The PJ (poor joke) above might no longer remain a PJ if banana peel is replaced by a typical problematic situation one encounters in daily routine. The question remains unanswered then: Why do some people find it difficult to act beyond cure? They do think 'Prevention is The Best Cure' though! I was no different from them! But now my journey is gathering speed, hopefully in the direction that the blog is supposed to drive towards. Checkout my other blogs and work at http://www.worldOFkaizen.com/

Friday, 4 June 2021

Wished but got Fished!

Fish they wish!
Just for a day's dish!!
Vast sea though, couldn't offer a niche!!!


Some play leisurely ☺ by the seaside...;
While...,
Some play with their lives the whole life for their earthly living.

(watch an humble couple in the background struggling to catch a few fish) 

The couple working so hard against all the odds;
He jumping in the deep sea with a net;
His wife with a torn basket, hoping in shallow waters on the shore-side..., Jumping to keep her head above waters at every wave.

Out they were for the whole day!
Only catch was, couldn't catch the fish they wished to catch just for a meal.

They could but just a few countable on fingers, not more than the number of hours they put in working so hard ... So sad 😔

But not an iota of disappointment on their face. 

"So what? We'll be back again", hoped they while hopping away in the woods.

Digital COPQ

I went to the municipality office of a metro city for the birth certificate of my grand daughter.

Process steps that I'd to take were as follows.

Step-1, For enquiry, I went to a window that was closest to the main entry. They directed me to the ENQUIRY window that actually wasn't visible moment you enter the office.

Step-2, On my turn at the 'window' that I was directed to (by the ENQUIRY window) 'asked' me the date of birth of the newborn.

Step-3, The 'window' danced her fingers 'takaa-takaa-tak....' on the keyboard. Kept looking at the screen while 'she' sipped some water reaching out for a sippy-bottle kept on a shelf a couple of arms away. Fortunately, she got the details online.
Lucky that the information from the hospital had reached the municipality office digitally!

Step-4, She gave me a printout of what she saw on the screen.
Told me to go to ENQUIRY window and enquire 'what next'.

Step-5, ENQUIRY window 'told' me to go & take a set of forms from 'that corner', fill name details of the child if naming ceremony is already done & then submit it to the first 'window'.

Step-6, I did so. Filled the forms.

Step-7, Submitted the forms to the first 'window' alongwith the printout given by her earlier. The first 'window' then told me to submit parental identity proofs online. And, to collect the birth certificate online "after the name of the newborn gets registered" two-weeks thereafter.

(Add a few sanitisation steps in-between!)

Step-8, All the above in about a couple of hours; home-to-back-home via the municipality office!
This of course, followed by the ritual of sanitisation & a full bath (the second one of the day) ... in another hour or so!
An hours' nap induced by the tiring drive under the scorching Sun!

Step-9, After getting up, I tried to login to the website but in vain! 
Another, couple of hours wasted. 
Perhaps the website was taking a nap then. 

Step-10, Now, I'm trying to get in touch with an agent and keeping my fingers crossed. 

The labor of the mother was easier, I think!


Worth researching the NVA and the COPQ in this so-called supposed-to-be online digitisation process?
Meanwhile, I am unable to understand the following.

- What was the need for me to drive 40-kilometers to-n-fro under the scorching Sun at 44-degree Celsius?

- What was the need of the ENQUIRY window in the process for the work that could've been told to me by the first 'window' itself?

- Is it that the process-designer of this digital process forgot to consider eliminating such NVAs (which is actually an inevitable step if a Lean-Kaizen-JIT Gemba-exercise is undertaken before any such digital exercise)? Or
- Is it that the VOC & the 3-D in the process (COPP, cost of poor processes) was not 'heard' adequately? Or
- Is it that the additional 'window' step was 'intentional' and on that particular day the intention got skipped inadvertently?

- Why was the sippy-bottle not kept within an arms reach (application of the orderly arrangement principle of Seiton, the Five-S system) unless of course she wanted some exercise by-design? A good thought if the latter was true! 

But, why was the ENQUIRY window itself away from the main entry door? (Missing Seiton because missing Gemba approach to Kaizen and the PDCA-audit of the Gemba itself post any such change initiative!)
About the location of the window itself, good that I didn't dare to INQUIRE!
I wonder the costs (Digital-COPQ) associated with such poorly designed digitisation initiatives particularly being during the COVID times, when in order to curb it everyone is on the journey to eliminate every possible touch-point! The Digital-Corporate-Yoga in its true sense!!

