The Systemic Improvement Cycle: Turning Strategy Into Sustainable Improvement

Format: Solocast with host Justin Goethe Best experienced on: YouTube (this episode references on-screen slides)

Episode Summary

Episode 25 marks a milestone, and to celebrate it Justin comes back to the heart of what Allied Advisors does: the Systemic Improvement Cycle (System CIP) — the framework for turning strategy into structured, sustainable improvement that outlasts any one person.

Most continuous improvement efforts quietly drift. Companies launch a lean initiative or a Six Sigma rollout, see early wins, and then watch the gains evaporate within a year or two. As Justin lays out, that's not a people problem or a culture problem — it's a systems problem. Drawing on frameworks used inside world-class manufacturers, he walks through the four must-haves every CI program needs, the 90-day cadence that keeps teams accountable, and the practical tools that make improvement real on the shop floor: value stream mapping, the KPI tree, the project A3, and the plan-do-check-act discipline that ties it all together.

Whether you're just starting your lean journey or fighting to make hard-won gains stick, this episode gives you a clear, repeatable path forward.

In This Episode

• (00:00) Welcome and the 25th-episode milestone
• (01:30) PDCA at the core — running improvement cycles at ever-tightening frequencies, from the 30,000-foot view down to the shift level
• (02:30) Why everything runs on 90-day cycles (and why a one-year deadline gets you nothing)
• (03:30) Setting the vision: the three focus topics — business requirements, market requirements, and vision
• (05:00) Choosing your timeline and designing a future-state value stream (aim for a 12-month look)
• (05:45) Current-state value stream mapping — and why you walk it backwards, from shipping to receiving
• (08:00) The weekly roadmap cadence: where real accountability is built
• (09:30) Process validation — proving the new standard actually holds
• (10:30) Daily management — monitoring, reacting, and feeding learnings into the next cycle
• (11:00) Why CI programs fail: the four must-haves of any CI system
• (13:00) Where the cycle fits — the tactical bridge between strategy and execution
• (14:30) The three workshop deliverables: value stream map, project roadmap, and project A3
• (15:30) KPRs, department KPIs, and process KPIs explained
• (16:30) Building the current-state map — and why it gets you into the gemba
• (18:00) Value stream design: push vs. pull, supermarkets, and production leveling
• (19:45) Anatomy of a project roadmap — one owner per project, always
• (22:00) The KPI tree: arguably the most important tool in your lean toolbox
• (25:00) Hallmarks of a strong project A3 (and why charts beat paragraphs)
• (29:00) Common pitfalls that knock programs off course
• (32:30) The Allied Advisors Fractional CI Manager (FCIM) program

Key Takeaways

• Break work into 90-day cycles. A project due a year out gets no attention today. Ninety-day increments keep the tension on and force week-over-week progress.
• Go to the gemba. The current-state map matters because it pulls you out of the conference room and onto the shop floor — where the problems are and where the solutions live.
• Every CI system needs four things: a way to derive the right projects, a way to manage execution, a way to validate results, and a way to sustain standards. Miss the last two and you're left with a wish list.
• The weekly roadmap meeting is where the rubber meets the road. It's the accountability engine most improvement programs are missing.
• Every project gets one owner — one name, not a department. What's everyone's responsibility is no one's responsibility.
• The project A3 forces clarity. A one-page document that aligns the team on scope, drives weekly follow-up, and doubles as a marketing tool at review time.
• A KPI tree tells you which lever to pull. It maps the hierarchy from profit down to the shop-floor behaviors that drive it, so you know you're working on the right things.

Tools & Frameworks Mentioned

• PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) — the discipline underneath the entire cycle
• Value Stream Mapping — current state and future-state design
• Project Roadmap — the prioritized list of 90-day projects
• Project A3 — one-page project management tool (background/business case, current state, future state, approach, metrics)
• KPI Tree — hierarchy of key performance results, department KPIs, and process KPIs
• Production leveling, supermarkets, takt time, changeover (SMED) — value stream design concepts

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Skipping the value stream map and jumping straight to initiatives — you end up solving problems that don't exist
• Taking on too many priorities for the resources you have
• Launching projects without a single named owner
• Filling out A3s as wallpaper instead of using them to manage the work
• Skipping the weekly roadmap meeting — almost a guarantee of failure

About the Fractional CI Manager Program

Allied Advisors' FCIM program helps mid-market manufacturers build a culture of continuous improvement inside the teams they already have — rather than renting expensive consultants who run projects and leave. Over a 12-month engagement, Allied comes on site four times a year to facilitate System CIP workshops, coaches teams through weekly roadmap reviews and project A3s, and mentors your people so the capability becomes self-sustaining. The goal isn't to give you a fish; it's to teach you to fish.

