Work it Out or Put it in the Parking Lot!

A few weeks into my second rotation with GE Capital, I had the pleasure of participating in my first-ever GE Workout.

GE Workouts began under Jack Welch’s leadership in the 1980s and are focused on finding ways to drive speed, simplicity and clear accountability. The idea is to get a cross-functional group together to eliminate unnecessary processes and tasks. There are countless resources on the GE Workout available on Amazon and many companies use it to eliminate bureaucracy and silo mentalities.

As I associated GE Workouts with manufacturing and Six Sigma, it didn’t occur to me that I would ever get to be involved in this storied GE institution, especially as a marketer in a services industry. So, I was surprised to discover that, not only is the process just as applicable to services, but there are also great nuggets from the workout that can be incorporated into my everyday life, including two magical words: Parking Lot.

My second rotation is in New Product Innovation (NPI) in our Retail Consumer Finance (RCF) business. In this division of GE Capital, we provide Private Label Credit Cards (i.e. “store cards,” or cards specific to one retailer, as well as dual brand cards that can be used with and outside of the specific retailer). It’s a fascinating business and couldn’t be more different from what I was doing in my prior rotation in Sponsor Finance. As a member of the NPI team, I am focusing on the mobile and social channels. Unfortunately, I can’t get into too much detail on the specifics of the workout and the product we are working on, but I can explain the Workout process.

We began by setting the objectives for our next two days together. Our CMO stopped by to explain the strategy for our business and how this product would help drive results.

Then our facilitator, a GE colleague spearheading this particular initiative, outlined the agenda. We would spend the first part of our workout mapping the current process with post-its to create a Present-State Value Stream Map. We had to capture not just the discrete steps in the process, but who else was part of the process, ie. vendors, internal contacts.

Then, we would spend the second half of the workout going through the steps to eliminate anything that didn’t add value and create a Future-State Value Stream Map.

“Along the way, if anything comes up that is not directly related to the value stream, it goes in the parking lot,” the facilitator said, referencing two white boards. I didn’t know exactly what this meant, but came to learn that it is an incredibly constructive way of dealing with “brilliant tangents.” I personally get my best ideas when I’m in the middle of a totally different project or endeavor, so this immediately resonated with me. Throughout the day, I would see people step away from the Value Stream Maps to scribble something down on a post-it before they forgot, then rush back to rejoin the group and get back to the task at hand.
 
As is apparently quite common, we got a little bogged down on the present state and didn’t have as much time as we would have liked for the future state but, regardless, it was a fantastic experience. After two days, I felt I had a much more holistic understanding of my business. I also had some new friends, including tech-savvy IMLPs who taught me how to use Foursquare and improve my Tweeting abilities. 

The product we were working on is moving forward at rapid pace and I feel honored to have been a part of it from the beginning. Though it’s been more than a month since I participated, I continue to find new applications for the GE Workout process – from the way I prepare my lunch in the morning, to my own personal post-it “parking lot” on my workspace wall.

Posted by Kathleen