H… for Hoshin Kanri
Cécile ROCHE
Cofondatrice et Directrice Générale LSP | Autrice | Conférencière | Lean management | International | Conseil en Stratégie Lean | Lean en ingénierie et développement
Every time I come across the Hoshin Kanri approach (as I see it applied at Toyota or its suppliers), I'm surprised.
The first time was in the UK. Talking to me about managers' objectives, our host smiled and said, "Here, objectives are not SMAART! The managers themselves have to identify their challenges. A manager who achieved all his objectives would be dodgy! That would mean they weren't ambitious. It's normal not to be able to meet your targets". That day I understood the difference between a "reasonable and ambitious" objective and a challenge "necessary to satisfy future customers". There's a big difference! A challenge is a necessary thing that the organisation doesn't know how to do, so you have to try out ideas and learn. In contrast, an objective is attainable. So you have to succeed. The two will certainly not have the same effect.
The second time was when Mr Isao Yoshino explained to me why Hoshin Kanri had been introduced at Toyota. For him, it was above all a horizontal communication process, introduced at the same time as matrix organisations, to supplement the vertical communication that was insufficient in this model.
Last time, in Japan, a Toyota supplier shared his individual Hoshin Kanri model with us. I had already discovered this individual dimension with Mr Yoshino, but the model that was presented was quite different. The boss explained that this was to take account of the culture of new recruits, who no longer accept the discipline that their predecessors used to find normal... and are more interested in 'finding meaning' in their work (sound familiar? I've heard this before in companies where I work!). In fact, this version of the 'individual' HK is much more focused on 'my understanding of the company's vision', 'what I want to do' and 'what I'd like to become', whereas Mr Yoshino's HK talked much more about challenges, the starting point and the end point.
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What I've understood is that, in all cases, this document is above all a support for discussion with the manager, to share with him or her an understanding of the direction the company is taking (the vision), and of everyone's involvement.
Once again, this is a tool for ... dialogue.
?
Cécile Roche