What is it about?
After researching a variety of different lean improvement projects, the authors found that using the visual metaphor of projects being either platforms (wide in scale but shallow in terms of the different lean tools used) and pillars, (narrow in scale but deep in terms of the variety of different tools used) was a great way to help improvement specialists to explore how to evolve their approach to organisational change. This paper provides examples of different change programmes and how they were affected as a result of pillar projects, platform projects, or a mixture of both. In its findings, it recommends caution before approaching platforms, given the scale of effort required, particularly when improvement teams are less experienced. Pillar projects can be a great way for teams to learn and for the organisation to decide its approach.
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Why is it important?
Much is known about different lean tools and improvement activities, but little has been written about the type of projects chosen, when they have been chosen and why, and then how to build and evolve the approach to whole system change. This paper helps to provide specialists with a language and mental guide about how to approach the tricky task of becoming a 'lean organisation'. It is very open about the problems with both approaches and also provides a lens by which you can evaluate your own organisational change initiative.
Perspectives
I have been discussing 'pillars' and 'platforms' of improvement within our lean education programmes for many years and have always found it to be a concept that is not often discussed and yet instantly resonates after it has been introduced. Change agents really appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the improvement work that they have done to date, assessing which category the work fits within. The act of doing this helps them to have a deeper understanding of how they need to adapt their future approach so that they are more successful. It helps people to apply the improvement approach to the act of improvement itself.
Sarah Lethbridge
Cardiff University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pillar or platform—a taxonomy for process improvement activities in public services, Public Money & Management, October 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2018.1389487.
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