[Post by Chuck Krugh, January 10, 2025]
Over the last year, we have undertaken a soft implementation of the Business Operating System (BOS). Our BOS follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model that I have defined in previous blogs. The power of the BOS is that it is a logical and methodical approach to operating our business. It also deploys tools like the viz boards, dashboards, cascading musters and a problem-solving methodology. These tools are designed to help us understand what is going on inside our business operations, communicate better within our business, and use data collection and analysis to fix the problems causing us to be less effective than we can be.
Alright, nice recap of the BOS, but what’s a countermeasure and what, if anything, does it have to do with the BOS?
First let me give an overview of what we are doing to make our company better for the future. Each department has developed an Operational Performance Improvement Plan, which we abbreviate as “OPIP”. So, if you hear someone refer to their “OPIP,” they are talking about a project being implemented to improve some aspect of our company. I will describe OPIPs in more detail, including how they got that name, in next week’s blog.
The action of implementing a countermeasure is different from implementing a department’s overall improvement plan. This can be a little confusing, so I want to take time to define a countermeasure.
When I am talking about a countermeasure, I mean an immediate action taken to stop something from reoccurring.
Let’s use an example we can all relate to. When you cut yourself, you immediately start to triage the situation by asking key questions: how bad am I bleeding, how deep is the cut, what medical help do I need, do I need stitches and so on. But even while you are asking these questions, the first action you take is covering the wound and applying pressure to try to stop the bleeding – that action is a countermeasure. When you cut yourself, you know that you need to get the bleeding stopped, so you apply the necessary countermeasure to stop it.
While this example is a little graphic, it’s useful because most of us have experienced a similar situation. Sometimes, the first countermeasure you deploy doesn’t quite work. If the pressure you applied doesn’t stop the bleeding, then another countermeasure will have to be deployed. The next countermeasure usually involves some type of mechanical closure (i.e., stitches, steri-strips, glue). Once the countermeasure stops the bleeding, you can address the problem that caused the cut in the first place.
Now, let’s move back into the business world. While we work hard to make sure processes are designed to yield the expected outcome, occasionally the unexpected result happens. When unexpected results happen, you want to stop them from reoccurring. Enter the countermeasure. The countermeasure is the immediate fix you put into place to keep that unexpected, negative result from reoccurring. However, the countermeasure is very rarely the permanent fix.
Let’s take a real example that happened recently. About a month ago, we lost power in one of the SUPSHIP buildings. Our team did some initial troubleshooting, but the cause of the problem wasn’t evident. They applied a countermeasure by getting and installing a rental generator to power the building temporarily. After continued troubleshooting, the facilities team found a bad wire in a conduit. The permanent fix was to replace the wire. You can see with the example that the countermeasure and the permanent fix were different – one got the power back on via a temporary method and the other fixed the problem permanently.
I wanted to make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of thinking that countermeasures are the permanent fix for problems that you encounter. They very rarely solve the root cause of the problem. They are the first action taken to prevent the problem from reoccurring.
Next week: Using improvement plans to reach our potential.
See you on the deckplates!
Safely Execute High-Quality Work
Chuck
President, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
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