Finished stage 1 of this tour. I gave a presentation to the Mission Peak Chapter of APICS (that's in Silicon Valley) tonight, titled Lean & Six Sigma: Working Together. They had a good turnout, and I got to meet a few new people. If anyone has a work history of process improvement and Lean and Six Sigma, I met someone who's looking for a Continuous Process Improvement Manager, so let me know I and I can send you the contact info.
I broke one of my cardinal rules. I had a wonderful conversation with a young woman (I can say "young woman" 'cause I'm old), but I didn't get her card. She's looking for work in the Operations or Supply Chain field, in Silicon Valley, so if anybody is looking for an entry level person, she is someone you should seriously consider. Hank thinks highly of her, and if Hank recommends her, that's all I need. Again, if you need an entry level Operations/Supply Chain person in Silicon Valley, let me know and I'll send you the contact info.
If I haven't said this before; professional organizations = learning + networking = career success. Get involved!
Last night I gave a presentation to the Sacramento Chapter of APICS. I did my Effective Strategic Planning presentation. It's always interesting, because the topic really involves the top level management of an organization, but the people who attend the presentations represent all levels of management. It's important for everyone to understand Strategic Planning, even if they're not involved in developing it. For one, some people will rise to the top, and they need to understand Strategic Planning. For many people, they won't be directly involved with much of the planning, but they are an important part of the Strategic Planning process. Because it is a process. It's not something you "do" once a year then pull out the next year and review. But I digress. What I was going to say was that I met one gentleman who works as an inventory manager and has been having some ongoing frustrations. This talk has nothing to do with inventory management, and is at a much higher level than some ongoing inventory issues. But he got a lot out of the talk and said I gave him some things to think about. Hopefully this will help him down a path that will get rid of some of those frustrations. It just goes to show you that sometimes, instead just trying to fix a problem that has been going on and on, you should step back and look at the big picture. It just might give you a different path to explore.
So tomorrow I'm back to Hawaii, for about a week, then I'm off to Tucson. I've still got some work to do for that trip, so I'll be busy.
I didn't make any tour t-shirts for this tour. Last time a did a tour like this I made up some t-shirts. I figured if the Rolling Stones can have tour t-shirts, so can I. I made a few up myself and gave them out as "gifts". I'm sure most of them are cleaning up oil stains, but I thought it was fun. This was going to be my "Joey Bag of Doughnuts Tour". I guess I can still print up some shirts.
Well, it's way past my bedtime, and I've got to get up and catch a plane in the morning....
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Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Strategic Planning
Since I'm on tour giving presentations on Strategic Planning, I'll share some of it with you. One of the things I talk about are the four elements of the Strategic Plan:
Products & Services
Markets
Financial
Structure
Products & Services are the products and services that you're going to offer to you customers. For most organizations you're probably talking about broad product lines or service offerings, but for smaller organizations you might be more specific, defining individual products or services.
Markets defines the markets where you're going to sell your products and offer your services. These might be geographic markets, types of customers, demographics of customers, or however you segment your markets.
The Financial element is one that is often confusing to people. In the Strategic Plan, we're not talking about the budget or sales or revenue forecasts. What we're doing is defining the financial structure of the organization over the planning time period. We're setting financial goals, defining where we're going to be. This is different than what most organizations do, and requires a different mind set. Set the target, then we'll work on how we're going to get there.
The fourth element is Structure. This is defining what the organization will look like, how it will be structured, so we can reach the other goals we've defined. It might include things like new plants or facilities, new departments, a re-structuring from what we look like now, or even individual positions that need to be added and filled.
As an example, let's look at what might be included in a Strategic Plan for the Hawaii State Rugby Union. The first thing that has to be decided is the time frame fro the plan. For a small, fledgling organization, a two-year plan is probably appropriate. So let's use two years.
