Deliver! (Frank Feng's Library) by Jim Champy

Author:Jim Champy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FT Press
Published: 2011-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

Stand and Deliver

• Demolish the stove pipes.I learned in my reengineering days that people who work in different business functions develop different points of view. Although designers strive for a product that satisfies their customers’ needs, they may pay little attention to how it will be built. Managers in manufacturing make a product to conform to a design but are unlikely to look for ways that it might be redesigned for easier production. Business leaders have long sought to bridge the chasm between design and manufacturing, yet it remains a fact of corporate life.

When the Virginia class was in the planning stage, the Navy was determined to avoid that hazard. As Dave Johnson says, “We designed it based on how we were going to build it.” The design of the sub was developed along with the methods to be used to manufacture it, and both the design and the processes were modified to get the best overall result. And because the work was done digitally, it could be easily shared, and commented upon, by all involved.

Not all businesses are an ideal venue for Integrated Process and Product Design (IPPD) in its true form, which relies on a so-called Integrated Product Team (IPT) devoted to the merging of design and production into a single, comprehensive plan. But the principle holds: Much stress and much error can be avoided by demanding collaboration between the people who design the product and those who manufacture it.

• Big moves call for big change.As a proponent of the more radical reengineering approach to change, I have often had my doubts about continuous change programs. That’s mostly because continuous change is usually associated with incrementalism: Just keep changing a little bit regularly, and you will eventually reach your goal.

But when major change is required in both product and process—as was the case in the Virginia sub program—incrementalism alone won’t cut it. The unique quality of what the Navy did here was to focus continually on changes that were big. It’s an approach that requires a real appetite for change and a great ambition.

• Think mission impossible (almost).When I first heard the story of the Virginia sub program, I was incredulous. How could two highly competitive companies join forces to build an enormously complex warship and actually succeed by doing so in a shorter time and at a lower cost? That’s hard enough when there’s only one company involved. The answer, it turned out, includes all sorts of smart moves on the part of the Navy and the companies, but what makes it all work is the high sense of mission this team shares. It’s not just about building a great boat and meeting a daunting technical challenge—which alone are inspiring. It’s also about the compelling security needs of their country in a new geo-political environment. The overriding mission here is to do whatever must be done to protect the nation. In the eyes of this team, failure is not an option.

Every enterprise of any value should have a clear and clearly communicated mission that inspires a shared commitment.

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