Abbreviations:
COPQ, cost of poor quality
COPP, cost of poor processes
NVA, non-value-activities as Wastes
VOC, voice of customer
3D: Dirty-Danger-Difficult
JIT Just In Time
PDCA: Systematic improvement approach Plan-Do-Check-Act

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Force Customers To Quit
In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Do you keep curing your brand ?  
customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!  
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value ?  
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?  
The Business Of Businesses 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily 
Does recognition really matter 
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity
Difference between raam-&-krishna tactics

Sunday, 4 April 2021

Difference between Ability, Capacity, Capability, Competency, & Excellence!

In business, we often take stock of materials and equipment meticulously but not that of the human skills with as much seriousness. We hear people say, I have able people but still don't get desired Performance.

Competency assessment and deployment is an important part of the job of leaders to get a desired level of Performance in a business setting. In order to do so, one must understand the difference between Ability, Capacity, Capability and the Competence.

As an example, one may say that, "I have the ability to write!"

But “How much can I write in what timeline?”

The ability (the skills) with a relevant measure to perform a given task or a process defines the capacity of a given person (just like that of an equipment) and in turn that of an entity. So one may say that my capacity to write is 50-words per minute (wpm) and I can keep writing for 1-hour at a stretch, say.

But “How much should I actually be able to write as per the demand of the situation?"

Say, the demand is to write 50-wpm for at least 2-hours at a stretch!

If I've the ability to improve to a level such that I can handle the gap between the demand and my current capacity level then I've the capability to perform at a raised level.

Can I win a competition of writing (speed & duration) though?

If I can challenge, compete & deliver the desired level of results (rather win the competition) in terms of quality and quantity successfully then "i am competent."

Accordingly, for Competency Assessment one may categorise employees as follows based on their competencies or the levels of their skills.
 
Five categories of employees based on their competency or skill levels to perform a job or a work are as follows.
 
1.  Novices! or Beginners! - Those who ‘don’t know’ How & Why of the job.
2.  Able! or Intermediates! - Those who ‘can do’ but ‘can’t deliver promises’.
3.  Capable! - Those who ‘can’ & improve ‘capacity level to deliver promises’.
4.  Competent! - Those who 'can troubleshoot & win' but ‘can’t transfer knowledge’.
5.  Experts! - Those who have ‘knowledge, can perform, troubleshoot, and coach others to make them competent'.
 
Table (from my book "TPM for Reliable and Just-In-Time Value Delivery to Customer") shows the evaluation criteria and corresponding training implications to graduate to a higher skill or competency level.
So how does one get performance!

The equation I've put in my book: "Ego + Ego: We Go! Behavior Modulation Techniques To Improve Kaizen Leadership, Performance & Negotiation Skills" is as follows.

With the understanding on the difference between Ability, Capacity, Capability and the Competence, I would like to revisit the above equation to get Performance as follows in order to get a Desired Level of Performance.

To get a Desired Level of Performance, it is the Capacity in place of Ability.

Now the equation looks like as follows:
Capacity + Motivation + Environmental nudges = Desired Performance

To get a Raised level of Performance, it is Capability in place of Capacity.

Now the equation looks like as follows:
Capability + Motivation + Environmental nudges = Raised level of Performance

To get a Benchmark level of Performance, it is Competence in place of Capability.

Now the equation looks like as follows:
Competence + Motivation + Environmental nudges = Benchmark levels of Performance

Believing in self to perform, planning meticulously and executing the plan to win is to lead one-self!

Helping and enabling others to do so & create more leaders is about the leadership without which the journey (as follows) to create 'benchmarks' and create 'excellent*' organisations could be a nightmare!

The Journey:
Beginner! (to) > Able! (to) > Capable! (to) > Competent! (to) > Excellent* Company!
(*10 out of 10 on a Radar* scale of 0-to-10)


Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Force Customers To Quit
In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Do you keep curing your brand ?  
customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!  
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value ?  
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?  
The Business Of Businesses 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily 
Does recognition really matter 
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity