New book takes 'novel' approach to strategy deployment

For companies to be competitive, leaders must engage people at all levels in order to focus their energy and enable them to apply lean principles to everything they do. Strategy deployment, called hoshin kanri by Toyota, has proven to be the most effective process for meeting this ongoing challenge.

In his new book “Getting the Right Things Done” (Lean Enterprise Institute; $40; soft cover), Pascal Dennis outlines the nuts and bolts of strategy deployment, answering two tough questions that ultimately can make or break a company's lean transformation:

• What kind of planning system is required to inspire meaningful company-wide continuous improvement?
• How might we change existing mental models that do not support a culture of continuous improvement?

"Strategy deployment is an extremely powerful approach to planning and execution across the organization," said James Womack, founder and chairman of the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI). "Toyota uses it throughout its global operations to link strategy to action and to sustain improvements once achieved."

Getting the Right Things Done is unique in several ways. First, unlike earlier books on strategy deployment, it does not focus primarily on tools. Getting the Right Things Done covers the tools but also describes in detail the underlying – and overlooked – mental model and management system for using them successfully. Secondly, it primarily focuses on the hard work of achieving/deploying key strategies, rather than on a complex process for selecting the "perfect" objective.

The book contains a wealth of simple but effective visual tools such as filled-in charts and graphs at every step in the process, dashboards, detailed A3s, and an appendix of blank templates. It also steps readers through a framework for understanding the key components of strategy deployment: agreeing on the company's "true north," working within the PDCA cycle, getting consensus through "catchball," the deployment leader concept, and A3 thinking.

Written in a hybrid style that combines elements of a business novel with those of a how-to workbook, the book is easy to read besides being practical. It tells the story of a fictional (yet very real) mid-sized company, Atlas Industries, which must dramatically improve to compete with emerging rivals and meet new customer demands.

Company leaders at all levels and the management teams who are responsible for strategy deployment will find this book especially insightful.

Getting the Right Things Done is on sale at the LEI web site at www.lean.org, click Store or call 617-871-2900. More information, including downloadable excerpts, is at the LEI web site's Library section.