Connect With Justin

Have a question about anything in this episode, or want to talk through where to start? Justin would love to hear from you.

• Email: jgoethe@alliedgroup.io
• Web: https://alliedadvisors.io/podcast
• Referenced episode: The Daily Leadership Routine (for more on process validation and daily management)

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it with a colleague — it genuinely helps the show reach more manufacturers.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, the podcast for mid-market manufacturers looking to scale operations and improve that ever-important bottom line. I'm your host, Justin Goathi, and today's episode is a special one because it marks our 25th episode. That's 25 conversations about what it really takes to build operations that run better. And I'm grateful to everyone who's been along for the ride. To mark the milestone, I want to come back to the heart of what we do here at Allied Advisors and walk you through the systemic improvement cycle, our framework for turning strategy into structured, sustainable improvement that outlasts any one person. From value stream mapping and the KPI tree to Project A3s and the plan do check act discipline that ties it all together. Whether you're just starting your lean journey or fighting to make hard won games stick, this one's built to give you a clear, repeatable path forward. Let's get into it. All right. Well, and before we get into it, I have got to pull up my presentation. So give me just one second. All right, here you go, guys. The systemic improvement cycle. How do we turn strategy into structured, sustainable improvement? Well, at the heart of it, all, I mean, really at the heart of lean, it's all comes down to a plan do check act cycle, PDCA, right? The goal is to do PDCA cycles at ever tightening frequencies, right? So we're doing it today at a 30,000 foot view. Where are we going as a business? Where are we trying to go as an organization? And the goal is to do that at ever lower frequencies. So 30,000 feet, then we move into monthly reviews, then we go down to weekly, daily, and even down to the shift level, right? Where we're checking to make sure that the plans we're putting in place are having the desired impact. If we see that they're not, we're reacting and using that as input to help us make better plans, right? That's all we're trying to do here. PDCA. Okay, and and this is what that looks like. Oh, you know what? Let me back up. So for those of you that are listening at home, by all means, please continue to listen to the to the audio version of this podcast. But if you can, it would be better if you could check this one out on YouTube because I have obviously some slides that I'm presenting, and this will make a lot more sense if you're following along with the slides rather than just listening to me talk. But if you can't, I will do my best to try to illustrate what we're looking at so that you can also understand the conversation. All right, so the slide on the screen shows the visual representation of our systemic improvement cycle framework. It starts in the top left corner with our vision. This is where we come on site with your team and we help you set the vision for where we're going in the next 90 days. All of these cycles, these systemic improvement cycles, they're all done on 90-day increments. And the reason for that is, you know, if you get assigned a project and it's not due until a year from now, well, what's the first thing you're gonna do? Nothing. You're gonna do nothing. You're gonna go back to your desk, sit down, and work on something else because that project's not due for another year. I don't need to do anything with that right now. So to avoid that, we want to break these projects down into 90-day cycles so that you always keep that tension and you always have to show progress week over week. So let's just all the line, all of this is done in a three-month on a three-month interval. And we start with setting the vision. So, how do we do that? Well, the first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna talk about our focus topics. Where are we focused over the next 90 days? You know, focus topics break down into three categories business requirements, right? What's the business telling us? Do we need to expand into a new facility? Do we need to start off a new product line, right? Where are we going from a business standpoint? The second thing is market requirements. Are orders shifting? Are they going up? Are they going down? Are they changing from one product line to the next? Right? What's the market telling us? Where are we, where's the market pushing us? And then finally, what's the vision? Are we going to RFID or autonomous guided vehicles? Are we trying to figure out how we're going to implement AI in the at the administrative side of the business or on the shop floor, right? What's the vision? Where are we trying to go? Maybe we're we're trying to do a lean uh transformation and we want standard work for all of our processes. Whatever it is, we want to outline that. We want to all align on what the vision is for the company. The next thing is we're going to talk about the timeline. When we're on site setting this vision, we're going to set a future state, right? We're going to design a value stream for some point out in the future. Where is that point? Is it a year from now? Is it nine months from now? Is it 18 months from now? We need to decide on that. Typically, I recommend to my clients, let's do it for a year from now. Do it for 12 months. Unless there's something coming up where, hey, we're we're starting up this new product line and it's going to ramp up 18 months from now. You know, maybe we'll design it for that 18-month look. But, you know, barring any extenuating circumstances like that, we really want to try to get it one year out, right? 12 months from now, how do we want this value stream to look? So once we've kind of figured out the focus topics, the timeline, we're going to come on site and we're going to do a value stream map. We're going to map out the current state. How does material and information flow from the receiving dock through the value stream out the door to your customer? We're going to walk it together as a group. We're going to be looking for the eight forms of waste, right? We're not going to go into that right now, but we're as we're walking the value stream, we're going to be looking for, you know, excess motion, waiting, unutilized talent. We're going to be laser focused on this waste as we're walking the value stream. Now, one other caveat, not a caveat, just one thing to know. We're going to walk it starting in shipping and we're going to walk it backwards to receiving. So why do you do that? Why would you walk it backwards instead of, you know, from receiving to shipping? You know, it's the same reason that the cops ask you to say your ABCs backwards if they pull you over and suspect you may have had too many to drink. It's not that you don't know your ABCs. Of course you know your ABCs. But when you get asked to say them backwards, you have to think about it. You know, A we say ZYX, V U T. It takes you a second to process that. Same thing when we're walking the value stream out. We want to start at the end and walk it backwards so that we have to think, how do parts get here? Oh, that's right. They're coming from X process, whatever. So we're going to walk it backwards, we're going to draw it out, we're going to map out the waste. Then the next day we're going to come in and we're going to say, okay, here's where we are. Here are the focus topics. What do we need this value stream map to look like, you know, in that time, that timeline we discussed, that year look, that 12 months from now. And we're going to draw out that future state map. Then once we have our current state, once we have our future state, we're going to start putting together the project roadmap. And a project roadmap, and we'll talk about this some more detail. It's just a list of projects, but we're going to list out those projects. We're going to come up with project A3s and we'll review that in more detail in just a second. Bear with me. And that's going to be it. So those two days, we're going to set the current state map. We're going to define what the future state looks like. And then we're going to define what projects we're going to work on in the next 90 days. And for each of those projects, we're going to create a project A3, which is a project management tool. After that's complete, we're going to move into our weekly roadmap cadence. So every week we're going to meet as a team, and the project owners are going to pull up those project A3s and give us an update. This is really where the accountability is built. The problem with most continuous improvement systems is they lack an accountability tool. All they provide is a wish list. Hey, I want to do this, but they don't give you the structure that you need to actually get those things across the finish line. That structure is the roadmap meetings, those weekly roadmap meetings. That's where we build in that accountability. Because every week these project owners have to show up and they have to give us an update. They either made progress or they did not make progress. And if they did not make progress, why? And we're going to have those conversations. Maybe there's a roadblock that needs to be removed. Maybe they're overloaded with some other things. Maybe they don't have the skill sets that we thought they did to get these projects completed. That happens. So let's assume it all goes well, the projects get implemented. The next phase we move into is in this bottom right corner, which is the process validation phase. That's where we're actually going out there and validating that the process is working the way we intended it to work, right? You can see this. We talk about this in a little more detail on the daily leadership routine podcast that I did a few months ago. So if you want more information on how we do that process validation, you can reach out to me via the website. I'll link to it in the show notes. Or you could check out that earlier podcast on the daily leadership routine. Either way, I'm happy to help, happy to provide more information. Give me a call. Would love to talk to you. But regardless, process validation. We're out there, we're validating that the improvement KPI that we determined when we are creating that project A3, we're validating that we are within the stability criteria, that we are hitting our targets there. Once we've done that and we've proved that yes, the process is working