What you want to do is define what the organization will look like two years from now. Products & Services for the Union include a variety of things. The weekly games are an important part, so we'll include them. We have one tournament each year, but maybe two years from now we'll have two tournaments. One might be the local tournament, with all the local teams, and the other might be an international tournament, like the one the Harlequins used to put on. Services might include annual coaching and referee clinics, so that we can train new people and keep the current people up-to-date with their skills. Maybe we want to add some sort of fitness training clinic for everyone in the Union who wants to attend.
For Markets, the Union might want to expand so that it includes teams on all the islands. It might include adding some games on the mainland. Remember, these are goals we're defining over the time period of the plan. We'll talk about how we get there later in the process. Our goals must be realistic, but they should also be stretch goals.
The Financial element defines our financial structure. Maybe we say that one of your goals is to have total revenue of $50,000 annually at the end of year two. That would include team dues, tournament fees, sponsorships, sales of Union merchandise, and anything else we come up with. We might set goals for the profitability of the tournaments, or total sales of merchandise.
Finally, the structure. We've got a structure now, but what will it look like at the end of year two so that we can achieve the other goals we've defined? Maybe we need a marketing director to help get the word out about rugby, to advertise the tournaments, and just raise the level of awareness to the general public. If we've defined two tournaments as a goal, maybe we need a dedicated tournament director to act as the project manager for both of them. We might need to formalize the structure that includes the referee committee, the Hawaii Youth Rugby organization, the select side selection committee, and the disciplinary committee. We might need to add a coaching committee to address the needs of the coaches and run the training that we defined as a goal.
That's part of what we're looking at when we do Strategic Planning. We set out defined goals, then we work to get the entire organization, and everyone in it, moving in the same direction, towards meeting those goals.
Products & Services
Markets
Financial
Structure
Products & Services are the products and services that you're going to offer to you customers. For most organizations you're probably talking about broad product lines or service offerings, but for smaller organizations you might be more specific, defining individual products or services.
Markets defines the markets where you're going to sell your products and offer your services. These might be geographic markets, types of customers, demographics of customers, or however you segment your markets.
The Financial element is one that is often confusing to people. In the Strategic Plan, we're not talking about the budget or sales or revenue forecasts. What we're doing is defining the financial structure of the organization over the planning time period. We're setting financial goals, defining where we're going to be. This is different than what most organizations do, and requires a different mind set. Set the target, then we'll work on how we're going to get there.
The fourth element is Structure. This is defining what the organization will look like, how it will be structured, so we can reach the other goals we've defined. It might include things like new plants or facilities, new departments, a re-structuring from what we look like now, or even individual positions that need to be added and filled.
As an example, let's look at what might be included in a Strategic Plan for the Hawaii State Rugby Union. The first thing that has to be decided is the time frame fro the plan. For a small, fledgling organization, a two-year plan is probably appropriate. So let's use two years.
What you want to do is define what the organization will look like two years from now. Products & Services for the Union include a variety of things. The weekly games are an important part, so we'll include them. We have one tournament each year, but maybe two years from now we'll have two tournaments. One might be the local tournament, with all the local teams, and the other might be an international tournament, like the one the Harlequins used to put on. Services might include annual coaching and referee clinics, so that we can train new people and keep the current people up-to-date with their skills. Maybe we want to add some sort of fitness training clinic for everyone in the Union who wants to attend.
For Markets, the Union might want to expand so that it includes teams on all the islands. It might include adding some games on the mainland. Remember, these are goals we're defining over the time period of the plan. We'll talk about how we get there later in the process. Our goals must be realistic, but they should also be stretch goals.
The Financial element defines our financial structure. Maybe we say that one of your goals is to have total revenue of $50,000 annually at the end of year two. That would include team dues, tournament fees, sponsorships, sales of Union merchandise, and anything else we come up with. We might set goals for the profitability of the tournaments, or total sales of merchandise.
