were permanently scratched 
out without any kind of single 

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in strike through and and good 
document practices. 

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That aside, they updated the 
checklist. 

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They made it easier over time to
work with they. 

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You could see there was floor 
tape in some areas that had been

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removed, but you could still see
the outline of where it was and 

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the thing that was containing or
holding the the tools for the 

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job had been moved a little 
closer to the work center 

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itself. 
You could see that there was, 

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there's so much dust. 
Honestly, it wasn't an ideal 

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vendor visit, but you can still 
see that they were working to 

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make things easier. 
But there's areas where dust had

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collected around certain objects
and they removed those objects. 

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So you still saw the ring. 
Seriously, just just sweep. 

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That's, that's really all it 
needs to do. 

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But they removed some objects 
and made them more accessible 

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and that was awesome. 
That's all that you got to do, 

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empower the team to to make 
those kind of changes that you 

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should have a system set up to 
to note that especially if like 

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your work center set up is a 
standardized process at this 

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vendor. 
Probably not because it was just

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one or two people that used it, 
but having a means to 

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communicate, to document 
control, to update something is 

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essential in in that ISO 
environment. 

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But even more important is that 
improvement step, because once 

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people start to feel like they 
can actually participate in 

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improvement or make 
improvements, make changes to 

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their work center, their 
station, that means there's 

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enough psychological safety, 
there's enough appreciation of 

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their labor that they they 
perceive enough appreciation of 

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their labor to actually 
participate in the system. 

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And that is the, the ideal state
you want people to feel safe and

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secure and acknowledged and 
worthy of participating in a, a 

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massive quality management 
system that ultimately gets you 

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more work. 
So really what, what I saw at 

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this vendor was that kind of 
participation and nobody was 

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like out there with like, woo 
Hoo, you guys made a, a change. 

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You saved 2 seconds on your, 
your thing. 

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Nobody did that. 
That was not the, the culture 

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that they set up. 
Now I've, I fully believe in 

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loud, loud recognition of, of 
improvements, especially early 

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on in the, the CI sort of 
journey because it just, it 

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makes it more known. 
Some people who will respond to 

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it, some people will never 
participate in the system again.

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But you got to advertise it, you
got to sell it, you got to make 

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it a real pop and happening 
thing for for people to be 

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participating in. 
So the, the vendor did great at 

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that. 
What we saw was a lean system. 

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What we saw was Kaizen in 
action, good change. 

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That's all that we needed to 
see, you know, ISO clause 10, 

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all of the the improvement 
stuff. 

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If it can become a habit, it can
become a behaviour. 

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And then it's, you know, yeah, 
we're going to talk about that 

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during an audit. 
But the auditor's going to be 

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able to go out and see it. 
They're going to say, hey, what 

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did you improve today? 
Ask that of an operator and the 

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operator may have an answer, 
which would be an incredible 

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thing. 
So what I have personally run 

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into is kind of the opposite. 
It's really the the, that's how 

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we've always done kind of 
mindset. 

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You know, a lot of the people 
that's I've I've worked with in 

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the past had been in their 
positions for five or six years.

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Never, never have I really 
worked with people in a 30 year 

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plus kind of role. 
That's just mind boggling to me.

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But but that phrase, all right, 
let's let's focus here. 

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The phrase, that's how we've 
always done it. 

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That is not about process. 
That's about permission to 

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change things. 
You know, it means that if if 

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people are only expecting it to 
happen, that that one single way

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that means they don't feel safe 
and challenging that assumption.

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Everybody has ideas on how to 
make their job easier. 

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You can't go to anyone work 
center in any factory anywhere. 

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And people were going to say, 
yeah, just set up exactly how 

227
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,680
how I like it. 
That doesn't happen. 

228
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,440
Everybody's going to say, Oh 
yeah, I like my tools a little 

229
00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,360
bit over here as opposed to the 
marked spots. 

230
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,520
They're going to say like, oh, I
need my trash can raised 3 

231
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,120
inches so that they're not have 
to lean down as much. 

232
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,000
They're going to say like, oh, I
prefer pen over or I prefer blue

233
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,520
pen over black pen, but we only 
ordered black. 

234
00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,720
So that kind of stuff. 
That is still improvement. 

235
00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:59,680
But people need to feel safe and
secure in their their approach 

236
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,040
to the work and their 
interactions with leadership and

237
00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,440
the people that are in charge of
making those changes happen. 

238
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,640
They need to feel safe with 
them. 

239
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:14,120
Worse, if we say that's how 
we've always done it, that could

240
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,280
mean that nobody feels 
responsible to improve it. 

241
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,960
And without any responsibility, 
without any accountability in 

242
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,600
the process, of course nothing 
is going to change. 

243
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:28,960
It will be a never ending cycle 
of well, yeah, we're we're going

244
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,960
to have that fixed, but who is 
we, who, who, who is assigned to

245
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:40,160
it? 
At worse, when you hear that 

246
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:41,640
phrase, that's how we've always 
done it. 

247
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,560
That means nobody believes that 
change is worth the effort. 

248
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,720
And that's sad. 
Once you get to that point, you 

249
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,600
know your system, your 
organization has a a bigger 

250
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,400
issue. 
That's some leadership Section 4

251
00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,560
ISO stuff. 
You know, it's, it's just bad. 

252
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,079
That's an eloquent presentation 
of it. 

253
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,160
But if nobody believes the 
change is worth it, they don't 

254
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,560
believe that the company is 
worth adding to. 

255
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:16,319
They don't believe that their 
jobs are going to help them get 

256
00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:20,920
to where they want to be. 
So if you feel that in your 

257
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,079
organization, if you feel the 
continual improvement doesn't 

258
00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:26,079
happen because nobody believes 
that change is worth the effort,

259
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,520
work with the management team. 
Tell them, hey, we've got this 

260
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,800
problem going on, how are we 
going to fix it? 

261
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,400
It's a requirement of ISO to fix
it. 

262
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:44,480
It is a key principle leadership
participating in the, the 

263
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:50,040
functionality of the system and 
really morale is the the key 

264
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:56,200
cornerstone of any system. 
So watch for those because if 

265
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,280
you get any of those, if you, if
you keep hearing that's how 

266
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,400
we've always done it. 
That's how your system stops 

267
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:08,680
learning, stops growing, stop 
stops being good. 

268
00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:19,640
It's not through failure. 
It's not through poor corrective

269
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,320
actions. 
It's not through bad processes. 

270
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,280
It is apathy that kills your 
system. 

271
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,160
So how do we avoid all that? 
How do we get to that point 

272
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,640
where we're like that little 
vendor that that I went and saw 

273
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:33,920
where they're just making 
changes? 

274
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:36,560
You know, we're updating, we're 
improving every day. 

275
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:44,240
Well, we got to make it so that 
we make improvement, something 

276
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:49,440
that people do, not something 
that our teammates are told to 

277
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,680
do. 
So first problems need to feel 

278
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,000
normal. 
You know, there's, there's that 

279
00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:02,080
classic case study of the, the 
nurses team that's reported way 

280
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,920
more problems than than any 
other team, but they had better 

281
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,840
results, They had better growth.
They showed better patient 

282
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,240
interactions than any other 
group, but they had more 

283
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,320
problems, right? 
Again, that's because they felt 

284
00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,480
safe. 
They saw those problems as 

285
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,640
opportunities to get better. 
So if you can get to the point 

286
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:26,480
where your culture is saying 
like, yes, your problems need to

287
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,600
be treated like opportunities, 
and that is how we are going to 

288
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,600
grow and get better. 
Finding a problem is a good 

289
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,880
thing. 
I'm going to make that a big old

290
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,360
poster for for my office that's 
just going to say finding a 

291
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:43,720
problem is a good thing. 
Bring MO MO problems, MO fun, 

292
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:50,800
something like that. 
But the problems are good to 

293
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:55,520
have and they are better to know
about them because the more 

294
00:19:55,520 --> 00:20:00,680
people report problems, issues, 
findings, not even just with the

295
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,320
the product, but like maybe they
had a problem finding the right 

296
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,880
box for the the good that they 
were going to build. 

297
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,040
Maybe they had a problem? 
Getting a forklift over to move 

298
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,960
a heavy pallet in a timely 
manner, that's a good thing. 

299
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:17,960
That means everybody's looking 
at it. 

300
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,200
They're trying to find out where
waste exists and how to make it 

301
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,680
better. 
No problems means you can't 

302
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,120
improve anything, and that makes
for a boring day at work. 

303
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,320
Now, I mentioned a lot of of 
really small scale stuff, like I

304
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,800
need to raise my trash can 3 
inches, right? 

