Strengthen Academic Teams by Developing the Weak Links

We often see people making observations about teams. Like in the industry, educational institutes also need teams to design, develop and deliver courses. Here is one comment from an Administrator supervising a team of faculty in an educational set up that had to adopt the virtual mode of learning during the pandemic in March 2020:

"I do not have competence to comment on the issues relating to the SCM course content, but I have no hesitation in observing that  the group, comprising of  Prof U, Prof. V, Prof. W and Prof. Z is possibly the most promising academic group I have seen, in this school: quiet, competent and committed. 

The Chinese say : Feel the stones, while crossing the river. In this new academic virtual journey that we are all part of, I am sure, the Quartet would do everything to  ferry the students to a new, and promising destination." 

[Note: A somewhat positive comment/perception regarding the team where the members were facing an enquiry on teaching-learning matters]

Recalling my own experience with the curriculum design of Operations & Supply Chain Management courses in various Institutions of the state and one open University of the country, here are my remarks and response to the above comments/observations.

Proactive supply chains leverage on "informating" to improve supply chain performances on a continual basis. Teams in educational setups are no different when it comes to the development of learner centric curriculum. In line with my earlier views on "subject matter experts", one also does not need to be an expert to understand that a "chain is as strong as the weakest link". A supply chain is similar. Hence, it is a basic precept to be kept in mind while handling SCM related challenges. Without developing the weakest link it will be foolish to expect world class standards. In one board meeting on curriculum design, concerns were raised regarding "plagiarism and the poor quality of work" that was presented before the external subject matter experts (by the above internal team). Proper information sharing within the internal team may have averted this embarrassing situation. Such unhealthy practices need to be nipped in the bud - otherwise they become a habit and then keep on weakening the chain. One needs to keep in mind how to overcome such weaknesses by continually introspecting and improving so as to strengthen the team. A Japanese proverb: "Karma and shadows follow one everywhere". 

As the convenor of the board meetings, the Administrator also had a crucial role in getting the syllabus ready as per the desired quality standards. Even though a document titled "[Copyright Violations] A Suggestion for the Detailed Course Guidelines for proposed structural changes in course curriculum" was made available, the suggestions were not adopted and the embarrassing situation could not be avoided. The suggestions are valid  even now.  It is worth recalling Dr. Deming's quote: "Learning is not compulsory. It's voluntary. Improvement is not compulsory. It's voluntary. But to survive, we must learn." 

I have been a strong advocate of the virtual world complementing the real world and my journey had started as a part of the Project Pilgrim (that followed on the heels of Project Athena of MIT) during the late 80s aimed at improving operating system transparency in a distributed computing environment as was quite common in Universities. The supply chain becomes even stronger when the virtual chain complements the physical chain. Now if the virtual chain is not in sync with the physical chain (or vice-versa) then there is bound to be some form of disruption. Currently, the world is going through a crisis and there is an urgent need to slow down till these are in sync. 

Now my remarks on the Chinese proverb and perceptions. While the Deng Xiaoping quote is valid for cautious reforms, one must be careful when it comes to team formation. Teams being solo, duo, trio, quartet etc. is as much a matter of perception as are the human traits such as "quiet, competent and committed". Sometimes this perception makes us feel that it is a quartet when in fact it is a trio or a duo or even a solo doing the hard work - thus resulting in a dysfunctional that fails to add value on a continual basis.

Here is another Japanese Proverb: "If one can Do, You can Do. If no one can Do, You must Do." .....And sadly the Indian version: "If one can Do, Let him Do. If no one can Do, What can I Do?" [Source: Google Search]

The reality, however, is different from perception; at times it is a stone where we often stumble while crossing the river. Anyway, such experiences have given me opportunities to develop my own views regarding the areas and groups in most educational setups: it appears there are more silos within the areas or groups now than it was at anytime during my long association with Academics since 1986 (1992 and then in 2005) and such silos are unhealthy for the educational institutions where we develop manpower for all types of supply chains around us. 

A more responsive stance is required on all the teaching-learning related concerns that I have raised in the past. Recently, my concerns are also mostly linked with the need to go slow when the world is going through a crisis.

The old world order is ebbing and a new one is rising on the horizon.

Hence it is time to slow down and reflect. 

[Slow down to see this video clip] 

video forwarded as received from one egroup 

A Lesson for All: "Introspect, Restrain, Meditate & Listen to the Voices of Nature"

I hope stakeholders of the educational enterprise will be able to create this space for each individual entity so that they can participate constructively in building a learning community where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. 

[Teaching-Learning] Listen to the Voices of Nature

‘Thought-Phobia’ maybe inhibiting Design Thinking

Here is an excerpt from the interesting article by Michel Danino titled “Was India’s Knowledge Elitist?” [TNIE dated 31.12.2018, Monday]:

[Quote] In 1920, Sri Aurobindo wrote to his younger brother, “I believe that the main cause of India’s weakness is not subjection, nor poverty, nor a lack of spirituality or Dharma, but a diminution of thought-power, the spread of ignorance in the motherland of Knowledge. Everywhere I see an inability or unwillingness to think—incapacity of thought or ‘thought-phobia’.” [Unquote]

“Thought-Phobia” – This indeed may be a possible reason why design thinking is not quite well supported in the Indian education system. As a result many facilitators of the Teaching-Learning process shy away from encouraging “Thought Questions” in the classrooms. It is time to overcome such inhibitions and participate actively in the process of developing the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS).

