When you are trying to improve your OTIF (On time In Full) performance, honesty really can be the best policy.
Take a typical business. They have good products and services, a decent customer base but struggle to get their orders delivered on time. I’ll call them orders but this could be projects, services, events etc…
Before delving into their specific problems, there is one overriding problem which is the focus of this article. Honesty.
You are the judge
Their problem is that when they don’t honestly state their shortcomings, they rob themselves of the opportunity to improve.
Their immediate problem is the customer screaming at them on the phone. The deeper issue is that there might be people management issues, process issues, supply issues or an unexpected turn of events.
The underlying issue, in many cases, is the willingness to accept shortcomings and develop an improvement plan that properly addresses the shortcomings.
A common problem
People come in all shapes and sizes when it comes to this issue.
When I start working with a business, some people are fully open and honest. They tell me what is going wrong and their part in the story.
A lot of people, however, minimise their issues. They cover up shortcomings and play down issues that are affecting performance.
I’m not interested in pointing fingers. I’m interested in understanding what needs to be fixed, so I can help my clients. This is not a time for ego.
The point of writing this article is for you to help yourself in this regard.
Cause versus effect
If you have been going around in circles with your continuous improvement and OTIF improvement projects, it might be time to change your focus.
Many businesses tinker with their symptoms. Fixing their late delivery by using a courier to catch up. Grumbling at staff in the team that witnessed the problem. These actions are what are normally referred to as being ‘at effect’.
With cause and effect, the symptoms being reviewed are an output of something else. Often this is the end of a chain of events. Digging back to the root cause is a great way to find out the origin.
Making improvements at ‘effect’ can be difficult. Vague improvements with limited results.
At ’cause’ however, improvements are usually clear, simple, direct and effective.
The fastest route to improvement
Taking responsibility for your part in whatever is going on is one of the fastest ways to get to cause.
This doesn’t mean that you have caused any of the issues directly, but if you are reading this article it is most likely because you have some sway in your organisation.
It can be a bitter pill to swallow, but let’s play along for a moment.
- Did you give a less than honest appraisal to a manager who is underperforming?
- Did you fail to enforce a policy that has now set a up a precedence elsewhere, impacting results negatively?
- Did you meddle with a process, for expedience, which has now set a new standard that has become common practice?
- Did you neglect to set a standard, so you have to hope for the best from your team?
A private battle
You don’t have to share you weaknesses and failings with your team. This is a private moment of contemplation for you.
The beauty of this approach is all you need to share is the decision you make. Any shortcomings you have had in the past you can keep to yourself.
The point of this is honesty is one of the fastest ways to identify real, meaningful, improvements that will make a long lasting improvement to your business results.
A two step formula
So, if we boil this article down, here is a two step formula that you can consider before you start your next OTIF improvement project:
- What does your organisation suck at?
- What part did you play in this situation?
The answers to both of these questions will help you to identify improvement opportunities. Feel free to change the tone of question one. If you feel like justifying a situation, relax and keep looking at it until you have an aha moment. When you are in a position of seniority it is unlikely that you haven’t influenced something somehow.
The results are in your hand
If you have a pressing performance issue, especially around OTIF, then I recommend you grab five minutes to stare out of a window and mull over this approach.
I’ve seen businesses that have been struggling with their delivery performance, with the risk of key customers leaving, doing a ‘180’. By realising a few of their leadership, process and management shortcomings they have been able to rise to the top of their supply chain league tables, double their turnover, triple their profit margins and achieve other remarkable results.
Why not you too?
