Hello All,

I have seen threads on Project Management, Time Management and a host of different certifications in different Professional fields. This is Great! Let us remember, the purpose of these knowledge and skills is targeted at growth; personal growth and development that is. Yes, your skills lead to increase in work output which in turn generate higher productivity but do you apply that skill in your household as well? Are you as efficient with family needs and interests as you are with work? How about in the community? If you are a skilled Project Manager at work, can you Project Manage that drain channell your community has been talking about building to help run off rain water so flooding can be eliminated? Your spouse or a relative or even friend has become distracted with many demands and errands, most of which is already past target date, can you assist them with time planning and teach them how to sort and dispose issues in order of priority?

Well, we are all to learn together and share together. In a short time I will be introducing to you Process Improvement at work, at home and in the community. Some of you may already have heard of Six Sigma, and knowing Nigerians for who we are, I am sure some of us in here are probably already certified in Process Improvement & Quality Management. Process Improvement is also a core subject in Industrial Engineering, so some of our Engineers here are also familiar with it. Pending the overview and the lessons, I want you to continue to miliki. Below, I am bringing you a brain tease, let's see how well we can do with this. I hope to talk to you again soon, big cheers to you my brothers and sisters.


In the Kitchen: How many steps does it take to boil/cook a cup of rice? List the steps.

Negro_Ntns:

In the Kitchen:   How many steps does it take to boil/cook a cup of rice?  List the steps. 

hmm here goes . (some may take longer or even less) for me i'll say 6.

step 1- get the things ready, water, pot, salt , rice, mixing spoon and the rice (depends on how much)

step2- put the amount of water in the pot, you feel will be enough to cook your rice, and put the pot to the fire, allow the water to boil


step3- wash the rice, add it the boiling water, add a little amount of salt (or as you want it) and stir

step4- be checking the rice so that its not over cooked or not cooked be adding water to soften the grains

step5- lower the fire, underneath the pot and let it steam

step6- Your rice is now ready  . .You can dish and eat

Mukina2, Great! I like your list, got my greedy mouth hungry, oh my :-)

Mukina, I noticed in your first step that you had to get the items yourself. This is good on your part but did you notice what was missing in my teaser? Clarity, definition, base! What if you didn't have rice at home at that moment? The steps would have been much longer than the six you listed because you need to go to store and purchase rice. Right! Under the Six Sigma principleas, "Definition" is the first requirement of Process Improvement. Creating a base makes it more likely that the process will be consistent. In other words I have eliminated "waste". Nobody has to run to the store for rice, salt, water, etc,
So let's look at how this would sound if I create a base from where everyone will have a uniform startup. Here is the practise again "Process Improved".

You are given a cup of rice, a gallon of water, salt, utensils, collander, mid sized pot and a gas stove with matches. How many steps will it take for you to cook the rice. List your steps.

If this practice was presented to 10 people, the first scenario will generate diversely wide outcomes. In the sense that the participants will begin the task from variable points and with inconsistent definitions, althouth at the end everyone will have a pot of cooked rice. The time variance, when measured, between the upper control and the lower control limits will be around 2 hours or more. That is when you clock the process and you look at how long it took for the first person to finish cooking and the last person, you are looking at about 2 or more hours. This is so because of the lack of definition or basing.

Now, in the second scenario, same practice but improved with the introduction of uniformity in starting point, we will see a significant shrink in the time range between who finished first and who finished last. This is so because nobody wasted time going to the store that should have been spent cooking. By providing clarity and definition, we removed wastage of time, or to put it in another dimension, we saved ourselves 2 hours. That 2 hours can be spent in other areas that bring quality to life, like time with spouse. It could be spent relaxing and reducing stress. It could be spent with the children.

We will talk some more. As we continue with this practice you should begin to see how communication and clarity in context can be beneficial to how tasks are carried out. It results in gain.

Cheers!

Negro_Ntns:

Mukina2, Great! I like your list, got my greedy mouth hungry, oh my :-)

Mukina, I noticed in your first step that you had to get the items yourself. This is good on your part but did you notice what was missing in my teaser? Clarity, definition, base! What if you didn't have rice at home at that moment? The steps would have been much longer than the six you listed because you need to go to store and purchase rice. Right! Under the Six Sigma principleas, "Definition" is the first requirement of Process Improvement. Creating a base makes it more likely that the process will be consistent. In other words I have eliminated "waste". Nobody has to run to the store for rice, salt, water, etc,

So let's look at how this would sound if I create a base from where everyone will have a uniform startup. Here is the practise again "Process Improved".

You are given a cup of rice, a gallon of water, salt, utensils, collander, mid sized pot and a gas stove with matches. How many steps will it take for you to cook the rice. List your steps.

hehe take it easy

ok here goes its the same nothing's changed . .i didnt add the "fire" part first time but its dere now


Step 1- Light the Gas and set the flame to medium

Step 2 - Put the amount of water in the pot, you feel will be enough to cook your rice, and put the pot to the fire, allow the water to boil

Step3- wash the rice, add it the boiling water, add a little amount of salt (or as you want it) and stir

Step4- be checking the rice so that its not over cooked or not cooked Grin be adding water to soften the grains

Step5- lower the fire, underneath the pot and let it steam

Step6- Your rice is now ready . .You can dish and eat

Mukina,

I appreciate your participation in the exercise. I see that many people stepped in and read the post but no other person has participated in the exercise. That will change as the thread develops.

Today I will start the overview and allow this discussion to carry on its own weight from there on. I will introduce these lessons in 7 modules as follows:

1. PLAN
2. EXECUTE
3. REPORT
4. FOLLOW-UP
5. COACH/LEARN
6. FORECAST
7 SUSTAIN


OVERVIEW

Between 1960 and today, Nigeria has risen and fell many times over. This is not a discussion for why but in order to move forward, we must look backward and in retrospect take the lessons of those past years to maneuver our march forward. You and I and everyone else that is a Nigerian citizen have the qualities to lead the nation into a glorious future and we do not need to be the President or a Governor to accomplish the goal, although that position makes it more practical. One of the qualities of Leadership is the ability to influence. When you master the skills of influential leadership then you truly can make things happen to the bottom line and cause transformation top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top.

The future of our country will continue to rise and fall by how we, Nigerians, operate today, how we plan for tomorrow and our ability to not only accept change but to seek it with determination and endurance. We must admit that the strategies that got us to where our country is today will not take us into tomorrow. We must seek change. The change begins with you and I, in our home, in our work and in our community.

By increasing personal performance, we increase impact to the family through improved awareness and responsibility, we increase impact to work organization through improved methods and accountability and we increase impact to the community through improved service and collaboration. An improved home, work and community all lead to an improved Nigeria. It starts at the individual level. So the question now is, knowing the value that the individual brings to the collective benefit of our country, how do we help the individual to be at his/her personal best? There are many ways that this can be done and what you will be reading here in this thread and under this topic will be one of such ways.