Archive for Lean Marketing
Does Lean need to move beyond Deming?
Posted by: | CommentsThe Agile Minds Group in Belgium recently held a conference on Lean Software Development. The speakers were a few of my favorite podcast guests such as Jim Benson
Don is always entertaining and has such a way with explaining statistics that he makes himself difficult to argue with. This time he took on Dr. Edward Deming
- Is preventing problems always better than correcting them?
- Should we really try to eliminate as much variability as possible?
- Does responding to normal variation make performance worse?
- Did Deming understand Kanban?
- Is 3 Sigma upper and lower control limits correct for you?
In this presentation, Don Reinertsen discusses the limitations of Deming’s ideas and how to go beyond them.
Don Reinertsen – Is It Time to Rethink Deming? from AGILEMinds on Vimeo.
I would consider myself a Deming Loyalist. However, I do agree with Don on many of his points. It is the evolution of Lean that is being discussed. As we apply Lean outside of manufacturing many of the basic assumptions that we tie to Deming and Lean may not be valid. Following the principles of John Boyd’s, OODA Loop for a better prescription may open the doors for Lean to prosper outside of traditional process thinking.
An example of this is The Lean Startup
You gotta like a guy that stirs the pot. Thanks Don!
Related Information:
Why the Lean SALES PDCA Cycle was Created!
Deming was just simply wrong about variation…
Why won’t Lean commit to the Demand Chain the way it committed to the Supply chain?
Lean Marketing: Sales Quotas lead to Waste
Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos
Creating Flow with Don Reinertsen
Why should 50% of your marketing fail?
Start with Journey Mapping vs Value Stream Mapping
Posted by: | CommentsValue Stream Mapping is process most consider an exercise for finding and removing waste. It is a foundational Lean Tool that typically gets introduced early in a Lean Transformation. A Systems2win Excel template is depicted below: 
In Sales and Marketing you will utilize a Value Stream Mapping process on a project by project basis but it is typically limited for an internal process. It is a difficult correlation for customer facing experiences and as a result seldom used. The preferred method of mapping the customer experience is through a journey map. I prefer two styles one just a basic Excel Template that is very similar to a typical Swim Lane chart commonly used in Lean.
From Smart Cities – A guide to using Customer Journey Mapping
Another being a more circular method demonstrated by the Lego Wheel. Lego uses tool called a ‘customer experience wheel’ to map an existing experience. “We understand what is and what is not important to the customer in that experience and then we design a ‘wow’ experience to improve it.” Though I like the wheel better I have not found a program that could make it easy for me to draw and distribute. 
The advantage of creating this map utilizing the Excel template is that you can easily add notes and drill down further down into a process by adding columns and rows. Drawing in Excel is rather easy once you understand how, Become Proficient Drawing with Excel in 30 minutes! and remember you can do MATH, CHARTS and everything else you already know about Excel. If you want more information on how to create a journey map below is an excellent slide show describing the process. If you want to learn more about Value stream Mapping, drawing in Excel or Swim Lanes, I would recommend downloading the trail templates at Systems2win.com.
The Journey Mapping Guidance Cabinet Office[1]
Related Information: Continuous Improvement Sales and Marketing Toolset Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers (Columbia Business School Publishing) Can Service Design increase Customer demand?
Lean Marketing Lab to Open!
Posted by: | CommentsThe virtual world of the Lean Marketing Lab will open its doors. A gateway for this online community has been created to further the cause of Lean in Sales and Marketing. Reviewing this slide presentation will give you the background on the project. Hope to see you at the Lean Marketing Lab. – Joe
Related Information can be found at Business901.com
