Foreword by Simon Elias

Since the creation of the Lean Competency System in 2005 at the Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC), Cardiff University, I’ve had the opportunity to observe first-hand many organisations’ efforts to implement continuous improvement (CI) and create a sustainable CI culture. When it comes to making the case for this change, it’s been clear that most business managers readily appreciate the logic of ‘going lean’ – after all, who wouldn’t want to embrace the notion of enhancing customer value, understanding demand, removing waste, improving quality, optimising the flow of productive activities, while fostering an engaged and empowered workforce of problem solvers?

However, the challenge many face is identifying precisely when and where to start, what to concentrate on and figuring out the right methods and tools to use that suit their particular circumstances. Consequently, many never get round to starting, and some that do, only do it half-heartedly or use an inappropriate approach that has little impact or no sustainability – and indeed, can even result in condemning CI to the sidelines for years.

Thus the need for clarity of direction and correct method selection has never been greater and this is where The 3D Workplace offers particular value for the manager committed to implementing CI, as it offers a highly accessible, well grounded, pragmatic, practical and flexible guide to implementing and sustaining CI in the workplace.

There are other important implementation lessons that have been learned. First, the importance of clarity and simplicity in learning communication, so that the message actually gets across, is understood and can be acted upon; second, the need for an holistic and eclectic approach to CI, so that the practitioner avoids following a too narrow path that can end up in him or her using ‘one tool to solve every problem’; and third, the need for a strong focus on people and teams, as a powerful collective ethos and positive individual engagement are widely acknowledged to be critical to embedding and sustaining a lean culture.

The 3D Workplace ‘ticks these boxes’ admirably. It’s readable and relatable, with a rich vein of cases and anecdotes running through it, based on James and Rob’s extensive experience which lends it a high degree of credibility. It’s cleverly labelled and the checklist approach provides a very helpful route map to follow and ensures that no stone is left unturned.

The 3D ‘method’ is well anchored in established underlying CI principles and importantly draws upon a wide range of CI-oriented thinking, allowing practitioners to adopt a ‘contingent’ (…it depends…) approach to implementation. At the same time, it ensures the manager addresses questions in critical areas, such as customer value and demand, capacity management, measures, teams, staff capability development, sustainability and engagement. Importantly, it also acknowledges that there are different ways to get started.

Finally, a major strength of this book is that it is based on what has actually worked in a wide range of organisations, through experimentation and numerous implementations. This means its readers can be confident about the replicability of its modus operandi and that it can lead to positive results and have real impact. Managers invariably need a powerful stimulus to set them on their CI journey – to apply knowledge in the workplace and build capability through ‘learning by doing’ – and The 3D Workplace provides this ‘call to action’ in admirable style.

Simon Elias

Director – The Lean Competency System

Cardiff 2022

Thanks and acknowledgements

The 3D framework, called 3D from now on, has been developed over the last five years by James, Rob and our colleagues. It is a common-sense approach to making work work better.

For the purposes of this book, we refer to James and Rob as ‘I’. We have worked together for many years and that keeps it simple. 3D is updated on an annual basis. This book is based on version five. The updates include improvements to existing methods plus new tools and technologies as they become available. Agile, remote working and intelligent automation are recent examples. 3D provides a common-sense business framework to incorporate these innovations. This means they stay part of the whole and not separate initiatives.

A special thanks to the core 3D development team, many of whom have contributed their own stories and examples to this book. These colleagues have led its development and continuous improvement over the last five years.

Our biggest thanks go to the many organisations who have chosen to use 3D to benefit their customers, people and bottom line. These organisations have adapted and refined the approach for their environment. Integrating 3D into how they do change. Creating their own brands that resonate with their culture.

Part One

INTRODUCTION

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

- Leonardo da Vinci

The goal of this book

The goal of this book is to help you make your work work better. I’ve spent the last twenty years working with organisations to do this. This book is based on that experience. It’s not a book of theory. It’s a book of practicality, stories and action.

I’ve five main observations from my experience to date.

1. There’s a big opportunity. Many work environments do not work particularly well for one reason or another. Naturally, this is a constant source of stress and frustration to the people working in them. We want work to work well. We want to add value – as much value as possible. We want happy customers. We want recognition and praise.

2. A need to share the basic principles more widely. While the principles of work working well are familiar to people who specialise in the subject, they are not generally well known. It’s not a standard topic that is taught in schools and universities except as a specialist subject. Often with quite daunting names such as Operational Excellence or Total Quality Management. This is a pity as these principles are simple to learn, easy to implement and make a big difference fast.

3. It’s more fun when work works well. We’ve all experienced that inner glow of a job really well done. When everything went without a hitch. When our customers were delighted and told us so. When the actions and outcomes just seemed to flow. When frustrating and recurring problems finally got fixed and work became fun again. I use the word fun deliberately. Let’s face it, most of us spend the majority of our lives working. Isn’t it important to enjoy it as much as possible?