Design Thinking for Product Lifecycle Management [DTPLM]

Here is one proposed course that integrates “Design Thinking” with “PLM Thinking”. It is developed based on an earlier experience of introducing Design Thinking concepts in the form of few workshops in the "Fundamentals of PLM (FPLM)" course.

This workshop-cum-laboratory-based course will expose students to the concepts of design thinking (DT) and product lifecycle management (PLM) as modern approaches for fostering innovation. Design thinking provides a framework for dealing with ill-structured problems through purposeful application of creativity throughout the process of innovation [1-3]. It can be seen both as a mindset and an approach [4]. Similarly, PLM can be seen both as a concept and a technology that accelerates business process innovations throughout the lifecycle of a product, process or service. This course draws on experience from the earlier course titled “Fundamentals of PLM” [5-7].  Being a practical course, students will be urged to work on real life problems faced by businesses as related to product development, production process development and service process development initiatives. Accordingly they will be required to focus on the beginning-of-life, middle-of-life and end-of-life issues of products and services in supply chains of their choice [5].

Students will be able to apply the design thinking approach to problems relating to a wide range of areas. As cited in literature, design thinking practices have been applied to the following areas: Product innovation, Business strategy, Organizational change, Healthcare, Community services and Social innovation, Innovative ways of reducing healthcare cost, Design of a dream home for people fifty and above, Innovation projects in on-campus locations (such as, Library, Health services, Book store), Developing a plan for a new business to address consumers whose needs are not fully met by mainstream products, Developing a new shopping cart design in five days, Developing new ways to improve grocery customers' shopping experiences and Developing a product or service that meets the needs of an aging population. Hence, even though there have been numerous applications of design thinking, participants will be required to understand that finding a design challenge will itself be a challenge. Hence they must develop the soft skills needed to start the design thinking process with empathy [1,8].

The course also aims to familiarize students with the technology supporting PLM. Students will be required to develop hands-on practice in using the application software available in the PLM Center. They will be able to appreciate the use of technology supporting a product throughout its lifecycle – from inception to delivery and beyond. Accordingly, they will be able to align the objectives of the course with those of other courses in Manufacturing, Technology and Operations Management, such as, Product Design & Development, Digital Manufacturing & Virtual Factory, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Response to Manufactured Products, Project Management and Total Quality Management. They will be able to use the concepts in other functional areas of business as well.

Contact kaushiksahu@gmail.com for the references cited above and for any other details. Also feel free to send suggestions.

[How Do I Learn?] Design Thinking & Six Sigma Management Attitude

This post is for learners in my TQM course interested in design thinking and quality management in a dynamic-learning environment:

As you are trying to understand Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, here is an article titled "Using Tools to Support Design Thinking in the Classroom" by Barbara Cleary. It will be useful to you at this juncture of TQM problem solving where you are trying to "Design" your own answer to the question: "How do I learn best?" (Remember: each student has his/her own learning style).

In doing so recall Dr. Deming's Views on Performance Evaluation (see the source document cited below for details):

Here are some excerpts from the above article.....

 

NOW

Similarly, if you recall, even sales performance....

Hence, do read the above articles before moving forward with your work on "Cost of Quality Glossary" & small "Six Sigma Projects" related to your own learning environment. I hope you will be able to design your own answer to the question "How do I learn best?"

Best wishes......K. Sahu

Six Sigma Management Attitude

This post is for learners@KIIT interested in quality management around a dynamic-learning environment:

As you are trying to understand the teachings of the Quality Gurus, this post is to help you improve your learning outcomes. If possible, read "An Afterword on Six Sigma" in Robert Barry's book "Nan - A Six Sigma Mystery".  It will help you to pursue your “Triple-role Continuous Improvement Values” by developing a Six Sigma management attitude. 

This is my 13^th year at KIIT and it has taken me as many years to bring this article to the notice of the stakeholders. Some of them may be your mentors, teachers, administrators and other important process owners and they (in their capacity) are helping you to be part of the system in which you are taking a lead role (in your own capacity) as the process owner of several learning processes. Each one of these processes offer you scope to develop the six sigma management attitude (i.e., Face it, Find it and Fix it).

Having developed this attitude you will be in a better position to handle even greater responsibilities. There is a lot of scope around you where you can apply these concepts (see the above article for ideas). Also, our PM is promoting the ZED program - which has set even loftier goals in terms of “Zero Effect (on the environment) due to Zero Defects”. If you train yourself well then you will be able to find greater satisfaction in any project where you get involved to drive improvement initiatives.

See the figures below and recall what you are supposed to do.....

[Now with a Six Sigma management attitude]

Best wishes...........K. Sahu