Fusion Transformation - Bringing Lean, Agile and Design Thinking Together

Fusion is the process of combining two or more things together into one. As leaders, we are often deciding on which methodologies to embrace to accelerate the transformation of our business. This may be building products faster, solving business problems, or servicing our customers. Do we need to pick a methodology, or can we pull from multiple philosophies and tools to meet our goals??There are a few methodologies that are often discussed and debated: Lean Six Sigma, Agile, and Design Thinking.?In my experience, I have found that there are aspects of these methodologies which are very similar, and I believe there is value in pulling themes and tactics from each to achieve the desired business results.

Focus on Customer Value – nobody would deny that it’s all about the customer. There is an aspect of customer value in each of these methodologies. One of the most powerful aspects of Lean to me is the definition of value - what the customer is willing to pay for. It is very simple. Design thinking focuses on the concept of going to the customer to observe, understand, empathize, focusing on the customer’s problem. Agile emphasizes customers reviewing incremental enhancements to ensure that it is meaningful to customers. By always thinking about the customer value you are creating, you can’t go wrong.

Outcomes-based – Being a project manager, we always ask right up front – why are we doing this project? What is the outcome we are looking to achieve? To quote Stephen Covey, “Begin with the end in mind.” What is the problem you are trying to solve? What is the vision of what you seek to achieve? ?Is it to serve your customer faster? Improve quality?

Elevate – we often need to remind ourselves to take a step back and think about the bigger picture. We often get caught up in the small problem without taking a step back and thinking about the context of the problem. Design thinking introduces the idea of reframing. Often, if you are too close to the problem it looks different than if you take a step back. I’ve found that taking a blank sheet of paper approach can often help with this. This unencumbers us from our current frame of mind.?Also, tethering back to the overall Business Architecture or Enterprise Process model can be helpful. I encourage you to think about analogous industries and larger trends in general to challenge your thinking.

Access to data and information for decision making – this one is tricky because analysis paralysis can be the enemy of speed. However, having access to the data and being able to then react quickly is invaluable.?Data is also unbiased; our intuition can bring our personal bias into decision-making. In my experience, looking at the data may lead us to a different conclusion and action than acting based on gut instinct.?Six Sigma takes data analysis to an extreme, however, the value of a simple pareto chart can be priceless. Design Thinking and Agile emphasize getting direct customer feedback to guide future direction.

Iterative approach – all three methodologies have tools to iterate. Of course, in Agile the iterative approach and delivering in smaller increments to add value is paramount. Additionally, embracing the idea of the Kaizen event in Lean is similar, to identify a problem in a small enough increment to be able to solve and implement within one week. Embracing breaking the work into smaller pieces helps move us forward and learn.

Experimentation – Both Agile and Design thinking have the concept of experimenting, trying something out in a low-risk way that we have a hypothesis about. Design thinking calls it the prototype stage. Agile emphasizes delivering working software every iteration, learning from it, and pivoting as needed based on feedback from the customer. Regardless this concept is crucial to move quickly. Where can we experiment, learn, and move our purpose forward more quickly?

Pulling from different methodologies rather than following one strictly will benefit an organization and allow us to solve problems more creatively and effectively. How can you practice some of these skills in your work or life? Are there any other key themes or skills you think are important?