On the world wide strategy deployment stage no star shines as brightly as Hoshin Kanri. The renowned methodology has been credited with playing a large role in the continuing success of some the world’s leading organizations - Toyota, Bridgestone, and Procter and Gamble to name just a few. Yet, while other stars of the business improvement scene are eagerly ushered into organizations all over the world, Hoshin Kanri can’t seem to find very many places willing to throw out the welcome mat and move her in.
A Truly Difficult Character or Just Bad Press?
Our research, conducted through conversations with key players working in organizations across the globe, reveals at least three common reasons for avoiding the best practice methodology:
- too mysterious - organizations just can't get a handle on what it's like to live with the famous process
- too needy – the process seems to require so much complex and intricate paperwork it makes it nearly impossible to convince key executives it will be worth the effort
- too difficult - the star’s tastes run the gamut from basic fare to the sophisticated and exotic. How can an organization be sure they will be able to secure and use all of the ingredients properly?
First-Hand Reports Reveal a More Agreeable Nature
This raises serious concerns. You see, first-hand reports from those participating in Hoshin Kanri guided deployments of change report a more agreeable side to to the methodologies character. Based on these reports, if you want to take on breakthrough strategies for improving business operations and you know you are going to have to adopt major changes to make it happen, then Hoshin Kanri would seem to be the ideal process for you. These reports indicate your entire organization will find the famous best practice comforting and pleasant to be around.
Would the Real Hsohin Kanri Please Stand Up
So what is really going on? Here's the scoop: Hoshin Kanri doesn’t want to be a problem. Sure, she wants you to live up to your potential when you decide to make a concerted effort to adopt change for the better. And yes, it’s true; she won’t let you forget for even a minute that you are capable of so much more than you have demonstrated before. But, even so, it would be a mistake to think the self-improvement plan she has in store for you will be anything but a healthy and nice experience.
Understated, Balanced Power
When Hoshin Kanri is approached in the right way, she always brings a total, balanced approach to your change efforts. And she never asks you take an unreasonable step forward in any one thing you do. Instead, she asks you to take a couple of manageable steps forward in all of the many things you do. It is this always reasonable and always comprehensive coverage of the entire set of requirements that delivers a quantum leap in performance over previous change efforts.
Hoshin Kanri’s Handlers Manage the More Intricate Details Behind the Scenes
Another little known fact is how Hoshin Kanri typically has a dedicated deployment leader \ team working behind the scenes to handle the more intricate requirements. This places the burden of managing the impressive scope and breadth of Hoshin Kanri on the shoulders of the experts rather than on the rank and file or on business executives who do not need to know the gory details. This ensures the organization experiences the benfits of Hoshin Kanri without a lot of unecessary and unhelpful burden. With the right experts handling the details, your organization should experience nothing but the healthiest and most natural form of improvement taking place during Hoshin Kanri guided initiatives. All participants should feel like they are getting the kind of implementation they had always hoped for; one where everything is being considered and everything is falling into place.
Stress-Free, Waste-free, Resistance-Free Implementation of Change
If you have considered Hoshin Kanri before and were turned away by her unapproachable “prima donna” appearance or reputation, maybe you should take another look. If you do, please consider the follwoing: your organization recognizes the pressure to change as a natural part fo the environement. And your organization is willing to work hard to get better at implementing change because we all understand the world outside is changing and we all know smart responses must follow. However, when those responses seem unreasonable, and potentially harmful, the organization will of course naturally push-back.
Hoshin Kanri understands the natural ressitance your organization will certainly present in the face of a potentially unhealthy change inititaive. So, contrary to Hoshin Kanri’s complicated appearance, her role is not to make change look more difficult, but rather to make change more natural and healthy. Her job is to ensure all parties see everything necessary is being done in to ensure a natural and healthy transition to a new and improved way of doing things. Her job is to make sure the entire project is taking place in the most careful, thorough and waste-free manner so only the most proven and beneficial changes make it into actual operations.
Hoshin Kanri - Highly Technical for a Reason but Never Unreasonable
She understands the organization wants change only if it makes the business stronger so she provides a process the organization will see as technically qualified for the task. However, she would never expect all parties to become "strategy deployment experts". Doing so would be presumptious on her part and it definitely wouldn't be natural. When her expert handlers are doing their job, you can rest assured your organization will see the more appealing side of the famous approach, and, as a result, they will welcome her in like a long lost relative. After all, who wouldn’t want a roommate who always looked out for you even as she challenged you to be the very best you can be?
