Before going into the training, allow me to make a quick overview of the trip itself and the facility where the course was held.
I flew to Phoenix by Delta airlines. I have to say that traveling during the summer time is less stressful than in the winter. You don't have to worry about flight delays because of a snow storm or bad weather. So my flight was on schedule and it was a very smooth ride back and forth.
The conference center was located within the Fairmont Princess resort in Scottsdale. The resort is huge but conference venue is somewhat smaller than what I got accustomed to with Gartner or the other Pink conference in Vegas. I never thought I'd say this in the middle of the desert in August but the rooms were too cool! Maybe it's a way of keeping the audience awake... It was over 46 degrees Celsius outside while it must have been in the low twenties inside.
Arizona is fascinating. I found there was a lot of open spaces and the towns are widely spread across the desert. Cacti and palm trees are all over the place. You can see many desert bunnies running across the resort. I didn't get to visit much but I'm hoping to go back there with my family someday. You will find pictures of the resort and my trip at the end of this blog.
On to the Lean IT Foundations training...
Lean IT and the Toyota Production System (TPS) has been a hot topic within the IT team at Global Excel. I have to say that it took time for me to see the benefits of applying Lean measures within our group. TPS being more focused on manufacturing, I couldn't see it being applied within a team of IT professionals. After reading the Toyota Way, by Jeffrey Liker, I understood more about the philosophy and thinking behind Lean principles. Yet, I still had a hard time understanding how to apply these principles within the IT Infrastructure group which I'm responsible for. We tried implementing the One Piece Flow principle within the group without great success and this training allowed me to better understand why:
Lean thinking is all about:
- Increasing customer value
- Eliminating waste
- Management as a facilitator
- Involvement of all employees
- Continual improvement
By blindly trying to implement One Piece Flow, we defeated the first principle: Increasing customer value. We're yet to identify who really is our client. The customer is at the center of everything when you're in the process of being lean.
Lean means improving our customer's satisfaction by being better connected (Go and See!) to them and by adding value they're expecting of us. It also means adding a strategic value by having a continual improvement process in place with a higher employee involvement and motivation. Last but not least, Lean also means having better financial result by
- Eliminating waste
- Allowing time for new activities: From optimization of value-add work
- Improve the cash flow: A shorter duration between order and delivery
A paradigm shift also needs to happen at the management level. As said above, the manager needs to become more of a facilitator for his team. Offering his help to increase productivity and continual improvement.
On that matter, Pink Elephant recommended watching this video:
Drive-The surprising truth about what motivates us
The training was more focused on the Six-Sigma Lean principles. The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook was highly recommended. I found the tools in the book to be quite useful. We learned to use a SIPOC and Value Stream Mapping to gain a better understanding of a current process and how to make it leaner. There are many similarities in between TPS and Six Sigma. Six Sigma may be a little better adapted to the service industry than TPS but both share common philosophies and thinking.
The workshops proposed in class were useful. They allowed us to apply our newly acquired skills to practice. It was also a great opportunity to network with our peers. We did role playing on the Voice of Customer approach, which ties into the Go And See from TPS. We also did a SIPOC and a Value Stream Map to better understand waste areas.
There was also a whole block on performance measurements which I will surely use in my sphere of expertise. The block on lean meeting management was also quite interesting. It made me realize that I have room for improvement in the organization of my meetings with the team under my responsibility and my fellow managers. I need to be better involved in my team's operations.
Overall, this was an eye opener training. I found it quite motivating and I can't wait to apply my newly acquired skills at my workplace.
Here are a few pictures of my trip:
The view from my room
Plenty of typical cacti on the resort
Cactus and Palm trees on the resort
Hotel rooms next to the conference center
Water slides on the resort
One of the two major pools
Arizona sunrise from my room
Fountain at the hotel entrance