the way that the standard says it should work, and we're getting the results that we thought we would get, then we move into our daily management phase. Hey, okay, how are we going to monitor this to ensure that this process stays within stability? And if it deviates, what's our standard reaction to get it back to stability? And if we continue to see deviations, how do we use that as an input into the next system CIP cycle, right? Continuous improvement. How do we use that into the next value stream mapping, value stream design workshop? So again, PDCA, plan, do, check, act. All in a continuous loop. All right. And again, if you have any questions on this, please, please, please, please, please don't hesitate. Give me a call, send me an email. Would love to talk you through it. All right. So it sounds pretty easy. All right. I don't know if it sounds easy, but it sounds pretty straightforward. So why doesn't this work? Why do so many companies struggle with this? And and and look, it's not me saying that they struggle with it. You know, HBR, Kathleen and Norton, McKenzie, these are all huge, you know, consulting firms or industry experts that have also came to the same conclusion that most companies that try to do continuous improvement, they never, it never really becomes a part of their culture. It never lasts. It always feels like a fad, you know, something that um you know just never got there. And the reason for that, the reason that so many of these these initiatives fail is because they lack the four must-haves for any CI system. And the first must-have is a way of deriving projects, right? And that's what we're doing here with the value stream mapping, value stream design workshop. That is our mode of making sure that we're working on the right things, right? I'm gonna say that again. We can work on a million things. How do we know we're working on the right things? We know because we have the conversations every 90 days where we're talking about the focus topics. What's the business doing? What's the market doing? What's the vision? And there's some other tools that we're gonna talk about here in just a second. Number one being a KPI tree, but we've got to have a way of monitoring that we're working on the right things. Next thing is we've got to have a way of managing that execution, like we talked about, those weekly roadmap meetings. This is really where the rubber meets the road. This is where we live and die, right here, is in these weekly roadmap meetings. If you're not having that, how are you making sure that your team is delivering the results that you think they're delivering? And then finally, you got to have a way to validate the results and to sustain those standards. If you don't have those last two things, what's gonna happen is you're gonna make a change, you're gonna train folks, but then you're gonna walk out there three weeks later and it's like nothing ever happened because you didn't take the time to validate the standard, and you don't have a way to make sure that people are gonna use that standard moving into the future. You gotta do it. You really, it's non-negotiable. If you don't do these things, it becomes a wish list. It's not a meaningful program. All right, so where this cycle fits, you know, you've got your strategy. Your strategy is your, you know, what's a year, hey, we're setting the strategy, what are we trying to do this year? This systemic improvement cycle sits just below that. It's more the tactical piece of the strategy. Hey, here's where we would like to go, here's what we would like to accomplish. The systemic improvement cycle really kind of helps you figure out how do we do that? How do we get there? How do we drive these initiatives? So many times I see companies that have a strategy, and because they don't have a structure for achieving that strategy, it's it's hit or miss as to what gets what actually gets done. And it really comes down to in the in those instances, who's driving it, right? Who's on the team, whose pet project is it, as opposed to, hey, it all gets done because we have a systematic, structured way of approaching it. Um, once, you know, once we get through this, we're actually doing the implementation phase. That's where we get into that daily leadership routine, which again, I would encourage you to check out in the earlier version or in the earlier podcast that we released. I think it was back in April or May. Um, I I think that's I think it's very valuable material. If you haven't seen it, you should. All right. So, like we talked about, there's three components that we come up with when we're on site doing the systemic improvement cycle, that workshop. First one is the value stream map. We're gonna do the value stream map, current state and future state. We're gonna develop that project roadmap. Each project in that project roadmap has a few critical elements defined. Uh, those elements are the key performance results, right? What's the high level uh KPI that we're trying to attack, right? The key performance result, the highest level. The next one is uh the department KPIs. And then finally, it's the process KPIs. So the process KPIs, you can think of that as something on the shop floor that is a that is observable. I can walk out there and see, hey, are they following the process? Are they