Hi. This is Mark Raven. This is episode 7. And today's post was published on January 14 2015 and it's titled strategy deployment as a series of hypotheses or predictions part 1. So even with 20 years of experience in studying and applying and teaching lean principles, I've had relatively limited experience with the strategy deployment methodology. I've never had the opportunity to work full-time In an organization that really had a mature strategy deployment
process and culture. I have had thankfully the opportunity to learn from many visits to Theta care about how they do strategy deployment and including helping to lead the production of a DVD that was published by the Theta Care
Center for Health Care value. I've been able to work as a consultant where I've been learning from other Consultants who are more experienced with strategy deployment and I've supported some of these ongoing efforts in the standpoint of Coaching people on A3 thinking and pdsa problem-solving areas where I have more experience. And within the past year, I've had a chance to work with Karen Martin at a health system. That's getting started with a brand new strategy deployment
process. So again, I'm supporting them in those areas where I've got more experience. Kaizen value stream mapping generally and thinking, but you back to strategy deployment, I think one key reflection of mine on Work. And what I've learned is the following. It seems to me that a strategy deployment process can be described as a series of hypotheses that are tested over time. Strategy deployment is a high-level annual pdsa cycle.
That contains embedded pdsa cycles of analysis, Improvement measurement and adjustment. So an organization whether they're practicing lean or not. Generally already has a defined mission. Owen and articulated Vision a set of stated values. Now, whether the Mission Vision Values are correct or not, seems like something that can only be tested through an ongoing pdsa mindset and reflection over time over many years and a strategy deployment process from that
Mission Vision and values. An organization defines four, maybe five key, objectives and goals. These are called Focus areas that faded care. So if you go to the blog at lean, Like dot org slash Audio 7 in the post. You'll see a picture of theta care. CEO, dr. Dean gruner as he talks about strategy deployment in the DVD that I mentioned earlier and I've linked to that DVD.
If you go to the blog, so you would see Dean standing in front of one of the walls and their executive meeting room. And Theta care is for True. North Focus areas as they're called our first off safety and quality second customer satisfaction. And third, people and forth, Financial stewardship. So those four areas are
important and meaningful. The Theta care is, they might be two other hospitals, but that doesn't mean, that makes these four things the right to North objectives that we all must use or have to copy. But I think, you know, the hospital Karen. And I are working with, we see a
very similar set of categories. So this this part seems to be the first hypothesis, which you I could stay like this hypothesis 1 if we focus our Improvement efforts and close performance gaps in these four areas we will therefore perform well as an organization this year and over the long term. So at the attic are the true. North Focus areas tend to stay the same each year since they're the compass and the direction for the organization these shouldn't change every year.
They should be an example of what dr. W Edwards Deming called constancy of purpose. These four areas are interconnected and mutually supportive as a hospital. And Healthcare organization are a system as Deming would have explained in organization could choose to change or replace your true, north Focus. If that initial hypothesis seem to not be working out is expected over time. You know, it's hard to see how
doing well in a focus area. Like customer satisfaction would not improve overall organizational performance but maybe the broader conditions have changed and the senior team decides at some point that a different key Focus areas should be brought in instead. So under each of these four Focus areas, you generally see two to three key, performance indicators that are tracked and watch closely by the senior leadership. Team on a monthly basis.
If not more frequently, these specific metrics are chosen because they're the specific areas in which the organization needs to improve this year and breakthrough Improvement projects, managed through a 3s or then chosen to drive Improvement in those metrics. So that seems to lead us to a
second hypothesis. If we can improve and close or performance gaps and these key performance indicators, we will satisfy our need for improvement in our key, Focus areas and therefore we will be successful as an organization overall. So you might call these key performance. Indicators Focus metrics because they're providing Focus to the senior leadership team within their true.
North Focus areas. So instead of looking at a hundred different measures for these for True, North categories and trying to drive Improvement in all of those measures the strategy deployment approach tells us that it's better. To pay attention to a few High leverage areas, instead of spreading our attention and efforts to thin. I visited one organization a few years ago that bragged about being down to quote, just 37, Focus metrics. Well, I guess that's progress as they study.
And adjust over time through pdsa, they might realize that 37 still isn't really focused enough. Now, Theta care has about 10 of these Focus metrics that they
look at each year. These kpis are focused metrics change more often than do the true north Focus areas under the safety and quality Area. Hospital might initially measure medication, errors and patient falls but after making big improvements in those particular kpis they might shift to measuring things like hospital-acquired infections and overall mortality instead, Changing the kpis after a yearly
strategy deployment. Cycle doesn't mean that it measures no longer important, that's no longer important to prevent medical errors. For example, that's likely still something that's being measured somewhere in the organization but it means that it's not one of the key indicators that the senior leadership team needs to be looking at constantly throughout the year. So how do we close the gaps in
performance? How do we ensure that we have enough organizational capacity to do so part You, this post will discuss the next two. Hypotheses are deformed and tested in the strategy deployment Cycles. So I think a couple key questions and if you'd like to comment again, please go to lean blog dot org. Slash Audio 7 does your organization use strategy deployment. If so, how would you state the hypotheses that you're testing and what are the results of
those tests? If you've been working at this for some time? So thanks for listening if you'd like to subscribe to the podcast. You can go to lean blog dot org slash audio for more information about how to do so and if you have any feedback you can email me Mark at lean blog dot-org.