Strategic Planning Using Hoshin Kanri

Hoshin Hacking: Six Strategic Planning Ideas from Startup Companies

By Lisa Boisvert

Startupcompaniesarelightweightandenerge4c.Theymovelikehummingbirds,pickingupanddeposi4ngideaslikepollen.Theyhacknewwaysaroundwhatbiggertradi4onalcompaniesdotobuildproductsandgrowbusinesses.!Whywouldbigger,tradi4onalcompaniesprac4cingHoshinPlanningcareabouthowstartupsdothings?AAerall,nineoutoftenstartupsfail.2Well,Hoshindealsinbreakthroughs,strategicchangesthatinvolveincreasedriskandoAen-unprecedentedac4vi4esinanorganiza4on.Sothecondi4onswebuildaroundHoshinworkoughttobedifferent,morestartup-like,thanthosewehaveforotherwork.!Herearesixstartup-styleideastoconsiderasyouuseHoshinPlanningtoachievestrategicobjec4ves:!IdeaOne–Small“o”organiza2onCreateaminimalist,suprastructurefortheHoshinwork,andlightenuponthebureaucracy.!Startupsgettheirworkdonewithorganiza4onsthataresmall,non-hierarchical,and

comfortablewithturnoveramongteammembers.Theirworkiscompletedinin4matespacesdescribedas“disclosive”bythetrioofsocialscien4stsCharlesSpinosa,FernandoFlores,andHubertDreyfuss.3!Indisclosivespaces,peoplesharean“organizedsetofprac4cesfordealingwithoneself,otherpeople,andthingsthatproducesarela4velyself-containedwebofmeanings.”It’saprotectedspace,whereyoudon’tgetintroubleformakingupnewlanguageortryingunusualthings. !Considerthefollowingideasforcrea4ngalightweight“disclosive”spacefortheHoshinPlanningwork.!

✦ Freepeoplewhoareac4veonaHoshinfromotherresponsibili4esforawhile

✦ Suspendsomerulesoforganiza4onalhierarchy(e.g.allowpromisingjuniorleaderstoleadteamsofpeopleathigherlevels)

FROM THE FIELD !TIM ROWE CEO, Cambridge Innovation Center

ON ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES “To get something done, you have to use a company’s apparatus. To use it you have to use it as it was designed. The bigger a company gets the harder it is to break down the apparatus.1”!! !!!!!!!!!!

This white paper is an excerpt from the 2016

book Reflections on Hoshin Planning

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! NOVEMBER 2016 BUSINESS CENTERED LEARNING, LLC www.bclearning.com1

✦ Encouragepeopletoexchangeideaswithwhomevertheywant,regardlessofusualpaVernsofcommunica4onbetweendepartmentsandsuppliers

✦ SuspendsomeHRrulesduringtheHoshincycle(e.g.giveahallpasstoHoshinteamsontravel,flex4me,budgetrestric4onsonexperimenta4onandeduca4on)

✦ SupportthedevelopmentofasharedvocabularyaroundwhatmakestheHoshinimportantandnew!

IdeaTwo–MissionObsessionandTransparencyBemission-obsessedandshareasmuchinforma=onaspossibleamongpeopleworkingontheHoshin.!Forstartups,thereisnohardsepara4onbetweenc-suitebrainworkandthedailymechanicsoftheorganiza4onthatgetproductorservicetocustomers.Foundersofsmallcompaniesgettheirownhandsdirtyinday-to-dayworkandlettheirthinkingandfeelingsabouttheworkshow.Peopleinstartupstalkandtestideasconstantly.Foundersareopenandtransparentandgenerallysharefinancialandotherinforma4onfreely.Startupfoundersareona

determinedmissiontohaveanimpact,oAeninawaythatisconsistentwiththeirownpersonalvalues.Andsuccessfulstartupleadersare4relessinpursuingthatmission. !HoshinleadersincreasetheoddsofaHoshin’ssuccesswhentheyshowtheirpassionandpurpose,andaretransparentwithinforma4on.!IdeaThree–KickedUpPDCACompletemoreandfastercyclesofexperimenta=onintheHoshinimplementa=on.!

Startupsmovefast,worrylessaboutthefuture,andmoveonfromfailuresquickly.Wheretradi4onalorganiza4onshavebarriersinthePlan-Do-Check-Act(PDCA)cycle,startupsjustblastrightthroughthosebarriers.

Theytry,theyfail,andtheytryagain,keepingthecyclespinning.

OnceaHoshinischosen,strategyteamsshouldstayinaloose,innova4vepaceofdiscoveryandchangeun4lthemeanstomeettheHoshinobjec4vearethebesttheycanbe.

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FROM THE FIELD !REBECCA XIONG Co-FounderSocMetrics, a social media marketing firm!ON STEADY EXPERIMENTATION "We had a software product that took us over a year to develop based on customer feedback. It failed ultimately because it was too far ahead of the market need. Then we tried a product offering that took us two months to make. It failed, too, due to lack of clear need. Then we made one in a week. That one targeted the right need and took off.4" !!!!!!!!!