Finally, the structure. We've got a structure now, but what will it look like at the end of year two so that we can achieve the other goals we've defined? Maybe we need a marketing director to help get the word out about rugby, to advertise the tournaments, and just raise the level of awareness to the general public. If we've defined two tournaments as a goal, maybe we need a dedicated tournament director to act as the project manager for both of them. We might need to formalize the structure that includes the referee committee, the Hawaii Youth Rugby organization, the select side selection committee, and the disciplinary committee. We might need to add a coaching committee to address the needs of the coaches and run the training that we defined as a goal.
That's part of what we're looking at when we do Strategic Planning. We set out defined goals, then we work to get the entire organization, and everyone in it, moving in the same direction, towards meeting those goals.
On the road
I'm currently in Santa Rosa, California. I came up here to conduct a seminar and give a dinner meeting presentation. The seminar was canceled, but the presentation went well. I gave my Strategic Planning presentation, which seems to be of interest to people. Many organizations perform something they call Strategic Planning, but they're not getting the results they want. My presentation is titled Effective Strategic Planning, where I define Effective as actually achieving the goals and objectives you've set out. Many other organizations do not perform Strategic Planning at all. Some do some sort of annual planning, but that's not really getting them anywhere. A few organizations actually do perform Strategic Planning with a fairly high level of success, so that's always nice to hear. They still might be missing a few pieces that could drive their performance higher, but they serve as a good example showing that it can be done.
From here I'm going over to Sacramento, where I'll give the Strategic Planning presentation again. Then I'm down in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale for a presentation on Lean and Six Sigma: Working Together.
I've been hauling some of my books around with me, to sell. I learned that it's always best to have at least a couple with me anytime I'm giving a presentation, or even going to a meeting. When I give a presentation or conduct a seminar, there is absolutely no sales pitch involved. That's not what the people are there for. But people always ask about my book, so I keep some with me just in case. Of course, after hauling them around with me I forgot to bring them with me to the last presentation. Doh! I really don't want to carry them back home. Besides wanting to sell them, I need to offload some weight from my luggage. For one, I bought a coupld of books at the conference in Orlando. I bought the last two books in Dr. Harrington's 5-book series, The Five Pillars of Excellence. I had the first three, so figured I should get the last two so I have the full set. Yes, I'm a book hoarder. My personal library is quite extensive. Meaning I have no more room for more books and should really try to start purging some, especially the ones that are in boxes in storage.
Hawaii Rugby Results Week 5
Here's the results from Week 5. Also, this marks the end of Round 1 of this season's competition. Round 1 winners are the Barbarians. This weekend starts Round 2 of the season. The winners of Round 2 will play the winners of Round 1 (Barbarians) for the Championship. If the Barbarians win Round 2 also, they will be declared the Champions this season.
Along with this season's competition, the Union will be selecting players for a Select Side Touring Team. Besides their playing ability, selection criteria will include the player's discipline both on and off the field. Sportsmanlike conduct is vital to rugby, and rugby's image to the public, and is an important selection criteria for Hawaii rugby's touring side. My hat's off to the Union leaders for making this part of the selection criteria.
Along with this season's competition, the Union will be selecting players for a Select Side Touring Team. Besides their playing ability, selection criteria will include the player's discipline both on and off the field. Sportsmanlike conduct is vital to rugby, and rugby's image to the public, and is an important selection criteria for Hawaii rugby's touring side. My hat's off to the Union leaders for making this part of the selection criteria.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
New links
I'm adding a couple of new links to the Rugby Owned Businesses list. For those of you who are wine lovers, check out Hooker Wines. And, I'm sure you can guess what position this gentleman played - yes - Hooker, or number 2. I probably shouldn't speculate about wine produced by one of our height-challenged brethren. Could be worse. Could be a winger :)
Next is Tor Consulting. I just met this gentleman this evening at my presentation on Strategic Planning. He consults in the area if Balanced Scorecard, which compliments what I do and what I was speaking about.
Next is Tor Consulting. I just met this gentleman this evening at my presentation on Strategic Planning. He consults in the area if Balanced Scorecard, which compliments what I do and what I was speaking about.
