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November 22, 2002

PART IV: How to Build Blockbuster Value Teams

“ Don’t Stop At Your First Best Idea Or You Will Stifle Your Value Teams’ Creativity”

Robert T. Yokl - President - The HCP Group, Ltd.

Value analysis is the creative (the #4 element for building blockbuster value teams) analytical study of the functions of products, services and technologies you purchase annually, therefore, if your stop the creative process at the first best idea that will save you money, you will stifle your value teams’ creativity. French philosopher Emile Chartier understood this fact clearly when he said “nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have.”  Your goal then as value practitioners is to have a free wheeling discussion with your value team to generate as many ideas (three at a minimum) as possible to eliminate, redesign, substitute, refocus or reframe the product, service or technology being analyzed. Your goal would be to vigorously search for a functional equivalent product, service or technology (or a combination of ideas or solutions) that would reliably meet your customers’ requirements at the lowest possible cost.

Don’t Stop At Your First Best Idea!

There is a strong tendency for value teams to STOP the creative process when a team member suggests what everyone believes is the BEST IDEA or SOLUTION to finding a functional alternative for the product, service or technology under investigation.  For example, one value team we worked with thought the solution to a Trocar Value Study (puncture body) involving 12 trocars from different manufacturers valued at $100,000 annually was to eliminate the functional duplications.  This was their FIRST BEST IDEA and was calculated to save their hospital $20,000 annually.  However, when the team was coached to continue the BLAST, CREATE AND REFINE process, they came up with an even better second, third and fourth best ideas:  (1) eliminate the functional equivalent trocars (2) convert to reposable trocars,  (3) standardize on one trocar manufacturer and/or (4) standardize on the lowest cost trocars.  After much discussion and investiga-tion by the team members on these alternatives, the team agreed that the best alternative or solution to this trocar study was to convert to reposable trocars at a savings of $40,000 annually.

There Is Never Just One Right Answer

Instinctively we would all agree that there isn’t one right answer to any problem or challenge, but nevertheless we continue to stop looking for better answers when we think we have found the right answer.  This type of thinking holds us back from finding the second, third, four, fifth, six and seventh best idea to solving our problem or challenge.  “If you have only one idea you don’t have anything to compare it to. You don’t know its strengths and weaknesses. The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas,” is the advice of Roger Von Oech, one of our countries leading creativity consultants. 

The secret to being creative is to have passion, perseverance, dissatisfaction, self-faith, courage and action, which can turn a small idea into a big idea for anyone.  All it takes is the inquisitiveness and resourcefulness of your value team to seek out new ideas and the perseverance to stay the course and turn your idea(s) into reality.  Try to keep in mind, you don’t want to stop at your first best idea.  Always look for at least three ideas or solutions before you consider your search for alternatives to be complete.

Robert T. Yokl, President, The HCP Group, Ltd., has over 35 years of experience as a consultant and manager in the field of Supply/Value Chain Management and is one of the country's leading healthcare experts in value analysis, value engineering and materials management. He is the developer and program leader of the award winning Certified Value Analysis Practitioner Training Program™. Mr. Yokl is also the developer of the healthcare industry's leading ValueNetCentral™ Value Analysis Software. Over the past two decades he has trained thousands of healthcare managers in his patented Strategic Value Analysis™ and Team-Based Project Management™ processes and has assisted scores of organizations in developing their own value management programs. He has published six books, videos and audios on supply/value chain management. His latest book being, “ Strategic Value Analysis™: The #1 Smart Strategy for Taking Cost Out of a Healthcare Organizations’ Supply/Value Chain”.