Fire, Flow, and Future

Today's business managers benefit from an unprecedented number of quality improvement tools, such as lean manufacturing, re-engineering, Total Quality Management, and Six Sigma. Yet despite substantial investments, many companies continue to see slow improvement in the quality of their products, services, and processes.

Management is routinely troubled by questions such as "Why are my sales dropping off?"; "What can I do about excessive scrap?" and "How do I reduce high turnover?" How they decide to answer those questions has a measurable impact on both quality and the bottom line.

LEO can help organizations find ideal solutions to these questions not because it is a better management tool than the likes of Six Sigma, but because it causes a shift in every person's frame of mind, affecting how they approach problems and how they decide which actions to take. LEO is a broad methodology that transforms how existing management tools are used, and it operates best when used by people at all levels in an organization.

While designing LEO, there are three scenarios with the most room for quality improvement: Fire, Flow, and Future. In a Fire deployment, LEO is used to solve an isolated, often unexpected problem that needs immediate attention and an accompanying change in quality -- for example, when a food manufacturer's product is suddenly and inexplicably underweight.

A Flow deployment seeks to improve quality in the operational processes of an organization--for example, a hospital's procedure for hiring nurses or a manufacturer's process for creating an RFQ (a request for quote). In a Future deployment, quality is built into the process of innovation.

All three of these scenarios are focused on improving an existing product or service or developing an entirely new one. Regardless of the type of deployment, a LEO team should be appointed to follow same three-step process of Listen, Enrich, and Optimize.

While the composition of the team will vary by deployment, in general it should be led by someone from management, and team members should be chosen based on who the scenario effects and requires input from. No deployment can succeed unless the executive cadre is actively supporting it each and every day.

This article is based on the book "Power of LEO." The book summary is available online at Business Book Summaries.

The Science of Personal Success

The findings concerning personal change are based on research focused on "Changers." Changers are people who were able to overcome significant personal challenges and successfully changed their behaviors and habits for at least three years. 

Research conducted by the Change Anything Labs found that a major barrier to successfully changing behavior is not a lack of willpower, but the false belief that willpower is essential for change. In reality, skills can be learned that improve a person's ability to successfully change behavior.

Many sources of influence prevent people from altering their habits. Individuals who use tools to control those influences, however, tend to be much more successful at changing behaviors.

For example, Change Anything researchers discovered that after learning a few simple skills to control influences, 50 percent of experimental subjects were able to resist temptations. There are identified six sources of influence that affect people as they try to change their habits. They are also identified change tactics that can help counteract each of these influences.

People who follow these steps and align sources of influence in their favor are more likely to achieve personal success.

1. Personal motivation. Although personal impulses can be compelling, it is possible to interrupt these impulses by connecting with personal goals during crucial moments.

2. Personal ability. A proven way to change habits is to enhance personal ability and to learn new skills.

3. Social motivation. There is a clear social component to bad habits. When friends encourage bad behavior and also engage in it, this is very difficult to resist. If individuals can transform "accomplices" into "friends" who encourage good behavior, they are more likely to change their habits.

4. Social ability. To change longstanding habits, people usually need support from other people. Individuals who get a life coach or mentor are often more successful at changing behaviors.

5. Structural motivation. People who connect short-term rewards or punishments to new habits are usually more likely to adopt those new habits.

6. Structural ability. Researchers have found that minor environmental changes can have a significant effect on a person's choices. Individuals experience faster behavior changes when they add visual cues to help them focus on their goals.


By understanding these influences, it is possible for people to consciously design change plans that address them. Individuals who incorporate the six sources of influence into their change plans are ten times more likely to succeed than people who do not take this approach.

This article is based on the book "Change Anything." The book summary is available online at Business Book Summaries.