A Hoshin Kanri/Gemba Kaizen Transformation?

“Just to show you that I have been listening, Curmudge, may I start this session with a question?”

“You’ve got the floor, Jaded Julie.”

“Is Hoshin Kanri a part of Lean? The workplace, gemba, is the focus of Lean, but Hoshin Kanri is an initiative that goes from the top down.”

“Good observation, Julie. I see them as complementary, and here at Affinity Hoshin Kanri is an extremely important adjunct to Lean. A Lean cultural transformation is a major change, and change must have the vocal, enthusiastic, and unwavering support of the organization’s leadership. Without their involvement, the people farther down in the organization will ignore the change.”

“Curmudge, this sounds just like in medieval times when the knights would sound the charge and lead their followers from in front. If the leaders were not always there, the troops would lose heart and go home. They would probably say that this was just another conquest of the month.”

“Great analogy! At Affinity, Hoshin Kanri is the means by which top management provides their support for the Lean transformation. With Lean as a corporate strategy and Lean tools needed for many of the hoshins, Hoshin Kanri cascades the Lean transformation all the way down to gemba. So to answer your question, Julie, Lean and Hoshin Kanri go together like love and marriage.”

“You sound old fashioned, Curmudge, but what would I expect? So maybe we should call this whole thing the Hoshin Kanri/Gemba Kaizen Transformation.”

“That’s good Japanese, Julie, but it sounds like the name of the solution to a problem in advanced mathematics.”

“Well, can we just give it a home-grown name, like the Affinity Performance Excellence System?”

“That name has already been taken. But perhaps we can consider it to have been kaizened and subjected to continuous improvement. Then we’ll call it Jaded Julie’s Affinity Performance Excellence System.”

“Wow! Does that mean that you regard me as somebody special?”

“As a nurse, Julie, you always were.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon