KaizenTip 115: Can you Feel the Force?
This week's tip comes to you from Haider Imam of the Kaizen Team.
Before we get into this week's KaizenTip however, we wanted to publish an apology. KaizenTip 114: 'It's not the People Stupid!' talked about measuring Failure Demand. We really should have acknowledged John Seddon at Vanguard Consulting who has made a massive contribution to the field of systems thinking in organisations. You can find out more about John's ideas at www.systemsthinking.co.uk. Also if you want more on Failure Demand, here's a great article by John:
http://www.systemsthinking.co.uk/ni14horse.pdf
And now, this week's KaizenTip.
Many Jedi in the world of Continuous Improvement are familiar with the power of Force Field Analysis as a diagnostic tool. As a facilitator or change leader, it's a vital part of your toolkit to improve your project's chances of success - and to maintain balance in the universe.
Some background: the tool was developed by Kurt Lewin (1890 - 1947), a social psychologist with an interest in group dynamics and organisational development. The 'Lewin's Equation' , B = f(P,E) states that behaviour is a function of the person (or group) and their environment. In other words, external forces affect much of how we are likely to behave.
When we brainstorm:
a force-field appears in the middle, often 'outing' the group of person's motives, values, needs, states, goals and core concerns.
VISUALLY investigating an issue in this way can help the group understand the wider factors at work, identify a 'hopeless case', or motivate them by highlighting what's working and where they should focus their efforts to maximise chances of success.
It's also great for stimulating some quality dialogue in a tough situation - and often allows groups to begin to discuss elephants both inside and outside the room.
So, start by defining the forces. You could use a PESTLE framework for both sides (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legislative and Economic) if you're planning global changes - or you could define categories such as People, Processes, Skills, Technology, Equipment and Investment for organisational change.
And now you have identified all the hindering and helpful forces, there are at least three things the group can explore now:
So often, what's getting in the way are 'soft' issues - like politics, attitudes, or low-energy - and the tool allows the whole group to see clearly where the key leverage points are. Now it's time to prioritise: and here you can use something like an Ease/Impact Grid - one scale represents the weight, importance of significance of each force, and the other scale rates the extent to which this factor is under your influence or control - how easy or difficult is it to change?
Now, the whole group has a clear picture of priorities and what actions are going to make the most positive difference.
This week's call to action
Try using Force-Field Analysis with your group or team - especially on an issue that seems to be 'stuck in the mud' - and notice how the energy shifts as next steps become clear. We'd love to hear how it goes!Feel the Force, young Jedi