Hawaii Rugby Results Week 4
I'm a little behind while I'm traveling (and missing the games), but here's Week 4 results:
Sunday, February 24, 2008
My Conference Gem
I found my gem at the conference on the last day, at the last session. It was a Friday afternoon, after two days of conference and two days of pre-conference courses. Which means that by then the attendance at the sessions had thinned out considerably. And that’s too bad. I had given my second presentation at the next to last session on Friday, and had a pretty good crowd, but I know a lot of people were already heading to the airport. By the last session people were pretty sparse. I was a bit worn out after giving my two presentations and not having much sleep (which was odd, because I almost always sleep well), and wasn’t planning on going to any of the last sessions myself. None of the sessions looked interesting enough to draw me in, but I decided to go to one anyway. I picked one that was a little different for me, a session about a school district in Texas.
And that’s where I found my gem.
When I got to the room where the session was being held, there was only one other person there. Two more came in, but the first person left, so there were only three of us in attendance. A gentleman from the Aldine Independent School District in east Texas, around Houston, talked about how the performance of the schools in their district made a dramatic turnaround. It was truly fascinating and impressive. In 1993 the school district was in extremely poor shape in terms of performance, and they realized they were in severe crisis and had to do something. At that time they were introduced to the Baldrige Criteria, also known as the Criteria for Performance Excellence. They decided to use the criteria to improve their schools and their performance. And, boy, have they ever. From being at the bottom in 1993, to being an award winning district in 2004 through today, they have made incredible gains.
That in itself is impressive, but how they made the turnaround is a wonderful story. Given that over 80 % of the households in the district are “economically challenged” and near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, makes their results even more impressive. How did they make their improvement? By using the Baldrige Criteria and with a lot of hard work. The Baldrige Criteria itself is just a framework. It doesn’t tell you how to do anything, it just provides criteria that must be addressed if you want to achieve excellence. How you actually address those criteria is up to you. This school district did things like develop an effective communication system district-wide so that everyone knows what’s going on, implemented a peer review system that brought teams from one school to another school for evaluation, which also contributed to greater understanding an learning by the evaluators, and a system for providing structured help to poorer performers that allows them to improve faster.
This little gem of a presentation showed that the tools for improvement, for performance excellence, are there. You just have to use them, and have the will to make them work. That’s where the first criteria, Leadership, comes into play. Leadership provides the will to succeed. If leaders provide the will, you’ll find the way.
And that’s where I found my gem.
When I got to the room where the session was being held, there was only one other person there. Two more came in, but the first person left, so there were only three of us in attendance. A gentleman from the Aldine Independent School District in east Texas, around Houston, talked about how the performance of the schools in their district made a dramatic turnaround. It was truly fascinating and impressive. In 1993 the school district was in extremely poor shape in terms of performance, and they realized they were in severe crisis and had to do something. At that time they were introduced to the Baldrige Criteria, also known as the Criteria for Performance Excellence. They decided to use the criteria to improve their schools and their performance. And, boy, have they ever. From being at the bottom in 1993, to being an award winning district in 2004 through today, they have made incredible gains.
That in itself is impressive, but how they made the turnaround is a wonderful story. Given that over 80 % of the households in the district are “economically challenged” and near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, makes their results even more impressive. How did they make their improvement? By using the Baldrige Criteria and with a lot of hard work. The Baldrige Criteria itself is just a framework. It doesn’t tell you how to do anything, it just provides criteria that must be addressed if you want to achieve excellence. How you actually address those criteria is up to you. This school district did things like develop an effective communication system district-wide so that everyone knows what’s going on, implemented a peer review system that brought teams from one school to another school for evaluation, which also contributed to greater understanding an learning by the evaluators, and a system for providing structured help to poorer performers that allows them to improve faster.
This little gem of a presentation showed that the tools for improvement, for performance excellence, are there. You just have to use them, and have the will to make them work. That’s where the first criteria, Leadership, comes into play. Leadership provides the will to succeed. If leaders provide the will, you’ll find the way.
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