Processes don't work "automagically"

Hey, "process jockeys" and "quality gurus", now's the time to put our skills to good use.

No one really knows what to do when something like COVID-19 happens.  But truly - that's the point.  Right now, all we can do is learn our way through this.  And we shouldn't waste the opportunity to capture what we learn along the way, so that maybe things are just tiny bit easier next time.  And, of course, there will be a next time.  Processes don't work "automagically".  They must be maintained and improved over time, through learning and constant improvement.  

I’m appalled by the fact that we've had so many pandemics in fairly recent history, and it seems that each time, we repeat an eerily similar learning curve.  We make a LOT of mistakes along the way.  Our #corrective actions don't seem to be very effective.  Our #organizationalknowledge doesn't seem to improve much.  And our #processes don't seem to change much.  

Each pandemic is "unprecedented".  Except, that all disasters and crises have some similarities that we should be able to learn from.  After centuries of hurricanes, we now at least have some semblance of a protocol where people who live in hurricane zones know what to do.  It took us a while, but we're getting there.  Pandemics have been different.  It doesn't seem like we're learning much.  Like, "hey groceries stores, how do you not have at least an attempt at anti-hoarding policies so that's one less public crisis for everyone to deal with"?  It happens every time.  Why can't we have a process trigger that will prevent it?  We know that other countries have adapted to wearing masks as a normal first response to any threat of widespread disease.  Why has our mask situation been such a mess since day one?   Other countries learned this through experience with previous pandemics, so they no longer have shortages in supply, nor a cultural resistance to wearing them.  And after all of our trial and error through this pandemic, the only thing we seem to think might work now is wearing masks.  Endless quarantine won't work, social distancing doesn't work, handwashing isn't enough.  But, other countries already knew that.  That seems like a pretty simple thing to add our bank of knowledge for next time.  My local veterinarian had a solid "no contact" process figured out before my local big chain pharmacy did.  What's that about?  And where we do find some good ideas, will we remember them next time we need them?  We have tons of bureaucrats and organizations that are supposed to help us learn lessons together globally.  How is it failing us so completely?  

I'm both a lean practitioner (Black Belt) and subject matter expert and advocate of ISO9001 based quality management systems.  And I see a big opportunity for us to leverage those methodologies and tools together to close the gaps in our processes and systems. 

Where's the organizational knowledge?  Where's the tribal knowledge?  What kind of process control do we really, truly have?  ISO9001 element 7.1.6 requires that organizations capture and maintain a cache of "organizational knowledge" that we can use when things get crazy.  We may be "compliant" according to our internal and external quality audits, but how's that organizational knowledge actually working for us now? 

Here are some examples of the types of struggles my clients have experienced recently.

1.  An environmental resource company found it necessary to furlough some of their employees in response to their business conditions due to COVID-19.  They discovered too late that that two of their essential software programs could only be maintained by one person who knew how to modify the code.  And she was furloughed.  There was no reference documentation or cross-training.  And it was not identified anywhere as a critical process point OR as a risk to the organization.  Let's break that down real quick. 

- There's a touch point in the ISO9001 standard not only in 7.1.6 organizational knowledge, but also in

- 4.2 needs and expectations of interested parties (one of the software programs was a critical customer communication app),

- 4.4 QMS and its processes (could've been identified in a process map as a critical point),

- 5.3 organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities (could've been identified as a key responsibility),

- 6.1 actions to address risks and opportunities (might have been identified as a risk)

- 6.3 planning of changes (might be included as part of changes to review roles and responsibilities) 

- 7.1.3 infrastructure (infrastructure should include building, equipment, tools (including IT)

- 7.2 competence (not only should this be identified by individual, but what competencies are needed throughout the organization)

7.5 documented information (the organization should identify which documented information is necessary for the operation of its QMS - this should include reference materials for specific tasks, especially "tribal knowledge")

And those are just off the top of my head LOL!  9 requirements in the ISO9001 standard, that if understood and actually applied properly, might have averted that problem.  More examples:

2.  A multigenerational, and very successful component distributor, is faced with their founder approaching retirement.  His son and other family members have mentored under him for years and have learned much of the business.  But his unique ability to envision the future of their industry, and thereby project purchases and inventory strategies has yet to be mastered by anyone within the organization.  They've repeated the same process of strategic business planning annually for decades, but an actual process still eludes them.  

3.  A heavy manufacturer faced crushing extended downtime on a critical piece of equipment, because a highly skilled maintenance tradesman was the only guy who knew how to troubleshoot and restart a furnace after a planned shutdown.  He had a grievance and was unwilling to share his knowledge with anyone else within the organization, so the company suffered significant losses due to the downtime. 

4.  An automotive supplier had to follow a non-optimized production schedule to accommodate certain tool & die skilled tradesman, because only they knew the "secrets" for set up on jobs, and they couldn't do all the setups at once.  And the less senior apprentices did not have access to the "secrets" to allow the setups to be scheduled on an optimized schedule.  This would also be the case where less senior employees must be furloughed or cut back, like in the case of COVID-19. 

These are just a few real-life examples of how understanding and complying with the ISO9001 requirements are meant to help your organization.  If we make compliance just an exercise done in a cubicle by a paper pusher, these are some of the results we'll get.  But if we actually understand WHY the requirement is there, and HOW complying will actually benefit us, we can then gain the BENEFIT and VALUE that ISO9001 is supposed to provide!  My professional mission is to help organizations rethink their quality systems so that the quality of their products and services actually improves.  

Process improvement using lean and Six Sigma is great, but it's better when integrated into a robust quality management system like ISO9001.  

Don't just COMPLY.....APPLY the requirements to get optimal results.

Don't just CONFORM.....TRANSFORM your organization through better quality.  

For some ways to unite and leverage ISO9001, lean and Six Sigma together, check out my book "Tribal Knowledge".  All these tools work better when they're used together.

To get a better understanding of not only how to comply, but to effectively apply the requirements of ISO9001, get my video training series "ISO9001 in Plain English".  Here's a free sample including the requirements of element  "7.1.6 organizational knowledge". 

Some political pundits are squawking about the quote, "Never let a good crisis go to waste".  I'll leave them to the politics.  But I agree.  Now is the time to learn our way through this and end up better for it.  

Let's keep learning, and as always, keep improving!