305
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:42,040
Not every improvement needs to 
be big, because again, big 

306
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,880
improvements are rare. 
Big improvements are exhausting.

307
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,200
You don't want to deal with that
all the time. 

308
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:53,040
So step 2IN making improvement 
part of the the daily stuff, go 

309
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:59,640
ahead and just lower that bar. 
There's no moon shots every day,

310
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,240
but you can pick an apple every 
day, right? 

311
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:06,080
Low hanging fruit. 
Not every improvement needs a 

312
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,040
meeting, a form, a presentation,
a committee, a subcommittee, a 

313
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,600
project charter. 
Sometimes we just have to say 

314
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,680
and encourage and record, hey, 
what if we just moved this here 

315
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,960
instead? 
That's all you got to do. 

316
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,400
Pull out in a three if you 
really want to. 

317
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,640
Those things are so fast, so 
easy. 

318
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,240
But they don't need to be the 
entry fee for improvement, 

319
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:36,080
right? 
Fix stuff, tell somebody, fill 

320
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,520
it out, and then we can document
it to get that little credit for

321
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,160
the improvement during the audit
and we can make sure that it's 

322
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,560
documented properly should any 
standardized processes exist 

323
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,520
related to it. 
Just let small improvements stay

324
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,880
small. 
It's our job as the quality 

325
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:59,280
people to make sure that the the
change is recorded and provided 

326
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:04,560
in a timely manner. 
Next up, we want to make sure 

327
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,880
that we connect improvement to 
our daily work. 

328
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,280
If improvement doesn't connect 
to the job, it won't happen 

329
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,800
because the job is what matters,
right? 

330
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,200
Improvement should sound like at
times, you know, somebody's 

331
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:21,920
going to say like this step is 
annoying. 

332
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,400
Let's fix it. 
They're going to say, hey, this,

333
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,280
this confuses me. 
Can we clarify? 

334
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:32,560
They're going to say, Oh my 
gosh, this step takes 5 minutes 

335
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,000
too long. 
We'll simplify it. 

336
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:38,800
Those are the key terms We want 
to see that people are looking 

337
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:44,000
to resolve the issue, fix it, 
clarify it, simplify it. 

338
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,920
Whatever the the action word is,
so long as there's action, there

339
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,960
is improvement. 
We want to act on that fast. 

340
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,880
Now, if you are in a, a 
leadership or a management role,

341
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,080
again, two different things. 
Managers manage, leaders lead. 

342
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,360
We'll do that in a in a later 
episode. 

343
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:16,200
If you are in those positions of
decision making of some relative

344
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,960
power, then you are the ones 
that are going to have to make 

345
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,680
sure that that fix that 
clarification, that 

346
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:28,760
simplification happens. 
You'll be allowed to miss one, 

347
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,400
maybe 2, but if you keep missing
them, the people will stop 

348
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,640
telling you about it. 
And the second that you lose 

349
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:42,120
the, the floor, the staff, the 
the people that are doing the 

350
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:45,040
work and bringing these ideas to
you, the second that you lose 

351
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:49,840
them, you don't get them back. 
Be really careful with the trust

352
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,240
that they put in you to make 
sure that this stuff is 

353
00:23:52,240 --> 00:24:01,080
addressed. 
So once, once you fix it, you 

354
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,560
clarify it and simplify it, 
celebrate those wins. 

355
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,920
You know, this, this is really 
the, the cornerstone. 

356
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:14,920
Now, I like loud celebrations 
and it works sometimes. 

357
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,080
But you really want to match 
your, your celebration to, to 

358
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,120
the person who made it happen or
people who made it happen. 

359
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,680
But you do have to celebrate it.
Most companies will take the 

360
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,760
time to celebrate big old 
project launches, milestones 

361
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,040
getting hit. 
Good cultures celebrate these 

362
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,880
little wins, these little fixes,
these little clarifications, 

363
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,240
these little simplifications. 
They celebrate everyday problem 

364
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,000
solving. 
They figure out you know who's 

365
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,480
who's submitting these ideas for
continual improvement and 

366
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,360
they'll recognize those people 
in some little way. 

367
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:56,720
It doesn't need to be showy. 
It doesn't need to be loud. 

368
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:58,600
It's more fun loud in my 
opinion. 

369
00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:03,000
But it doesn't need to happen. 
Celebrate those wins just like 

370
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:09,320
you would with an 8D with a 
major milestone getting hit. 

