Quality Basics

Concurrent Session

M23 - A Systems Thinking Approach to Leading and Managing Change

Primary Presenter(s)

• 

  Kathy McLernon, PMP, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

  Principal
  LMI
  Herndon, Virginia

Co-Presenter(s)

• 

  Hung Le, PhD, MBA

  Master Black Belt & Technical Fellow
  Northrop Grumman
  Herndon, Virginia

Moderator(s)

• 

  Grace Duffy, MBA, LSSMBB, CMQ/OE, CQA, CQIA, SSGB

  President
  Management & Performance Systems
  Eustis, Florida

Level: Intermediate

Division: Quality Management Division

Continuous improvement is difficult when not all process variables are known and may be outside the process boundary; these variables cannot be controlled by the project team to drive predictable outcomes. Enter systems thinking! Apply it to understand the relationships among these variables. Construct a model of the interactions surrounding a problem, test different scenarios, and identify high-impact leverage points. Then use Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools in an agile environment to identify and exploit strategic opportunities.
Over the past decade, we have led change management and continuous improvement in a very large corporation with a diverse portfolio. Many of the LSS tools we used and taught 15 years ago produced outstanding results when the organization was faced with processes where most or all variables are known and are controllable. We share our lessons learned from a combined 30+ years experience in leading change, focusing on the value that systems thinking provides in pulling it all together. The speakers take change management very seriously, but themselves, not so much. This is a pragmatic, honest, and refreshing session.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how to apply systems thinking combined with LSS for continuous improvement. A modeling template will be described in this session.
• Learn how LSS helps improve processes where variables are known and controllable. A swimlanes process map illustrating controllable variables will be described in this session.
• Discover how setting the process to accommodate the process constraints improves flow. Describe and illustrate improvement using theory of constraints.