Educating the Color Blind-II

[James Robert Crow <jr1crow@mindspring.com>]

Hello Group:

When working with a group I use a variety of tools to hopefully enable them
to begin to see the world differently.

I get everyone a copy of The New Economics and assign chapters 3 and 4 to
be read and studied before our first session.

I use a ball to demonstrate the difference between continuous and continual
improvement and to demonstrate that for real change to take place you must
change the system.

Start the ball at one side of the room with the instructions that the ball
must travel completely around the room with each person touching the ball
and then returning back to the person that began the process.  Use a stop
watch to time this exercise.  Have the members remember who they got the
ball from and who they passed it too.

Ask the group if they think they can improve on their time?  I have yet to
have a group that did not enthustically believe that they could improve
their time.  Repeat the exercise timing the result.  Create a run chart and
begin logging in the times.

Repeat this exercise again timing the result and logging in the time on the
run chart.

At this point I have allowed the group to develop their own best way of
performing the exercise with the only restriction being that the ball must
pass in the same sequence as before.  Time the result and note it on the
chart.

Do this several more times then ask the group to be seated and discuss the
result.

What you will typically get is that for the first three times there is
improvement because of repetition.  The 4th time there will be a dramatic
improvement.  There will usually be big improvements the 5th and 6th times
also.

The first three demonstrate a process that is repeated over and over again
with management asking for best efforts.  You can get some improvement, but
not much.  The 4th time represents serveral things.
1.  Employee involvement and an opportunity to be creative.
2.  Changing the system.

The fifth and sixth times allow the group to further refine their process
and in many cases to change the system totally again.

The chart will show that improvement is discontinuous, and you can lead a
discussion regarding the difference between continuous and continual
improvement and why you are embarking on a course of continual improvement.

You could simply tell the group the same thing, but when a group/person has
actually experienced something it has more of an impact.  A little ah ha
experience.

Variations:  I am considering doing the first step as much as ten times to
show that simply doing the same process over and over again with everyone
putting forth best efforts will result in very little improvement over time.

I am also considering freezing the group at the fourth step several times
to show that when they change a system or process there can be value in
allowing the group to gain confidence and refine the process making small
gains.

Likewise the fifth and sixth steps.  Any thoughts on this?

 
Robert Crow
Principal
Crow Consulting
165 River North Circle NW
Atlanta, GA 30328 USA
Voice 770-396-2280
FAX 770-396-7010
jr1crow@mindspring.com
www.crowgroup.net