4. People welcome positive change. The saying ‘people resist change’ is a half-truth. It needs to be extended to ‘people resist change when they perceive it as negative and threatening. People welcome change when they perceive it as positive and enhancing.’ I’ve worked with thousands of people using the principles in this book over the past twenty years. Once people have the time and training to absorb them then they embrace and share them with their colleagues. The vast majority of people welcome adding more value, being more creative and having more fun.

5. The people who do the work are the people who know how to make it work better. I sometimes hear comments like ‘our people don’t have the skills/knowledge/know-how/enthusiasm (take your pick) to improve things.’ I’ve found just the opposite. The people who do the work absolutely know how to make it work better. What’s missing is the framework to channel their expertise and enthusiasm into actionable change. One proviso: it’s important that the people can choose how to use and adapt the framework to their needs. Having this choice builds ownership and engagement.

So really the goal of this book is bigger than just making your work work better. It’s to make your whole work environment work better. For you, your colleagues, your organisation and your customers.

About this book

This is a book of stories. For me, stories make things real. They are from experiences over two decades. I have used artistic licence where similar points have come from two or more experiences; these have sometimes been combined into one story to avoid duplication. For this reason, the stories do not relate to any particular organisation. Some stories are about situations that have gone wrong. I personally learn more from failure than success. The purpose of this book is to share both what works and what doesn’t work. Stories, examples, quotes and definitions are highlighted in a black italic font.

A few principles I’ve followed in writing this book. There’s no jargon or consultant speak. It’s all plain English. I use the ‘eighty/twenty’ principle covering the essential twenty per cent of methods and tools that deliver eighty per cent of the result. Once you get going with these twenty per cent you’ll have the foundation in place and the momentum to pick up the rest as needed. There’s no fancy PowerPoint. It’s not necessary. Examples and illustrations are all hand drawn. Everything in this book can be accomplished with a whiteboard or a flip chart, some Post-it notes and a bunch of Sharpie pens. And reasonably neat and tidy handwriting! Finally, I frequently share my viewpoints with comments like: many organisations do this, or such and such is typical. These comments are my personal viewpoints based on what I’ve seen, discovered and experienced in my work.

I’ve tried to stay at fifty thousand feet and avoid getting lost in the weeds of a particular tool or method. This is designed to be a fast and easy read. The good news is that additional detail and templates are available at the3dworkplace.com. Just sign up and download them for free. Please find download instructions in PART SIX: Getting started - lets go! Help and support available. Just sign up and download them for free.

Use this book like a Spanish tapas menu. You don’t have to wade through a three-course meal at the local bistro. Instead just choose exactly what you want: ‘I’ll have the gambas al ajillo, croquetas de jamon and pan con tumaca please.’ Read the next section: What is 3D? and then just dive in and digest the items that you want.

Finally, a special word about remote working. This book has been written on the basis that teams and people are working together in physical proximity. That keeps things simple and helps explain the underlying concepts and principles. The good news is that all the main points and methods can also be achieved in a remote working environment. So for example, where I have referred to a physical whiteboard this could just as easily be a virtual Zoom or Microsoft Teams whiteboard. There is a white paper in the3dworkplace.com on how to use 3D in a remote working environment.

Who is this book for?

This book is for people who are not satisfied with their current work environment AND want to do something about it. This is an important ‘AND’. It’s easy to moan, complain, blame someone else, point the finger. But don’t! Leave that for your competitors. You and your colleagues want to do something about it. This book gives you a fast, simple and hands-on way to make it happen.

Does the actual type of work and environment matter? Not that much. This book includes examples from small, medium and large organisations. Private and public sectors. Service and asset-based. Profit and non-profit. The same principles apply.

Here are some examples of people and organisations that have and are successfully using the principles in this book to transform their work environment and day-to-day working experience. They are in no particular order and are included to demonstrate the wide variety in terms of size, sector and type of work. You’ll find the stories behind many of these examples in the book.

A trading company wanting to move to a place where, in the words of the COO: ‘Not everything has to be a project to get improved.’

A Michelin two-star country hotel renowned for its food and service ensuring that that every issue is known and dealt with immediately – including getting to the root of the problem.

A global bank needing to transform its commercial lending process into a brilliant client experience, twice as fast and at thirty per cent less cost.

A start-up agriculture services company of fourteen people, fed up with the constant waste and rework, wanting to have a standard, more effective way of working together.

A major government department urgently needing to improve ways of working in teams and between teams as it moves to a remote working environment due to COVID-19.

A fast-growing management consultancy needing to transform its recruitment process from average to brilliant in terms of candidate experience, speed and quality of hiring.