371
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:15,240
Because that recognition, it's 
going to fuel repetition of the 

372
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,800
behavior. 
And once that behavior gets 

373
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,320
repeated a lot, it becomes 
culture. 

374
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,320
Culture is what we do. 
And if we do continual 

375
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:29,640
improvement pre mouth back to 
the the responsibility of 

376
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,480
leadership here, it will leave 
managers out of this one because

377
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:40,200
it's got to be leaders, people 
who can help push things 

378
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,880
forward, people who demonstrate 
what good behaviour looks like, 

379
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:50,680
what desired culture looks like.
Leaders have formal titles and 

380
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:56,080
informal titles, but your 
leaders need to model this sort 

381
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,440
of stuff. 
All right, leaders need to ask 

382
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,640
the questions. 
Leaders need to be the first to 

383
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,000
say, hey, this isn't perfect. 
What do you think? 

384
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,440
How can we make this better? 
Leaders are going to suggest the

385
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,960
small improvements. 
Leaders are going to accept 

386
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,360
feedback without any form of 
defensiveness. 

387
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:20,480
All right, if leader trip, if 
leadership goes into a system 

388
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:25,120
thinking that it is set in 
stone, that it's finished, that 

389
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,520
there's no need to change things
because it's worked to this 

390
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,600
point, that's how everyone else 
is going to interact with the 

391
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,160
two leaders Can't do that. 
Leaders need to be the the first

392
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,840
ones to say, all right, this is 
how we do it now, how are we 

393
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,560
going to do it tomorrow? 
What is this going to look like 

394
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:44,800
in a month, three months, a 
year? 

395
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:51,840
That's the role of the leader. 
Of course there's going to be 

396
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:59,400
the need for formal tools. 
You know, we're all working with

397
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,680
ISO in in some manner. 
So we've got to do corrective 

398
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,480
actions, preventive actions. 
For some of us we've got to 

399
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:13,120
mitigate those risks. 
But a three's preventive 

400
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,600
actions, doing formal risk 
register stuff, those don't need

401
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,120
to happen for everyday things. 
Those amplify what we're trying 

402
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:26,440
to do here. 
So use those when the complexity

403
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,520
is high, the risk is astonishing
or even just a little bit above 

404
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:36,880
whatever your system says is the
the desired risk level and and 

405
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,360
definitely document when the 
learning needs to be captured. 

406
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,720
Now we do not want to confuse 
the tool with the behaviour 

407
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,520
though. 
The behaviour is we make things 

408
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,120
better, we continually improve 
our system. 

409
00:27:54,440 --> 00:28:01,960
The tools prove it. 
So those a threes are going to 

410
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:07,120
be great for for when your your 
problems are just way too big or

411
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,600
costly or customers yelling at 
you. 

412
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:19,120
That is when the the more formal
tools need to come in to tell 

413
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,440
the the frontline that they need
to do a full problem solving 

414
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:27,080
exercise to raise their trash 
can 3 inches. 

415
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,560
That kills continual improvement
culture. 

416
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,880
Again, if it's a standardized 
setup, have somebody go out and 

417
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,560
document that change. 
But that is not the 

418
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,280
responsibility of the person 
suggesting the change to make 

419
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,680
that happen. 
We want continual improvement. 

420
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,360
We want standard work. 
We need to find that balance. 

421
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,720
Let's talk about as we start to 
close this out. 

422
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,680
I've been, I've been rambling 
for a while now. 

423
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,360
Jeepers. 
OK, happy to be back. 

424
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:10,360
Glad you're here. 
A quality system doesn't have to

425
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,080
feel heavy. 
If we want to keep in mind that 

426
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:19,000
we make our quality system. 
A quality system needs to feel 

427
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,960
helpful, responsive, alive. 
People want to participate in 

428
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,640
continual improvement because 
they think that that quality 

429
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,480
system that built that culture, 
that built that concept of 

430
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,200
continual improvement, they need
to see it as, yeah, the the 

431
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,080
system makes my job easier. 
That's why I participate in it. 

432
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,360
That's why I make it better 
every day. 

433
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:47,400
Once you start hearing that one,
you've educated the team 

434
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:48,800
incredibly well. 
Good job. 

435
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,800
Let me know in an e-mail how you
made that happen. 

436
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,080
But two, that is what your 
system needs to be. 

