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12/09/2011 12:40 PM
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what is true north,?,why do we do it ? how do we do it ? how do we deploy it ?
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12/12/2011 06:05 PM
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"True North" is a term usually used to refer to your general sense of what an ideal or perfect process would look like if you could ever there. It is the perfection you are always striving toward.
The way I like to describe it is:
"Anything that moves us in the direction of 'True North' is considered an improvement.
Anything that impedes movement in the direction of 'True North' is a *problem.*"
What this sense of ideal direction does is establishes that the status-quo, whatever it is, should be considered unacceptable. The debate is about the merit of how we solve the next problem, not about whether or not a problem is worth solving. We ALWAYS want to move from where we are in that direction.
This is very different from classical thinking where the status-quo is regarded as an anchor or baseline, from which any change must be justified as demonstratively better.
How do we deploy it?
This is one of the most important things for the senior leaders to grasp. If they don't constantly push the organization to keep moving in a consistent direction, the improvement process bogs down into debates and diffused effort that nets out very little actual change.
Toyota Kata by Mike Rother has a really good explanation of the chapter.
There is a little snippet in my review of the book on my web site:
http://theleanthinker.com/2010...of-engaged-leadership/
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02/03/2012 01:39 PM
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Hi John
I like what Mark said, but I will put it into some different words that I personally prefer.
What is true North?
It is the destination you are trying to get to whether it is for a process or for a company.
Why do we do it?
To get someplace you need to know where it is that you want to go.
How do we do it?
It is something upper management or the board of directors decide and define at the highest level. But every level has to then define what their part of that is.
How do you deploy it?
They get communicated to everyone below the level they are created at and to some degree upward to ensure they work with the higher level definitions. If people do not know where they are going they cannot help get the organization to the destination can they.
Good Luck
Robert Drescher
ELSE Inc.
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02/06/2012 11:21 AM
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I find the concept of Perfection or True North to be very helpful at the strategic stage of Lean. I am currently laying out the principles of Lean in the context of refinery maintenance. I find that it works well to state strategic direction as perfection. For example perfection for lead time would be limited strictly to active (as compared to administrative and logistic) activities of transformation (returning the object asset to a state of repair upon which our expectation of uptime is founded). There are processes and inventory from first request and return to good as new state of repair, but perfection says "determine every way we can get close to "perfection." when challenged ideas emerge.
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02/07/2012 02:15 PM
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is there a distinction between "true north" and "perfection."
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02/12/2012 02:09 PM
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I think there is a difference between "Perfection" and "True North".
I would describe "True North" as how an organisation defines "Perfection" and it is influenced by the organisation's values and vision.
For example Rolls Royce would define perfection in its motor cars very differently to Volkswagen or Ferrari or Skoda. Each brand has its own idea of what perfection is.
Mark Rosenthal put it very well in his statement that " "True North" is a term usually used to refer to your general sense of what an ideal or perfect process would look like if you could ever there. It is the perfection you are always striving toward. "
It is therefore as important to define and communicate what "True North" means for an organisation as it is to strive to move towards it.
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04/23/2012 10:48 AM
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I agree that true north is the ideal state.
I like Lexus's motto in their commercials: " persuing perfection"
This for me captures the thinking. It helps us know the ultimate state of a perfect lean system.
Bob Traettino
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