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12/21/2011 01:25 PM
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Hello team,
So here is my problem, and I think I am not alone in this one. How do you convince the management team that a hand written A3 is more valuable than a excel one. I have used two main points...
1. I ask the question... In school, how were notes taken? By setting a tape recorder and then transcribing or by taking actual notes? You take actual notes because it is easier to retain the information as you write it down, there is a more intimate relationship between the user and the information being written.
2. I believe that sitting at a table with a A3, and working with a team builds a sense of collaboration, that is not available at a desk with one screen. Even brainstorming at a dry erase board, and then transferring to an handwritten A3 builds team collaboration.
Now the cons I keep hearing...
1. Are we going to change A3 template again? Of course not, I don't see that happening
2. It's easier to share an electronic file vs. the hand written one.
3. I can't print/draw
It seems the team members that keep pushing back, are the younger gen Y. They are so used to technology, and have excellent excel skills....and here I am giving them an pencil and paper.
What are your thoughts ? How have you tackled similar situations ?
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12/22/2011 01:07 PM
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Regarding sharing - a bit of irony is that the A3 paper size was established only because it is the largest paper that will fit through a regular fax machine. It WAS about ease of sharing.
My suggestion here is to back off from imposing a specific solution, and rather, work on the problem(s). You aren't going to make a logical argument anyway, and doing so is only going to increase resistance as people dig in on being right about something.
Instead, work on getting a solid problem solving process, backed up by a consistently executed coaching process established. That is what the A3 paper is FOR in the first place - it is just a handy way to structure things, but not the only way by any means.
If you push the problem analysis and solving process out to the gemba, and work quick cycles of coaching, there won't be time or means to do this any OTHER way than by hand.
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12/22/2011 01:07 PM
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Why does it have to be an either or? I do not believe that you can replace the interaction gained from creating an A3 by hand but sooner or later many of them need to be documented and transferred electronically. That is the age we live in.
I see it as something you update and print out for the group meeting or pin on a wall to mark up. Use it for interaction. Just wondering why either or?
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12/22/2011 01:07 PM
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That's always a tough one, mostly because the younger generation(s) are even more electronically based.
I still require the first several A3's a person creates to be hand-written. I think it is the strongest learning method. When I fee that they have become comfortable with the theory and concept, then I don't mind if they go electronic. (At that point, in my opinion, the lesson is learned, methodology will be followed, so document itself can be created by other means).
While I'm still old-school and tend to write the A3, then transfer it to an electronic format, that is the way I was taught. Considering kids aren't even being taught cursive writing anymore and digital media is the most common media, sometimes we have to realize that the world is changing with or without us.
The real question is: has the lesson been learned? If so, allow for continuous improvement. If not, go back and review the lesson until it is learned.
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12/23/2011 03:36 PM
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My only comment is that the "electronic file sharing" argument really doesn't hold water.
An A3 is really only for the benefit of two people: the person writing it, and that person's supervisor.
Other people will look at it, but they are relatively few.
Instances where the electronic format would facilitate mass distribution of a particular A3, are few and far between.
One other note: As far as I know, A3's for Toyota's North American operations are electronic, and America does not employ the A3 as persistently as Japan.
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12/30/2011 10:15 AM
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I first encountered the QC Story when training in Japan with NML in 1985. I'd ask my Japanese counterpart 'what if....?', and he'd look through a folder of QC Stories going back many years to see if that eventuality had occured and how they'd dealt with it.
The QC Story was a 12-step PDCA format, written in pencil (as was the norm) on A3 paper. The paper was that thin stuff the japanese have that can be easily and usefully used as tracing paper for the less artistically-inclined. PCs were rare then.
I've no idea if these were disseminated for wider learning, but the records appeared to be useful. These came to be called 'kaizen stories' elsewhere. Sometimes kaizen stories are writ large and each step is a sheet of paper on a board, obviously for others to learn from, whether to better understand the improvement process, or the rationale behind implementing a new standard.
I first heard the term 'A3' applied to these QC Stories about 8 years ago. It struck me as a pretty unimaginative and uninspiring term. I don't believe the same paper sizes (A0, A1,A 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.) are used in the USA, but A4 or American letter size are the biggest size that most fax machines can accommodate.
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01/03/2012 11:09 AM
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I should concede a point here to Mark:
The American equivalent to 'A3' size paper is '11 x 17'.
'11 x 17' folds in half to exactly '8 1/2 x 11'.
At that points it can be faxed, xeroxed, or scanned (important in the electronic age) on any American machine.
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02/14/2012 10:51 AM
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Thank you every one for the feedback. So I've decided that the learning is more important than the format. It is a compromise that I have made in order to have more of the management team try the A3 problem solving tool.
What I have found is that the teams who take the time figure out the space needed to convey the problem, or current state, have an innate relationship with the data. I find that these team members have an easier time remembering the data off their handwritten A3.
I have also seen that team members who hand draw their A3, a take a sense of pride in being able to handcraft the A3, they will actually tack it to their wall. When was the last time someone did that with a excel spreadsheet.
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02/24/2012 12:37 AM
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There is one other consideration here. Given the global, matrix-based organizations many of us live in, frequently w build A3s with teams based around the world. Hand-written A3s in these instances just don't cut it and so the electronic version is preferred.
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02/24/2012 01:40 PM
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I asked Pascal Dennis, author of "Getting the Right things Done" a book on the A3 thinking process, about what A3 format to use. His reply was, "It's not about the format, it's about what is does for you." Thanks Pascal!!!
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