following the standard? Yes or no, right? That's the process KPI. Then if they're following that pro if they're following that standard and we're getting the desired results, that we're meeting that process KPI target, the department KPI is what's the next level KPI up in the hierarchy that we expect to impact, right? And we'll talk about that just a second, a little bit more detail. But but we're gonna define that when we're completing that project roadmap. Uh, and then the next thing we're gonna talk about is the project day three. I think a project A3 is such a valuable tool. It's a one-page document that defines the scope, the goals, current future state, um, the the metrics for each project, right? It really it's it's the Bible for every project, essentially. Okay, so the current state value stream map. So we want to map when we're out there, how does material and information flow end to end? That includes all the process steps, all the cycle times, right? How does material get from one place to another? Is it via a common bottle pool system? Is it a look and see, right, where somebody's going to check the inventory levels and then they're making a decision on what needs to get delivered? All of that. We want to map all of that onto the value stream map along with observed waste, waiting time, unnecessary motions, unnecessary transportation. We want to call all of that out in Starburst on the value stream map so that we can see it. Anyone can see it. Um once we're done, we want to use the inventory that we count while we're out there on the floor to calculate the lead time. How much material do we have in the pipeline? Is it too much? Is it too little? Do we have it in the right places along the value stream map? Right. And then the KPIs bisection. What are how are we doing today in quality, cost, delivery, and safety? Are we hitting those targets? We want to make sure that we're looking at that and and and in a good way, or or maybe we're not in a good way, and we need to we need to focus our attention. But the big thing about doing a current state map is it gets you out of the office and onto the shop floor where the action is, where the problems are, and most importantly, where the solution lives. Go into the gimma, freight the chain to the desk, getting out there on the shop floor with the people, that's where real change happens in manufacturing. Okay, so then once we've got that current state map, then we're gonna move into the value stream design. How are we gonna change this in the next 12 months? And we want to think through things like how does material flow? Is it pulled through the value stream where somebody's actually tried to pull things through to hit a due date? Or is, you know, I'm sorry, pushed, is it pushed through the value stream where we're trying to push things through to hit a due date? Or is it pulled where we're responding to customer behaviors? We've set supermarkets in place, and when a customer pulls something out of that supermarket, we're replenishing it. Sorry, I got push and pull mixed up there for a second. Push is when you're pushing it through, trying to hit a due date at the end. Pull is when you're reacting to customer behaviors and you're just trying to replenish a supermarket. If you get really good, you can go, you can try to do production leveling. That is, you know, that's what every lead organization is trying to get to eventually, is where you're doing every part, every interval. You have a level schedule where you level out the workload, and then you're mixing in your exotic components as you have time based on your capacity models, which include things like changeover time, cycle time, tack time. And again, there's a lot of details we can get into here, but that's the target that we're trying to get to. Can we get to that level schedule? If we can't, what do we need to do to get to it? Maybe there's some supermarkets we got to implement first. Maybe there's some work standards we got to implement. Maybe there's a you know, a single-minute exchange of dyes program we've got to stand up. But eventually we want to be able to level out that workload, right? And like I said, you do that through considering the tag time, changeovers, cycle time. And we want to try to make all this visual. How can we make this visual on the shop floor so that anybody can walk up and immediately see the status? Are we ahead? Are we behind? Are we winning or are we losing? Okay, so like we talked about, how do we run that workshop? How do we run those two days? We start, we walk the value stream, we design the current state, we build the future state, and then we start talking through those that roadmap and those project A3s. All right, so this is an example of a roadmap. I'm sorry for those of you that are listening and you can't see this, but you can see each one of these projects is listed here on the on the roadmap. Uh, it talks about what value stream we're working on, what is it a cost, quality, safety, or delivery uh topic? You know, why are we working on it? Are we trying to impact cost? Are we trying to improve safety, right? High level, what are we, what are we really focused on here? What's the activity title? When does the when does the project start? When is it supposed to be completed by? What's the KPR that we're trying to impact?