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IdeaFour–FreedomfromConven2ons,Banality,andTabooProtecttheHoshinfromthestul=fica=onofcurrentconven=ons.!Timingthesharingofanideacaninfluencehowwellittakesoff.Spinoza,etaldescribethecounterintui4vehypothesisthatifanewthoughtis“formulatedcarefully,itwillseemobviouslytrue.Andthiswillstandinitsway.”Naysayerswilldiscountanideaassomethingthatmusthavealreadybeenconsidered,sinceitmakessomuchsense.!Thereisvaluetomaintainingadialoguearoundhowthingslookedbeforethisbreakthroughideawasformedandkeepingthenewpossiblestatelookingasdis4nctlydifferentaspossible.!IlikePaulGraham’ssugges4oninhisbookHackersandPainters,thatpeoplenotbroadcastanddefendanideatoosoon;“Todogoodwork,youneedabrainthatcangoanywhere.Andyouespeciallyneedabrainthat’sinthehabitofgoingwhereit’snotsupposedto.Greatworktendstogrowoutofideasthatothershaveoverlooked,andnoideaissooverlookedastheonethat’sunthinkable.”5!Hoshinthinkingandworkspacesshouldbefullof“anythinggoes”dialoguesin

theearlystagesofalignmentandimplementa4on,whereconven4onsandtaboosaresuspendedwhilefreshideasareconsidered.!IdeaFive–Coopera2onandRepurposingThinkmoreopenlyaboutpossiblepartnersandsuppliers.Repurpose/redesignsuccessfuldesignsorideasthatalreadyexist. !Coopera=onHoshinPlanningprac44onerstodaycanmoreeasilyaccomplishtheirworkinwaysthatrelylessoninternalabili4esorexis4ngrela4onshipswithsuppliers.!Trynewandperhapsunexpectedpartnerswhocancontributewelltothenewthingstheorganiza4onwillbedoingasaresultoftheHoshinobjec4vebeingimplemented. !ZipCarfounderRobinChasecallsthefluidnetworkofvirtualandrealpartnersinwhichstartupsexisttoday,PeersInc,a“transforma4onoftherela4onshipbetweencompaniesandpeople.”6Thesenewmoreflexiblerela4onshipscanincreasethepaceandqualityofaHoshinplanaimedatproducinganewproductorserviceorinnova4ngtheorganiza4on’svaluechain. !RepurposingAcorollaryofcoopera4onisusingprac4cesordesignsfrom

othersandrepurposingthem."I'vebeentoldthatI’vereinventedthewheel,”saysMichaelBurtov,Founderoftheelectricbikewheelstartup,GeoOrbital.7Andinawayhehas.Buthedidn'tinventthewheel,thebicycle,orelectric-poweredlocomo4on.Heputsthosethingstogetherinanewwaythatsolvesaproblemforhiscustomergroup.!About90%ofpatentapplica4onsareforimprovementsonexis4ngpatents.8Hoshinac4onteamsseekingbreakthroughscanconsiderwhatisalreadyouttherethatmightbeuseddifferentlytoproduceabreakthrough.!IdeaSix–EntrepreneurialismCul=vateentrepreneurialenergyamongpeopleworkingontheHoshin.!Businessispersonalforentrepreneurs.Theyareusuallydoingwhattheylove.TheyareaVrac4ngpeopletotheimpacttheywanttohave.It’smorethanhavingagoodidea.It’spersonalengagement,magne4sm,andtheabilitytocommunicateinthelanguageandattheemo4onalpitchoftheirusers. !Startupleaderstellstoriesofexperiencesorideasthatareverydifferentfromtypicalwaysofthinking,explainwhythoseideashavebecomeviable,and

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showhowtorelatethenewideatothecurrentsitua4on.TheseleadersareoAengoodatimaginingthemselvesintheposi4onoftheircustomers.!AHoshinPlanningleader’spersonal,focusedandpassionatecuriosityaboutwhatcustomersfeelstronglyaboutencouragespeopleintheorganiza4ontobringtheirownenergyandspirittotheHoshinPlanningworktheydo.!!

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Author Lisa Boisvert is founding principal at the consulting firm Business Centered Learning, LLC in Cambridge, Massachusetts. More about their work with organizations implementing Hoshin Planning can be found at www.bclearning.com

References1 Rowe,Tim.CambridgeInnova4onCenter,May14,2015,interview. 2 Patel,Neil.“90%ofStartupsFail:Here’swhatyouneedtoknowaboutthe10%”Forbes.January16,2015.3Spinosa,Charles,Flores,Fernando,andDreyfus,HubertL.DisclosingNewWorlds:Entrepreneurship,Democra=cAc=on,andtheCul=va=onofSolidarity. Cambridge,MA:TheMITPress,1997.4 Xiong, Rebecca. SocMetrics, 5 Graham,Paul.Hackers&Painters:BigIdeasFromtheComputerAge.Sebastopol,California:O’ReillyMedia,Inc.,2004. 6Chase,Robin.PeersInc:HowPeopleandPlaOormsAreInven=ngtheCollabora=veEconomyandReinven=ngCapitalism.NewYork:PublicAffairs,June9,2015,p.18.7 Burtov,Mike.GeoOrbital,June22,2015,interview.8CanadianIntellectualPropertyOffice.hVp://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr03652.html?Open&wt_src=cipo-patent-main&wt_cxt=learn#part1.8

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