437
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:58,240
It doesn't need to weigh people 
down. 

438
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,720
It doesn't need to be just a 
series of red tape. 

439
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:06,840
It doesn't need to add cost, 
time, energy. 

440
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:08,840
It needs to make the work 
easier. 

441
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,800
And that is true, I believe in 
even if you're working with 1345

442
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,800
or ITF, it's, it's stuff that is
there. 

443
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,320
The standard exists to guide how
to make a system that works for 

444
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:28,320
customers, stakeholders, 
customers alike, employees. 

445
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,760
I said customers twice. 
Who do we work for? 

446
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:38,280
Anywho, all right, so rolling it
back to, to what we're doing 

447
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,920
here, but the vendor didn't do 
big improvements. 

448
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,640
And it reminded me that not 
everything needs to be a big 

449
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,120
improvement. 
They didn't talk about their 

450
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,640
their continual improvement 
system. 

451
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,040
They just showed it. 
They did it. 

452
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,880
They did it all the time. 
They did it in every work center

453
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,240
that we walked by. 
They need to sweep. 

454
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,800
I left a note. 
They need to take down some old 

455
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,960
documents, yes, But everywhere 
we went, we saw a work center 

456
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:13,480
that had been modified over time
to get the best results possible

457
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:15,720
for the team member and the 
customer. 

458
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:21,800
And that's cool. 
That is just awesome. 

459
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,240
And none of that seemed like a 
required elements. 

460
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,480
They didn't have dedicated Gambo
locks to do this. 

461
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:34,320
They didn't have dedicated risk 
registers at every station 

462
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,160
saying like, hey, you need to do
this, this, this, this, this 

463
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,320
should reduce our risks in these
areas. 

464
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,960
They wanted to. 
They did it. 

465
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,560
They built a culture there that 
can't help but improve itself, 

466
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,920
and that was awesome. 
So let's close it out. 

467
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,120
Some fun call to action stuff, 
if you will, in your work 

468
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,680
center, your workplace, wherever
you are. 

469
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,520
Find one small thing. 
Find a thing that saves you that

470
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,120
2 seconds for illuminate a 
little bit of waste. 

471
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,760
Make it better. 
You don't need a form. 

472
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:16,120
You don't need a an exploratory 
committee to figure out if it's 

473
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,560
necessary or doable. 
Just do it, make it better. 

474
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,640
Update a document if it's a 
standardized process, because 

475
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,360
that will really mess everything
up. 

476
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,320
If you're doing it not according
to plan, but still make it 

477
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:29,880
better. 
That's a challenge. 

478
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:35,840
Go out, have some fun. 
This is the first one that we're

479
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,480
back in quite some time. 
So I'm going to end with a a 

480
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,720
quick note. 
I have completely updated the 

481
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:48,800
the QC tools register of tools 
that we've got control plans, 

482
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:55,280
FMEA makers, a really nice, 
really easy to use JavaScript, 

483
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,960
HTML, CSS. 
There's a bubble printmaker, A 

484
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:05,280
newsletter maker, a because so 
much stuff and and it's yours 

485
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,720
for free. 
Download it if you if you need 

486
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:11,520
tools to help with your 
analysis. 

487
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:16,240
There's a really nice CPK 
calculator does PPK as well. 

488
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:22,960
So so don't worry if you aren't 
doing multiple group sizes in 

489
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,520
there. 
You'll you'll get the the right 

490
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,440
data chart builders chart JS did
a major update, so I was very 

491
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:34,240
excited free again and it works.
The math checks out the the 

492
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,800
bubble print maker is the 
coolest thing I've I've ever put

493
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,720
together. 
So download it, hit the website,

494
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:45,160
coqms.com. 
Donations, of course, welcome. 

495
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:49,680
Won't shy away from that. 
But not obligatory. 

496
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,400
Not not obligatory. 
That's how you say that word. 

497
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,520
Use it. 
Check it out, send me an e-mail,

498
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,480
let me know what you think. 
Everyday 

499
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:04,080
qualitypodcast@gmail.com Yeah, 
excited to be back. 

500
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,199
We'll get a few more of these 
episodes out soonish and we'll 

501
00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:10,199
have some fun. 
So thank you for listening. 

502
00:34:10,199 --> 00:34:14,320
I really appreciate you stopping
by and ranting with me. 

503
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:16,600
All right. 
Thanks, everybody. 

504
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:17,120
Bye.