Archive for Foundation
Marketing with A3 Book Release
Posted by: | CommentsSales and Marketing not only needs to improve but must improve their problem solving skills. The book, Marketing with A3 is the introduction needed. It enables sales and 
marketing to use the Lean tool of A3 as a template or structured approach for their strategies and tactics. It will also demonstrate meaningful and measurable results of their activities. You will enter meetings armed with facts and profound knowledge of sales and marketing efforts. As a result, you will engage in more meaningful conversations. It will require a different approach. The dialogue is sometimes not easy. But seldom is any improvement.
Using a structured approach, such as the Lean thinking tool of A3, the mind remains open, enabling one to examine each element of the decision or problem separately or systematically, and sufficiently, ensuring that all alternatives are considered. The outcome is almost always more comprehensive and more effective than the instinctive approach.
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Lean Marketing is a Problem Centric Discipline
Posted by: | CommentsCisco took a stand with this company where they solved the problem first before providing a solution. Of course, this could have been risky business if they would not have won the business. If so, I doubt they would have made the video.
This video is a great depiction of future marketing. Sales and marketing is in the process of shifting from a solution-centric culture to a problem-centric culture. Marketing simply needs to become part of the problem solving process of their customers. What if your marketing processes seek to identify problems versus solution? What if you were seen as a diagnostic expert rather than a solution provider? What if you guaranteed to find the problem and collaborate on the solution? Would you build a more trusting and stronger relationship?
What I really liked about this video is that it is practically a Video A3. It follows the basic nine-step process for constructing a A3:
Title/Theme: What Changes or Improvement Are You Talking About?
- Select the problem area
- Clarify the problem
- Break down the problem
- Set the target
- Investigate/analyze cause(s) then determine root cause
- Determine countermeasures and agree on plan
- Manage implementation plan
- Check and evaluate results and process
- Standardize and share, then decide next problem
I have always been told if you are not visual you are not lean! Video A3 may be an upcoming trend.
Related Posts:
Best Marketing Advice Ever, yes Ever!
Can Control Points add Value in Lean?
The Perfect Storm has come together of Excess Capacity and Product Variety
Are you Lean enough to have A3 thinking?
A3 Management Process
Use DMAIC for your A3 Report
Posted by: | CommentsThe definition of an A3 Report is a simple storyboard that tells the whole story of an improvement event on one 11×17 sheet of paper. The left side defines the problem, the right side proposes solutions. That is the basic structure. However, A3 is much more than that. It is the tool used by Toyota to implement the PDCA process. Understanding A3 thinking and you can apply this to problem solving, proposals and status reports. But you have to pick a template and you have to follow some outline in creating an A3 to get it off the ground.
Typically, when I create an A3, I go about it a little differently by utilizing the Six Sigma principles of DMAIC. This acronym stands for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. The Six Sigma process improvement process(DMAIC) is closely related to the PDCA lean process. The difference is the set of tools being utilized. I believe DMAIC has a stronger set for variation and process control. The PDCA process has a more simplified version. Depending on your needs either tool applied appropriately can be utilized. Lean has a tendency to be favored initially because of the lack of measurements within most organizations and that process is a little more forgiving. The important part is that you start the process. The chart simplifies the DMAIC process:
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Define -What is important?
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Measure – How are we doing?
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Anaylyze – What is wrong?
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Improve – What needs to be done?
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Control – How do we guarantee performance?
Whether you decide to use DMAIC or PDCA for your A3 makes little difference. The tools are just that, tools. The important part is that you have flexibility to format your A3 report in any way that most effectively can tell and demonstrate your story to your team and others. Your goal is not to complete the A3 report, it is to harness all of the benefits through implementation from the problem solving that took place.
I use A3 Reporting in the marketing process. It demonstrates and recaps the thoughts, efforts and actions that took place for a particular campaign, such as advertising or public relations or even a launch. This report can really highlight the value that marketing supplies. I will be discussing DMAIC and A3 and how it applies to the foundation of the Lean Marketing House™ in the upcoming weeks.
Related Information:
Lean Six Sigma Templates for DMAIC and A3
Why do The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House™ crumble?
Lean Marketing House™ – Foundation
