Life Coach - 80 of 100 - Lean Thinking - Working Backwards

For each and every aspect of what we do or are responsible for what our reports do, work backwards by asking the following

1. Define the customer experience: The service that any of us performs has a customer. The first thing to do is to define the customer experience. If I am a mechanic, I put my self in the shoes of the driver who has brought the vehicle to me for repairs and think about the customer experience. So let us visualize what it is when you take your vehicle for repairs. I expect an accurate diagnosis of what is wrong in a reasonable time, a reliable estimate of the cost involved, an update if repair is getting delayed or new defects have been observed, delivery of repaired vehicle on time and courteous service. So the Lean thinking for the mechanic is to evaluate the vehicle, depending on the priority forecast the time for repairs, get the vehicle back on road at the earliest and being courteous
   
2. Baseline the customer experience: Having define the customer experience it becomes important to what exactly each aspect implies. What do we mean by courteous service, what do we understand by prioritization of repairs, etc. Are these aspects clear to the customer and the service provider. Unless both of them are on the same page, problems could arise. And who resolves in case of mismatch.
3. Analyze the existing processes for meeting the required customer service: There is no need to reinvent the wheel. In my observation most of the processes are already mature to an extent. However what needs to change is the emphasis on key processes and fine tuning. For example troops on a firing range - well established drill. What needs fine tuning is the emphasis on ensuring zeroing of weapons and weapon handling procedure.Hitting the target will be a natural consequence of the above two processes. In this case the emphasis on the firing procedure is redirected to something other than ensuring that the bullet hits the target. We only changed the focus.
   
4. Innovate continuously / continual service improvement: In firing rarely would a situation arise when the target is stationary. All my firing in live situations has been on moving targets and I have found that our training is ill equipped to shoot targets when both the shooter and the target are moving continously and the target is also firing back. Innovation or continuous service improvement is the need. A trench warfare World War II may have called for the firing drills that we still use. But we certainly need to improve and innovate.

In case of firing on the adversary the customer is the bullet or the anti-customer is the enemy. Introspect what the customer need is (for the bullet - hit the target) (for the anti-customer avoid being hit)

Irrespective of where you are - commanding a battalion or a staff officer the first step is to define who the customer of your service is and then going through the four steps over and over again.