Making It All Work

Table of Contents

- Introduction

- What this book is all about

- Why system improvements sometimes fail to achieve expectations

- System improvement includes problem identification and solution implementation

- Making things work

- A Practical Approach to Sustaining Improvement

- Lewin's three step model

- Applying Lewin's three steps

- Using teams to implement and sustain improvement

- Part One: Unfreezing

- A picture of spring

- Quotation

- The psychology behind creating the motivation to move on

- Frame the Need and Necessity for Making Improvement

- Recognizing the need for making improvement

- Why complacency is such a problem when making improvement

- Sources of Complacency

- Raising the level of awareness

- Framing the need and necessity for making improvements: How to make it happen

- An example of how it was done

- Create and Communicate a Unifying Purpose

- Why purpose is important

- Characteristics of an effective purpose

- Creating an effective purpose

- Communicating the purpose

- Communication also means setting the example

- Communicating up is also important

- Create and communicate a unifying purpose: How to make it happen

- An example of failing to create and communicate a purpose

- An example of a well communicated purpose

- Identify Formal and Informal Networks and Assure Their Participation

- What are formal and informal networks?

- Understanding and dealing with the organization's culture

- Creating new alliances

- Building trust

- Identify formal and informal networks and assure their participation: How to make it happen

- An example of why participation is important

- Create a Plan for Action

- Why plans are important

- Determining constraints that may become barriers to improvement

- Plans can be created in several different ways

- Establish timing

- Making the plan work

- Create a plan for action: How to make it happen

- An example of how to create a plan for action

- Part Two: Changing

- A picture of fall

- Quotation

- The psychology behind modifying attitudes and behaviors

- Create the Opportunity for Small but Meaningful Gains

- Why small gains are helpful

- The character of small gains and their relationship to the plan

- Time passes As work progresses

- Create the opportunity for small but meaningful gains: How to make it happen

- And example of why small gains work

- Empower People to Take Action

- What is empowerment?

- Barriers to empowerment

- Dealing with power and assuring the team's control

- Training makes it possible to operate in the new environment

- Putting people to work

- Empower people to take action: How to make it happen

- Examples illustrating why empowerment is important

- Manage Resistance to Improvement

- Reasons for resistance

- How people react to system Improvement

- Techniques for dealing with resistance to system improvement

- A mechanism for dealing with entrenched supervision

- Managing resistance to change: How to make it happen

- Examples contrasting the management of resistance to change

- Part Three: Refreezing

- A picture of winter

- Quotation

- The psychology behind stabilizing system modifications

- Complete the Restructuring of Daily Activities

- Keeping people on track and maintaining faithfulness to purpose

- Coordinating and integrating unfinished activities

- Creating new networks and relationships and eliminating the old ones

- Managing conflict to assure the completion of unfinished activities

- Making corrections and staying the course

- Complete the restructuring of daily activities: How to make it happen

- An example of where more coordination was needed

- Sustain Improvement

- Continue to measure and monitor process effectiveness

- Continue to monitor work group dynamics

- Documenting revised activities to maintain gains

- Wrapping up and bringing things to a close

- Sustain improvement: How to make it happen

- An example illustrating the importance of securing improvements

- Appendix

- Key Terms

- References

- Index