A retail energy company of tens of thousands of people wanting to – in the words of the CEO – ‘completely change the way people approach their work’.

A premium beverages company needing to streamline twenty of its core processes such as taking orders through to receiving the cash to realise the benefits of a new global IT system.

A legal insurance company needing to revolutionise its product line, customer experience and cost base to grow market share and increase profitability.

A major provider of renewable hydropower energy looking to optimise the daily operation of their network of rivers and dams.

A sports retailer needing to urgently improve how its teams on the shop floor work as a team and with other teams.

A manufacturer of aircraft engines wanting to embed and sustain a culture of continuous improvement.

An individual striving to improve his ways of working to stop doing unproductive things and just concentrate on the high value and enjoyable stuff. (OK hands up. That’s me! I’m always looking for new and better ways to apply the principles in this book to my own life.)

These examples and stories all have one thing in common. They involve a group of expert and enthusiastic people wanting to make things work better. 3D provides the framework to convert their expertise and passion into a stream of actionable improvements.

Part Two

WHAT IS 3D?

The right question is usually more important

than the right answer

- Plato

Background

I’ve tried and used every improvement method that I could find. It’s been a journey of learning, mistakes and innovation. Along the journey three themes have emerged that work well both in themselves and in how they support each other.

1. How teams work. Theme one is improving the way teams and individuals work. A key point is that these improvements are within the gift of the team and the individual. They are not dependent on someone or something else. This is important and empowering for the teams and the people concerned. It is something that they can change right away, that costs nothing (or next to nothing) and that has immediate impact. It is the basis for change in the daily working culture and for individual skills development.

2. How processes flow. Theme two is improving the way processes flow across the organisation, its geographies and functions to deliver value to customers. Both external and internal customers. Ultimately, the success of any organisation is going to depend in large part on the effectiveness and smooth running of its processes. How well they work directly impacts customers, staff and operating objectives.

3. How culture supports. Theme three is sustainability. There is a force of natural decay and deterioration that over time turns order into disorder. This is neither good nor bad. It just is. The article ‘Entropy: Why Life Always Seems to Get More Complicated’ by James Clear puts it well: ‘It is the natural tendency of things to lose order. Left to its own devices, life will always become less structured. Sandcastles get washed away. Weeds overtake gardens. Ancient ruins crumble. Cars begin to rust. People gradually age. With enough time, even mountains erode and their precise edges become rounded. The inevitable trend is that things become less organised. This is known as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It is one of the foundational concepts of chemistry and it is one of the fundamental laws of our universe.’ (Clear, J. 2020)¹

This means that any improvement initiative that is going to become part of culture needs a continual focus on sustainability as part of itself. Not as an afterthought or when the boat starts to tip over. I often say to clients: ‘By the time you need to focus on sustainability, it’s too late!’

My colleagues and I developed an approach that brings these three themes together into an improvement framework called 3D. The three dimensions are:

Team by Team

End to End

Again and Again

Team by Team means we empower our teams to self-organise how they work in a really smart way. End to End means we streamline our processes to better serve our customers. Again and Again means we keep it going for the long run. It’s just the way we do things around here. From this point on, I refer to the three dimensions by their shortened abbreviations: TBT, E2E and AAA.

The rest of this book is sharing the 3D way of working with you. I hope you find it helpful and that it makes a real difference to you, your customers, colleagues and organisation.

3D Five Questions Checklists

3D uses a Five Questions Checklist for deploying each dimension. Just follow the checklists and get going right away.

All the material in this book relates back to one or more of the checklist questions. Answering these questions is where the rubber hits the road. They are designed to unlock the expertise and passion of everyone involved and focus them into a stream of practical change and improvement.

Their power lies in asking the right questions to the right people in the right order. You do not need to have the perfect answer. It is an iterative process. The main thing is to get the first iteration underway. The rest will follow. Sometimes analysis is needed part way through answering a question. Good! That means we are finding out something that we should know but we don’t know. Whether it takes hours, days or weeks per checklist – so what? The point is that you are underway and you will see and feel the change immediately.

The checklist questions have a common theme. They enable a group of passionate people to engage in a structured discussion to arrive at solutions to fix problems or simply to improve things. There is only one thing required to make these checklists work for your organisation. That is to actually follow them. There’s only one prerequisite. And that is to realise that there is no prerequisite!

Grounded in Lean thinking

3D is an improvement framework that combines the best of many different methods. At the same time, it is firmly grounded in Lean thinking.

1. What is Lean thinking?

My definition of Lean thinking – and there are many – is: Lean is flowing more value to customers for less resource by the elimination of waste. Short and simple. Every word counts. Let’s look under the hood.

Lean. This definition of Lean is an improvement philosophy and applies at every scale, from the very large to the very small. The very large might include how the various elements of an organisation work together to grow the business.