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One Spoke at A Time
Transforming an okay process into a great one does not happen overnight, it happens one spoke at at time. Just ask the Denver Public Works Transportation & Mobility (PWT&M) bike […]
Transforming an okay process into a great one does not happen overnight, it happens one spoke at at time. Just ask the Denver Public Works Transportation & Mobility (PWT&M) bike team – they have been cycling towards greatness, small innovation-by-small innovation, for roughly a year now and, although they are still not there, they are getting closer everyday. Turning an okay process into a great one that delivers more value to its customers without waste, requires planning, collaboration and collection of small innovations.
In March, the members of the PWT&M bike team (engineers, contractors and technicians) collectively came together and identified the bike lane implementation process as one that could be improved. The bike team said, “Not everyone sees the process the same. We have errors, rework and waste. The process is not as safe as it could be, and we do not always have the data we need to make bike lane decisions or to determine what has taken place during a bike lane implementation.”
Instead of seeing the pain of the process as too large, the team broke the the process and its defects down, spoke-by-spoke. Using several Peak Academy tools such as value-add analysis, process mapping, the eight-wastes and voice of the customer, the PWT&M bike team identified one third (22/66) of the bike lane implementation process as problematic and having no value to the customers of the process at all.
Yet, in spite of these barriers and time pressures, the PWT&M bike team collaboratively developed twelve small innovations to simply and effectively reform and sustain the bike lane implementation process. By deciding to eliminate ten hours of wasteful processing by designating one crew to facilitate bike projects instead of multiple crews throughout the year, this innovation and a couple of others eliminated multiple process pain points, and are estimated to save the PWT&M bike team a total of $97,000 in hard and soft dollars by May of 2016.
The lesson learned: a series of small but focused innovations can equal a huge improvement over time. When we break any problem down, piece-by-piece, we can better understand and solve for it. Today and tomorrow, spoke-by-spoke, there is no problem we cannot solve.
JerraudPeakAcademy
Jerraud Coleman is a creative, data-driven, focused, and positive Deputy Director for the City and County of Denver's Peak Academy.
For the past seven years, alongside an exceptional team of continuous improvement professionals, he helps direct, generate, and facilitate process improvement events throughout Denver, Colorado, and the nation.
He trains employees of government, non-profits, and other enterprises (nationally, abroad and at all levels) in the principles and methods of continuous improvement, performance, and change management tools like Lean, the Four Disciplines of Execution (Covey), & PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act/Adjust).
He also works at promoting and sharing the methods mentioned above via blogs, social media, workshops/improvement events, and conferences.
Jerraud believes that "sharing and talking about continuous improvement tools can help enterprises identify and sustain the elimination of any waste or pain point found within any process or system." Thus, resulting in happier customers, employees, and organizations.
Moreover, regarding his work with the City & County of Denver, Jerraud believes in "creating a world-class place where everybody matters matter," primarily through systems-thinking, more productive, valuable, and efficient processes.
Jerraud holds a BFA (in Integrated Arts) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a Lean Black Belt certificate from Regis University, and a handful of certifications from Coursera in Data Science tools and methods.
Denver Peak Academy 