STANDARDIZATION AND CREATIVITY

In section 5.3 we have presented strong arguments for standardization of work, i.e. standardization of operations (key procedures and methods) to follow until better methods have been developed. Even if we feel that the arguments and results shown are strong enough to convince any manager, experience shows us that we should also analyse more deeply what standardization really is and what the relationship is between standardization and creativity. Standardization is misunderstood in many companies and because of that we too often meet objections towards it.

One of the objections is that standardization of work will kill creativity. Creative people in sales and product development especially use this argument. Another objection is that preparing standards is a complicated and difficult job and, at the end of the day, the standards are often not adhered to by the people concerned.

The problem of non-adherence is, in our view, caused by a lack of understanding of what work standards should include and what should not be included in the standards. The consequences may be that standards are made too complicated and hence are very difficult both to follow and to change. The standards act as barriers against continuous improvements instead of supporting improvements.

Fig. 5.8 The use of standards on the factory

floor. (Source: QED study.)

It is important to realize that standards may be set in various ways but it is also important—and may be more important—to realize that standards usually include the following three items (Kondo, 1991):

1. The objective of the work: taking a production process as an example, this includes the quality specifications or quality standards for the intermediate or final products which must be made in the process.

2. Constraints on carrying out the work: these consist of restrictions which must be adhered to in performing the work; items which ensure the safety of employees or assure product quality are the most important of these.

3. The means and methods to be employed in performing the work.

Item 1. above must always be achieved and therefore it is important to include this item in the work standard. Therefore it is also important to check and discuss the objectives of the many different processes production as well as supporting processes—to secure that the objectives are existing, understood and accepted. In too many cases objectives are not existing, not understood and not accepted by the people responsible for the work or the people do not understand the objective and the relationship to items 2. and 3. above.

Item 2. must always be obeyed or adhered to by whoever is responsible for doing the work. There are usually no objections to including in the work standards items which ensure the safety of employees.

The objections may emerge on the items which have been included in order to assure product quality. The problem may be that too many of these items have been included in item 2. of the work standards and hence the workers feel that too many restrictions have been put on them. They do not feel responsibility because of the many restrictions and they feel that the work is not easy to do. It is therefore obvious that we should consider these constraints very carefully and we should strive to eliminate as many of them as possible. The fewer the restrictions listed under item 2. the greater the workers feel the degree of freedom and responsibility.

If we include restrictions in item 2. we must secure that they are well understood and accepted by everyone. The best guarantee for that is that the people concerned are involved in continuous quality improvements and hence the writing of the work standards. Then people know which restrictions are necessary to follow because they have understood the cause and effect relationships which must be controlled in order to assure quality. In other words they have realized which causes are crucial to control and which methods are crucial to follow.

Concerning item 3. there is a tendency to conclude that everybody must obey these standardization means and methods because they usually have been standardized after careful considerarion to quality and productivity. We often conclude that because they reflect existing knowhow of the most effective means and methods everybody must adhere to these standards. But this is not necessarily true. We are convinced that no single standard method can be the most efficient for all people considering their different characteristics.

According to Kondo (1991) therefore the standardized means and methods in item 3. should be divided into two types or two manuals:

1. manual for beginners (novices); 2. manual for experienced workers.

The purpose of the manual for beginners is to help newcomers in their understanding and training. Newcomers have to understand and learn the basic rules and, if needed, the basic actions. Having understood, learned and practised the basic rules they are ready for experimentation, i.e. to find the best means and methods for themselves and they should be encouraged to do so.

The purpose of the manual for experienced workers is to have an updated collection of best practices in all areas of the company. Whenever an experienced worker finds a better way of performing a particular job this should be included in the work standards for experienced workers. It is extremely important that the management of the company establishes a system which secures that hints and ideas concerning new ways of doing things are collected and, if needed, included in the manual for experienced workers.

From this it is seen that this way of looking at standards will support creativity. It is of course necessary that management leads the process and encourages people to always be on the lookout for improvement of the standards. An existing standard should be a challenge for everybody.

In relation to ISO 9000 and other international standards it is apparent that items 1. and 2. mentioned above are well suited for certification while this is not necessarily true for all the elements mentioned under item 3.