Real Improvement Takes Culture Change

  • Published
  • By Col. Michael S. Stough
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Commander
When I recently wrote about the "Year of Why," I was gratified to learn that one or two of you actually read my article. 

If you're one of that handful, you're hopefully ready to call my bluff and begin questioning both what you do and the way you do it. For the other 2,000 of you, I think the "Year of Why" is important enough that I decided to write about it again in order to hopefully capture your attention as well. 

I decided to name 2007 the "Year of Why" because I wanted to make sure everyone understands AFSO21 is more than just a couple of process improvement events. In fact, we could have a value stream mapping exercise and a rapid improvement event every week, yet we'd still fall far short of real improvement unless we change our culture. 

And that's where "why" comes in. We need to embark on a journey of continuous improvement, one that involves a ceaseless challenge to our normal way of doing business. 

We're still in the early stages of AFSO21 implementation, which means most of you haven't yet been exposed to Lean events like value stream mapping or rapid improvement. 

In fact, most of you probably don't remember what the initials stand for (Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century). You don't know much, if anything, about terms like muda - at least, you don't know much about the terms from an academic standpoint. 

I'm willing to bet you know plenty about these terms from a practical standpoint. Muda is a Japanese term for waste. Is there anyone out there who hasn't wasted either time or resources? 

I'll bet not. 

AFSO21 implementation will involve training - which means we'll be working with you to develop your skills at identifying waste and improving your processes over time--but you don't need to wait on the training to get started. 

You're the experts in your fields, you have plenty of ideas about how you could do your jobs more effectively, and you're (hopefully) just waiting for someone to ask you for those ideas. 

Well, we're asking. We want your ideas and your questions, whether you want to propose a process as a candidate for a rapid improvement event, or whether you want to point out something we're doing that doesn't make sense, or whether you want to ask "why" we do something in a particular way (or why we do it at all). 

If you have inputs or suggestions, by all means feel free to engage your supervisor, but also feel free to e-mail the AFSO21 office directly, using our e-mail address 100arw.afso21@mildenhall.af.mil

We're looking for constructive inputs that apply directly to the way you do your job, and we're hoping to promote dialogue in the office and on the flight line that leads to real improvement in our ability to accomplish our mission with the resources we have at hand. 

I firmly believe we can make dramatic strides in our mission capability, but it's up to you. We need your voice, your talents, and your commitment. Now, more than ever, you truly can make a difference.