When Can We Say We Are Lean, Part 2: Promise and Pitfalls of Maturity Models

It seems like a no-brainer—even logical. Create a framework and use it to assess progress on your organization’s continuous improvement transformation. Done right, this lean framework, or “maturity model” offers a means to identify your biggest gaps, determine where to expend additional efforts and show where growth is occurring.

However, it’s not that easy. In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, hosts John Dyer and Dr. Mohamed Saleh discuss the pitfalls of maturity models, outlining multiple ways in which such models can threaten the ability to develop a sustainable lean culture. This discussion continues their review of the “When can we say we are lean?” mentality.

Saleh, who says he was “very much a maturity model guy,” talks about how the model initially was meant as a reflection tool but how it has for some become an “identity badge,” particularly for plants or organizations that have achieved “gold” status or Level 5 of five levels.

“That shift is subtle, but it's, in my opinion, it's lethal, because the organization is then protecting the label of ‘We’re gold,’ and it's not looking at improving the system,” Saleh says.

A second threat presented by maturity models is that people start to optimize for the score, not for the system, the lean practitioners say. For example, they polish their visual boards or rehearse the perfect huddle meeting right before a maturity model audit.

“When the system is being optimized for the score, it stops being the truth of what’s happening,” Saleh notes.

Dyer said he sees such thinking frequently around ISO 9000. He shares several stories of working at or visiting plants "where their quality is horrible, until the day before the (ISO) audit."

"So, when the auditor comes in, they see something that is a complete facade of the quality system," he adds.

He details his days as GE major appliances, where Sears would come to audit products being built for them. Given advance notice of Sears’ visit, the plant had an opportunity to make everything perfect. Eventually the retailer caught on and scheduled random visits.

“And, oh my goodness, it was like a whole different mindset for us. It was ‘Oh, we've got to be good all the time.’ What a concept that is,” Dyer says.

A third threat is the “illusion of arrival,” which Saleh describes as the biggest threat. Reaching those top levels of maturity “creates a dangerous narrative,” he says. Ego kicks in, you start believing you’re the best, and you stop advancing. Instead, you start regressing.

Dyer and Saleh argue that lean is dynamic, adaptive and relentless, and static maturity levels will always fall short.

The duo concludes the episode by reframing the maturity model, first by acknowledging that it’s important to assess “something.” “We need to know “Are we moving forward or not?” Saleh says.

However, perhaps that “something,” changes, he says. Saleh outlines potential new measures to consider, such as speed of learning, depth of problem-solving and leadership behaviors. Of the latter, he asks: “Are leaders creating dependency or capability?”

Maturity models need to adapt and evolve just as a lean journey evolves, the two say.

Note: See the IW Best Plants Statistical Profile, mentioned by Dyer during the podcast.