THE HELIX OF PRODUCTIVITY
GROWTH
The normal way that
standardization is
accomplished
is by being standard
initially: only one system
or process to do a given
task. To take advantage of
systems
productivity improvements or
to improve the processes,
new systems or process are
added or modified. The initial
system or process is often
left intact without reevaluating
the original process. After
a few years of these
changes, someone will come
along, observe the numerous
variations, and state that
there must be standardization.
A large effort begins and
the systems and
processes are rationalized
and standardized once again.
With time, new systems and
processes are added or
modified and the whole
process begins again. This
is
wasteful and time-consuming.
How can this be avoided
so that a continuous
improvement process can
truly be
accomplished and sustained?
As systems increase,
productivity usually
increases.
This is because new systems
are not usually initiated
unless there is a good
business reason. Each new
system
improves productivity, but
eventually productivity
begins to slow and then to
fall. This decline is due
to the fact that more
support people are required,
more
failure points, more
training, etc. When the
decline becomes
evident, standardization and
rationalization
becomes the rallying cry.
This reduces the number of
systems, but productivity
does not improve because
resources are needed to
learn the new systems and
move
from old systems to new.
When
this transition is complete,
productivity takes a big
jump and few new systems
are added for a period of
time because people
remember the recent past.
But over time, new systems
are added to take advantage
of technology improvements
or business changes. When
this happens, the die
is cast and it is only a
matter of time before
another helix will
appear and the process will
continue until
people realize that these
helixes are wasteful and potentially
fatal. If your company is
facing huge competitive
challenges at the time of
the helix, the company may
be doomed because during the
time of the helix,
productivity will not
increase whether you
standardize
or innovate until the helix
runs its course. During
the time of company crisis,
time is something you don't
have. Either the
company does not have the
time or
the person trying to improve
productivity does not have
the time because
management will soon blame
that
person for the lack of
productivity.
Continued