Large complex organizations are notoriously hard to manage. For example, large factories must manage supply and distribution chains, marketing, finance, accounting, engineering, assembly lines – and much more. There are many other types of large organizations (e.g. hospitals and clinic systems, NGOs delivering service around the world, and governmental entities ranging from the federal government all the way down to small town governance) that also have complex service lines.
Keeping these many types of organizations running efficiently and effectively is challenging for even the best leaders, executives, managers, supervisors, and employees. Along a range organizations are more or less effective at recognizing problems that exist, defining them, locating possible solutions, and monitoring the implementation of change to ensure that hoped for outcomes are achieved. Success is not assured but can be had with patience and persistence.
There are, however operating problems that seem impossible to entirely remediate even if the problem-solving process has been diligent. The problems may be mostly resolved (say 80%), but continue to adversely affect performance. Over time, people in the organization begin to assume “that’s just the way things are” and that “there’s nothing to be done” about these persistent problems. The search for solutions is abandoned and “work arounds” are accepted despite their lack of efficiency. Occasionally, the problem will “pop up” again (like zombies) and consume the resources required to respond to the accompanying deviations in products or services and, at least briefly, the search for a solution that will address the root cause.
Zombie problems are not rewarding to work on because they contain systemic underlying issues that need to be resolved across internal geopolitical silos of specialization and within the vertical management hierarchy. People within the silos can be defensive and resistant to acknowledging their area’s contribution to a zombie problem.
Not infrequently several silos have to be engaged at once and they may be resistant to working together to “kill the zombie.” In fact, unresolved conflict may be part of the dynamic that fuels resistance to change – feeding the zombie. Similarly when management structures are “part of the problem” some executives may feel threatened and offended by the idea they, and their unit, are part of the problem. Yet, because zombies have systemic root causes that require change throughout the organization change agents may ultimately need to engage the CEO or other senior leader(s) in the fight against the zombie. In sum, recruiting everyone who is a stakeholder to problem resolution can be challenging.
A novel and engaging approach to zombie problems is to simply designate them as “zombies”. Doing so attracts a playful but dedicated approach to trying to master the problems.
Kris Cupp, Plant Manager for Beyond Meat in Columbia, Missouri shared with us how he approaches organizational zombies in his own work. According to Cupp, “The Zombie approach has exceeded our expectations and has been a ‘game changer’ throughout our entire organization.”
Cupp said that he got the idea from an approach he used in his time in continuous improvement while leading a cross-functional team of managers and operators. “By creating a fun but powerful approach in identifying and solving the root cause of a given issue we have seen a major increase in the continuous mindset and root cause culture down to the floor employees.”
Leaders who are willing to playfully hold up zombies for inspection by all organization members send a clear message that their leadership style is “organization centered” rather than self-promoting. These leaders also create an organizational culture with values consistent with achieving operating excellence. This invites everyone in the organization from management to individual operators to strive for excellence.
The Zombie Approach is most effective when it is clear to everyone that the culture of the organization and the values of the leader promote a sense of safety for surfacing problems and participating in their resolution. When a leader takes a “no fault” position, everyone in the organization can see that targeting and scapegoating are off the table. “Safety First” is a motto on hard hats and should be the motto for everyone committed to fending off the zombies. This quest for performance improvement is helped along when the problem solving is approached as a playful and creative endeavor that engages both individuals and groups in exploring new ideas and problem-solving approaches. Zombies cannot survive for long when everyone is out to get them.
Kris confirmed the effectiveness of this approach. “This type of response is exactly what we have seen with the Zombie approach and has proven to be a sustainable methodology. We are continuing to grow our process with a recent implementation called the “Zombie Zappers” team.”
According to Kris, the Zombie Zappers team involves one employee from each cross-functional department: quality, safety, operations, and maintenance. “We match two employees that are fairly green in their career with two employees that have been exposed to lean manufacturing and the root cause processes. We go through a weekly work session dealing with current zombies and tackle them as a team which has resulted in multiple wins for the business while building capabilities through our entire organization.”
Here is a quick overview of the Zombie approach:
- A ‘Zombie’ is a problem that continues to come up again and again
- Zombies are an indication that the true ‘Root Cause’ has not been effectively resolved
- The first step in zapping a Zombie is exposing it – shining a ‘spotlight’ on it so everyone recognizes the problem. When it’s exposed, it can be addressed.
- Get to the true root cause and implement countermeasure(s). If the problem doesn’t repeat in the future, you’ve ‘Killed the Zombie!’
- If it does repeat ask yourself: Was the true root cause identified or did a lack of controls allow it to come back ‘from the dead’?
According to Kris, “The result of the zombie approach has raised the awareness of any on-going issues and allowed for employees at the floor level to feel comfortable highlighting a defect resulting in, the development of sustainable processes, an uplifting culture, and empowerment of the people.”
In sum, operating problems that never seem to die are not inevitable even in large complex organizations. Solving them is much easier if everyone is recruited to help kill them off and, even better, spotting them as they creep into operations and avoiding a possible Zombie Apocalypse.