unknown 20:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

And then getting into the process KPIs and the department KPIs that we discussed. Another thing that we're gonna look at is the stability metrics for those process KPIs. What are we trying to check and what are we gonna accept? Right, where do those metrics need to be for us to feel like yes, this is working? We want to have that discussion and we want to define that before we do the project. We don't want to try to do it after the fact. So this slide just details what belongs on every roadmap, and it's just what we just discussed. The project name, the owner. We we haven't talked about that, but every project needs an owner and it needs to have one name, not a department, not three names, one person. Now, that person can have a project team that supports them, but it should be one person responsible for that project. What are the KPIs, KPRs, department KPIs, process KPIs? What standard are we going to be changing or implementing? Start and end dates of that project. And finally, what's the stability criteria? What is the target for that? Process KPI that we're trying to hit. Okay. And maybe, arguably, possibly, one of the most important tools in anybody's lean toolbox is a KPI tree. And if you can't see this image because you're listening to the podcast, whenever, you know, if you're in your car, don't do it. But when you get stopped, go to YouTube, download this file. I will put it in the, I'll put a link to it in the show notes and look at this KPI tree because this is the important piece that you need. A KPI tree shows the hierarchy going down from profit all the way down to process KPIs, which are the behaviors on the shop floor that impact the profit. And you can see there's a ton of metrics in this tiny little example. Now, people say, well, Justin, do we need to have data for all of these metrics? Well, not necessarily. You need to have data for the metrics that you're going to use to manage your business, right? You're going to need the data for the key performance results. Obviously, you got your profit data, but you're going to need key performance results like zero mileage defects, on-time delivery, um OEE, right? We want to have data for that. And then the the KPIs underneath those that go into those metrics, you're going to need that data because, for example, if I miss my OEE target, why did I miss my OEE target? Was it quality? Did I have bad quality? Did I do I need to go look at that? Is it am I missing my cycle time? Uh is cycle time a problem? Is my plan operating time not enough? Do we need to look at a different shift model? If I don't have that data available, how do I know what lever to pull to get us back to target, to get us back to those goals? You know, somebody asked me one time, Justin, I need you to lay out a roadmap to figure out how we're going to add value to this company. And I told him, you know, I just met them. I didn't know anything about their company. I said, well, that would be difficult. I can't tell you exactly what to do for this company because I don't know your company. But I can tell you this if you've got a KPI tree that looks like this, you're off to a pretty good start, right? So for those of you that can't see this, this KPI tree shows each of these metrics along with actual data. What's the target? And then what's the what's the status? Did I hit my target or did I miss my target? If I missed it, it's red. If I hit it, it's green. So in this example, um, you know, indirect productivity is green. So do I need to go, do I need to go do a lot of work on indirect productivity? No, because we're green. I don't need to worry about it. Uh direct productivity is red. So do I want to look at direct productivity? Yeah. Yeah, I should look at that because I'm missing my target. Well, why am I missing my target? Or is it an output problem? No, my output's good. I'm hitting my target on the output in terms of pieces off the end of the line, but my operator working time, I'm working too many hours. I'm using too many heads to get to that output. So I need to focus on pieces per hour. How do I get more pieces off with less manpower? Where how can I make my resources more efficient? That's where I need to focus my attention. So, anyway, this gives you a really good view on what you need to do uh to get to to achieve those business targets. If you have a KPI, you are so far ahead of most of the folks. All right, so project A3, you know, this is that project management tool I was telling you about that's so critical. What are the hallmarks of a good project A3? Well, number one, you got to have a background business case. Why are we working on this? And on the document, here's an example of the document. Some people like to write a paragraph or paragraphs in this section. And that's fine. However, nobody's gonna read it. If you want people to actually read your document, you need to use charts and data because it tells a story much quicker and much, much easier than a paragraph, right? So the more charts and data you can use, the better off you're gonna be. After that, we need to have our current state. How do things work today? A value stream map is a great way to show this. Pictures, another great way to show this. Show the process as as well as you can. And then you can describe it using bullet points. But what's the current state? Next, we've got the future state. How do we want it to work in the future? Again, another value stream design is a great, great thing here. You know, if as you go through the project, if you can get some pictures to put in the future state and show what the intended result is, that's another great thing to have. Uh, and then next is the approach. So, what are the steps that I need to complete to be able to say that, you know, this project is done, right? I need to do A and then B and then C and then D. Who's gonna do each of those steps and what's the due date? By when will it be complete? This is the most important part of any project A3 because this is where we spend most of our time in those weekly roadmap meetings. I'm gonna pull up this approach section and then we're gonna walk through it. I'm gonna say, hey, this is due next week. Are you gonna be done? And they're either gonna say yes or no. If it's yes, great. If it's no, why not? What's the issue? What can I do to help? Right? That approach section is super duper important. And then finally, we've got the metrics down here at the bottom. That's the same metrics that we have on the roadmap. We're basically just copying and pasting them into the A3 uh so that they match. So this one-page document, it some people are like, why do I need to do that? Well, number one, it forces clarity, it forces us to align on the scope because you would be shocked the amount of time that four people discuss the same project, and then they all leave with a different idea of what the scope of that project is. Filling out a project A3 forces that conversation because you have to review it with the team, and everybody has to look at it and go, Yes, I agree. Uh finally, it builds that accountability that we talked about, right? Because every week you got to come in there and give me an update. Where are we at on the approach? Are we on time? Are we behind? And it helps, and if you see that we're behind, it helps to figure out why. Sometimes, like I said, it's a robot that needs to be removed. And sometimes it's a coaching opportunity. You got to help people because they don't know, they don't know how to move further, they get stuck. And that gives us as leaders the ability to coach and help develop our people and develop our teams. You know, and then another thing that's not shown on this slide, but I think is just as important is an A3 makes a great marketing tool. At the end of the year, if I've got eight project A3s that I've completed, when it comes time for my yearly review, I can slide those across the desk to my boss and say, hey, here's what I did this year. Here's the value that I had on the business, right? Please give me a raise. It's also great if you're managing a team, you can set up a whiteboard on the floor. And when you have visitors, you can show them, you know, what you're doing, or you know, other managers. They come to the your area. Hey, here's what we're doing to drive improvements and to drive results within the organization. So they make great, great, great marketing tools. All right. So what are some common pitfalls to this strategy? Where do some folks, you know, maybe go off course? Number one is you don't take the time to do the value stream map and the value stream design. You just come up with your initiatives because you you just know what you need to work on. This can work sometimes, but if you don't, if you do it in a comfort room and you never go to the shop floor, what I see most of the time is you wind up working on the wrong thing. You wind up solving problems that either A don't exist or B, aren't really your biggest problems. There's other things that you need to solve before you focus on, you know, these other things, you know, whatever the initiatives are. The next thing is too many priorities. Look, everybody's limited in resources. So let's be realistic about what we can get done in 90 days. You know, let's be discerning on where the value is. And that that's really where that KPI tree comes into play. We need to make sure we're working on the right things because we can't work on everything. So how do we make sure that we're working on the right things? Uh, and that when we say we're gonna get it done, we have the resources to get it done and we're gonna get it done. Uh, next one is if you don't assign an owner, projects without an owner, again, that's that's worse than a wish list. I mean, that's I don't I don't know what that is. Every project has to have an owner and it has to have one name. If you give it to a department, it's not gonna get done because you know what's more than one person's responsibility is nobody's responsibility. So every project's got to have one owner owner, and that project needs to link up to the overall business strategy, it needs to fit where the organization is trying to go. Um, next thing is the A3, if you're just filling out an A3 as wallpaper and you're not using it to manage your project, you know, that's that's that's definitely a gap. And then finally, and most importantly, not having that weekly roadmap meeting. If you just do the the values mapping workshop and you don't follow it up with a weekly roadmap meeting, you're almost guaranteed to fail because other things are gonna come up, other things are gonna take priority, and the projects are gonna slide. And and you're gonna be stuck three months from now without making any progress. So, what I've laid out for you in the course of this, I don't know, 30 minutes, however long we've been here, is basically our fractional CI manager program. You know, at Allied Advisors, we use this program to help our clients build a culture of continuous improvement within the teams they already have. Instead of paying for very expensive consultants to come in and do projects and then leave and watch those projects fall apart. We want to help build up this skill set, build these tools within your team so that you become a self-sustaining group and this becomes a part of who you are. It becomes the cornerstone for your corporate culture. We want to come in, we want to help facilitate these workshops. We want to coach your team in those weekly roadmap meetings, and we want to help mentor them to get them to that next level within your career, within their career. So if this sounds, you know, like something you'd be interested in, please don't hesitate to reach out. We'd love to talk to you. We could talk about you know what value stream would make sense for you to start with. If you've got multiple value streams, value streams within your facility, uh block off a couple days for the workshop and then you know get after it. Come on site, knock it out, and and start really doing the uh the coaching and the hard work that delivers the results and really has the biggest impact. So again, if you have any questions, if if if this doesn't make sense to you, if you want to get into more details about any one topic, please don't hesitate. Give me a call. Would love to chat, would love to talk more about it. And really, again, thank you so much, guys, for listening to me, uh, for taking the time out of your schedule to learn more about our way of approaching systemic improvement. Um, and like I said, look forward to to having um some future guests down the road to get back to that, you know, that that that typical podcast format. I think we've got some great ones in store for you coming up. And uh anyway, look forward to seeing you then. Take care.