Improving Performance Through Rapid Knowledge Transfer
Ask 100 people if they've ever washed a rental car and you'd be surprised if anyone said yes. Ask 100 people in your organization the last time they incorporated someone else's best practice into their daily routine and the result would likely be the same.
Most organizations are ripe with good ideas for improving performance that never make beyond an individual or work unit. Best practices don't get deployed consistently for the same reason no one ever washes a rental car - lack of personal ownership and incentive.
Read below and in the case studies listed for some fresh thinking and a practical and highly effective approach pioneered by Leap Technologies to more effective and faster best practice replication.
Leap Insights & Innovation
Mandating best practice implementation by management decree or capturing best practices into a technology enabled Knowledge Management System is rarely enough to breakthrough the "not invented here" syndrome that is hardwired into the DNA of most organizational behavior. What's needed is a disciplined approach to making knowledge sharing and solution transfer part of the culture.
Leap Technologies has developed a way for organizations looking to overcome this replication barrier to breakthrough the "not invented here" syndrome and achieve significant cost savings and faster growth in the process. This Rapid Solution Replication Process leverages Leap's Fast-Change Toolkits and Rapid Improvement Campaign Approach to accelerate the spread of best practices across organization lines in 60 to 90 day "sprint" timeframes.
Rapid Solution Replication Process
Step One: Align Leadership and Develop the Replication Scorecard
Expecting local operations or departments to adopt and implement best practices because it is the "right thing to do" is unrealistic in the face of competing priorities and local constraints. That's why the critical first step in solution replication is for top leadership to make tough decisions on which global best practices are truly "make or break" . Once priorities are set, leaders must create the scorecard metrics and performance incentives for local sites to adopt those practices.
Using Leap's innovative Leadership Jumpstart Event, leadership teams are able to quickly review and prioritize best practice deployment opportunities pushed forward by operating groups. Practices rated highest on strategic goal impact and ease of adoption are selected for solution replication. A simple scorecard is established along with a calendar and guidelines to speed deployment across target work units.
Step Two: Develop Best Practices Roadmaps
The second step to faster solution replication is providing local sites/departments with the right level of detail and insights to adapt best practices for local application.
Using templates and a process for engaging subject matter experts, simple-to-understand roadmaps are created to communicate best practices and offer guidance for how to overcome potential obstacles to implementation at the local level.
Step Three: Localize Solutions with Rapid Action Teams
The "rubber meets the road" when it comes time to actually integrate best practices into local operations. Leap's Rapid Action Team Process is ideally suited for this challenge. This 60-day, self-directing team process engages local managers and employees and challenges them to make best practices their own by working through local barriers to implementation and by adding new ideas to the best practices roadmap.
Leap's Rapid Solution Replication Process strikes the right balance between global consistency and local innovation. The result is faster deployment, greater ownership and more accountability for results...at the local level.
After all, if you want someone to wash a rental car give them a reason to do so!
Select from the menu on the left to review examples of the Rapid Solution Replication Process in action. For more information on this innovative process download our Whitepaper on Replication Competency or a detailed case study of Rapid Solution Replication in action.