Fractals In Your Practice, Oh My!

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been listening to the Audible version of the book "The New Work" by Aaron Dignon. I am really enjoying it and highly recommend it. At any rate, I continue to find inspiration and new perspectives with which to understand the Lean mindset. So, with that in mind…

Have you ever heard of 'fractals'? There are many applications of fractals, but I am most familiar with them as a kind of symmetrical art. The structure of much of nature is based on fractals. A very accurate measurement of the length of the craggy coastline of England was found using fractals. Animation software uses fractals to design mountains or forests, etc.

Wikipedia partially define fractals as:

Fractals exhibit similar patterns at increasingly small scales called self similarity, also known as expanding symmetry or unfolding symmetry; if this replication is exactly the same at every scale, as in the Menger sponge, it is called affine self-similar. Fractal geometry lies within the mathematical branch of topology.

Got that!?

Anyway, it might be easier to show you a sample of fractal art.

In this graphic, the branches and sub-branches are similar to the main tree trunk, but at decreasing scale. We could go on to draw successive smaller, similar branches on the sub-branches, theoretically ad infinitum.

Also, what is represented here as a complete tree very well could actually be a branch on a successively larger tree, ad infinitum. 

Any who...It reminded me of the process of strategy deployment (Hoshin Kanri) in our organizations. Recall that strategy deployment is the introduction, integration and alignment of our True North statement and focus areas down through the organization to the rest of the team.

Just like our fractal tree, each level of the practice should mirror the True North vision and focus area concepts, yet on a successively smaller, more discrete scope. In other words, the lead managers' level should reflect and further define the upper concepts as it affects them at their level and in their practice area. The lead reception's metrics would be similar in concept, but different in the data monitored than the lead surgery tech's metrics. Yet, both of them would be following and supporting Leadership's values.

The same is true for the frontline staff level as compared to the leadership level and manager level. They would monitor even more detailed metrics from their practice area's point view at their level. The frontline metrics support and give detail to the managers' metrics which, in turn, support and and give detail to the leadership level and the True North statement. 

Therefore, if we look at the entire practice, we can see that in each area, and at each level, the top most values are mirrored. Everyone is aligned and working towards the True North concepts from their perspective. Front line staff are monitoring those metrics that drive the manager metrics, and managers are monitoring those metrics that drive the Leadership (True North) metrics. The front line's "tree" is the same as the manager's "tree" which is the same as leadership's tree, but each appropriate for their particular level and function.Thus, Fractal Organization!

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think about all of this.

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A Different Kind Of Rounds: Lean Daily Management

As doctors and veterinary staff, we are well acquainted with the daily ritual of morning or change of shift medical rounds. This is the gathering of hospital staff and doctors to be updated on the current status of all of the patients in the hospital for treatment, and for the dissemination of new treatment orders by the doctors in charge. This is a form of standardized work. It gets everyone on the same page in a routine and timely manner.

Lean Daily Management (LDM) serves the same purpose, but for the operations and management side of the practice.



Each morning, leadership and management go to the gemba to meet with staff of a particular area of the practice to go over that area's board. What numbers are up (and why?) and what numbers are down (and why?). Or, better yet, do the Process Behavior Charts (PBC) of the data show any "signals" or is it all just "noise?" (see also Mark Graban's book "Measures of Success") What countermeasures should be tried? Any new kaizen ideas? What, if anything, can management do to support the staff? Any evidence that standardized work is not being followed?

Sidebar: One of the two Process Behavior Charts above is showing two signals. Can you identify which chart it is and what the signals are?

LDM helps support our progress through that big PDSA cycle called hoshin kanri or strategy deployment. Remember, part of the Act (/Adjust) phase of a successful PDSA cycle is to sustain the results (for now), write new standardized work, scale up if appropriate, and start teaching to the new standard. This brings a new current state, and the next target condition is identified, initiating a new PDSA cycle of improvement.

In the figure above, the wheel has been moved up the ramp (improvement) through A3 thinking and kaizen. But, there are forces in any system that want to undo that which has been accomplished. Some call it entropy; I think of it as organizational gravity. The function of standardized work is to counter those evil forces by stabilizing and sustaining the new current state.

The role of LDM is to sustain and stabilize ("nail down") standardized work as it is currently written. LDM functions as a "checks and balance" for standardized work, which acts as a wedge to help prevent organizational backsliding. LDM is the setting aside of time on a daily basis to monitor for this potential.

So, to recap, standardized work sustains the current state, and LDM sustains the current standardized work.

Lean Daily Management meetings should take 10 to 20 minutes per day. They are typically done in the mornings, however, they need to be a scheduled, daily priority for all involved. Choose the time that’s best for your practice and team.

All extraneous interruptions should be put on hold for the entirety of the time. During the meeting, a staff member from the department or area of the practice, such as the Hospital Care team, quickly reviews the metrics, status of any countermeasures, new problems that have come up, any cross training efforts, new and ongoing kaizen, etc. with management. The staff member that leads the meeting should rotate from amongst the entire team, so that everyone gets the opportunity to lead the conversation and learn.

As is the Lean perspective, management takes on a teaching and mentoring capacity; asking questions to stimulate A3 thinking, encouraging all efforts and practicing servant leadership.

So, Lean Daily Management accomplishes several things:

1. Gets management to the places where work occurs (go to gemba)
2.  Facilitates conversation and consensus building with staff

3.  Demonstrates management's commitment to the staff

4.  Monitors the metrics that support the True North statement and KPIs

5.  Allows time to encourage and appreciate kaizen efforts

6.  Sustains and audits standardized work
7.  Creates increased engagement of the workers

8.  Show respect for workers

Thanks for stopping by. Comments, questions, and suggestions always welcome.

Also, to answer the sidebar questions, the bottom PBC is showing a signal that needs to be investigated. The first signal is the data point above the upper process limit.The second signal is three or four of the last four data being closer to one of the process limit lines than the average. In the case above, the last five data points are closer to the lower process limit line than the average. In fact, it appears that we may be trending around an entirely new, lower average, which indicates that the whole system has changed somehow. Both of these conditions should have been recognized earlier than now, if they weren't. The next step is root cause analysis and formation of countermeasures, i.e. PDSA problem solving.