September 2018 Newsletter
Our September Status Quo Breaker is...
Sherri Oliver, Office Manager at Brody Middles School, is being recognized as our September Status Quo Breaker! Sherri was a project team member for one of the first Kaizen events. Since that experience, she has taken what she has learned to her work. She is regularly thinking with a Lean perspective and offering suggestions to improve processes for all office managers. Way to go, Sherri!
The Status Quo Breaker is a monthly traveling trophy recognition of an employee for their contribution to process improvement, to say thank you for being Lean and/or for helping make DMPS Leaner. Do you have someone you want to nominate for the Status Quo Breaker? Contact Emma Knapp.
Sherri Oliver, Office Manager at Brody Middles School, is being recognized as our September Status Quo Breaker! Sherri was a project team member for one of the first Kaizen events. Since that experience, she has taken what she has learned to her work. She is regularly thinking with a Lean perspective and offering suggestions to improve processes for all office managers. Way to go, Sherri!
The Status Quo Breaker is a monthly traveling trophy recognition of an employee for their contribution to process improvement, to say thank you for being Lean and/or for helping make DMPS Leaner. Do you have someone you want to nominate for the Status Quo Breaker? Contact Emma Knapp.
No, Not Me.
From Peak Performance by Brian Elms, "we teach people to focus on their own outcomes, not other people's outcomes. I'm reminded of the time I got a call from someone in Denver Human Services who had returned from a week long vacation to find that his desk had been completely reorganized by someone who'd gone through our continuous improvement training. Can you imagine? Leaving for vacation and coming back to find all your papers had been reshuffled and refiled by one of your coworkers? But it was true. Someone I had trained used all our techniques to eliminate what he saw as his colleague's waste. He used our tools against a coworker."
This is an excellent example and reminder that when you identify opportunities for improvement, you should filter that idea by two statements.
1. Continuous improvement is focused on fixing our work processes and systems, not people.
2. Continuous improvement is focused on empowering employees to fix their own work, not someone else's.
Challenge to you! Next time a conversation is focused on what's wrong with a person or changing how someone else does their job, refocus back to the process and determine what's causing the real problem and what is in your control to change.
From Peak Performance by Brian Elms, "we teach people to focus on their own outcomes, not other people's outcomes. I'm reminded of the time I got a call from someone in Denver Human Services who had returned from a week long vacation to find that his desk had been completely reorganized by someone who'd gone through our continuous improvement training. Can you imagine? Leaving for vacation and coming back to find all your papers had been reshuffled and refiled by one of your coworkers? But it was true. Someone I had trained used all our techniques to eliminate what he saw as his colleague's waste. He used our tools against a coworker."
This is an excellent example and reminder that when you identify opportunities for improvement, you should filter that idea by two statements.
1. Continuous improvement is focused on fixing our work processes and systems, not people.
2. Continuous improvement is focused on empowering employees to fix their own work, not someone else's.
Challenge to you! Next time a conversation is focused on what's wrong with a person or changing how someone else does their job, refocus back to the process and determine what's causing the real problem and what is in your control to change.
Shout Outs!
Thank you to Bob and Ray at Nationwide for assisting DMPS as we create a Lean Benefits Calculator!
Thank you ASQ Chapter 1308 for listening to how DMPS is applying continuous improvement!
Thank you ASQ Chapter 1308 for listening to how DMPS is applying continuous improvement!
