Using Lean to Modernize Mission-Driven Organizations

Our Team

Laura Jensen, CSM

Dir, IT Business

Planning & Mgmt

Jared Bieschke, PMP

Mgr, IT Strategic

Initiatives

Khuloud Odeh, PhD

VP of IT, CIO

“…power through knowledge to help

solve the problem that weighs heavily on

the hearts and minds of all of us – the problem

of the American cityand its people.”

U.S. President, Lyndon B. JohnsonRemarks on the

Founding of the Urban Institute 1968

Urban’s Mission is to open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions through economic and social policy

research.

2 advisory groups

5 decades of experience

9 policy centers

10 cross-center initiatives

20 research areas

How Urban makes a difference

expanding opportunities and reducing hardship among the vulnerable

strengthening the fiscal health of governments

improving the effectiveness of public policies

A new president, a renewed vision

“Urban is uniquely positioned to elevate the current debates happening in Washington and in state capitols and city halls across the United States.”

Sarah Rosen WartellPresident (2012 - present)

We want Urban to be viewed as

High quality and rigorous

Independent and honest

Relevant and influential

Creative and innovative

Funding

Talent

Audience and influence

Urban competes for

Urban’s Goals Extend and strengthen research

Raise visibility & influence

Grow revenue & flexible resources

Improve productivity &

work experience

Become the go‐to organization for social & economic policyanalysis

Extend and strengthen research

Raise visibility & influence

Grow revenue & flexible resources

Improve productivity & work experience

New research centers and advisory groups

New and revamped microsimulation models

New brand identity

Interactives and visual storytelling

CRM

IT Modernization

Business System Modernization

Risk Management

Build and manage business development infrastructure

The need for modernization

Data Loss

Simulation models take hours or days to run

Can’t support advanced interactives

Website hosted on premise

HR and Payroll System at end of life

IT total cost of ownership is very high, agility is very low

High Risk

Extensive manual processes

No CRM

Aging IT Infrastructure Challenges

Research

Visibility

Fundraising

Infrastructure

Research

Visibility

Fundraising

Infrastructure

High Performance Computing

Machine Learning

Big Data

Web and Social Technologies

Data Visualizations

CRM and Marketing systems

Customer Centric systems

Automated process

Focus on security

Automated process

Business Intelligence

CRM and Funder mgmt

Strategic value of modern IT

not simply modernizationtransformation

Obstacles to Transformation

People and Culture – resistance to change

Policies – complications to standardize

Processes – complexity, variation

Extent of change - available resources and

focus

Lean IT a path forward

Steve BellLean IT Strategies

The 72 hours that sold Urban’s leadership on the Lean Transformation Model

Sarah Rosen WartellPresident

John RogersExecutive vice president, treasurer, and chief

financial officer

Margery Austin TurnerSenior vice president for program

planning and management

Leanaligning with Urban’s values

We believe in the power of evidence to improve lives and strengthen communities.

Funder/Customer

Publish Research Results

Perform Research Program

Design Research Program

Propose work

Public – Policy Makers

Measure Impact/

Influence

Urban’s Core Value Stream

$$

Collaboration &

Knowledge Mgmt

Research Process

& Systems

Human Capital

Mgmt

Grant &

Contract Mgmt

Development &

Fundraising

Project Mgmt &

Reporting

Comm &

Content Mgmt

Project Accounting

& Compliance

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System improvement opportunities

$

Approach to process and system simplification, modernization and integration

Integrate business strategy and architecture with IT strategy and architecture

Drive transformative (not just incremental) change

Simplify and integrate key processes and information

multi-year vision for delivering measurable competitive advantage through process innovation

IT Transformation

Bi-Modal IT

Operational Excellence initiative

Business systems modernization

Cloud-first strategy

Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3-Q4 2015

Ex

isti

ng

Syst

em

s

Man

ag

em

en

t

Vulnerability

Assessment

Hu

man

Cap

ital

Man

ag

em

en

t

Acco

un

tin

g

, F

inan

ce

,

Co

ntr

acts

Fu

nd

er

Re

lati

on

ship

s

(CR

M)

Contingency Planning(HR / George transition)

Business Continuity Planning

Requirements Review

System Evaluation &

Selection

Implementation

(HRMS & Payroll)

PlanningSystem Evaluation

& Selection

Implementation

Phase 1

Pilot & Requirements Prioritization

System Evaluation & SelectionImplementation Phase 1

Operational Excellence

Proposal Development

Pilot

Identify/Prioritize

ProcessesContinuous

Improvement

Program

Subcontracting Process Improvements

Years 2 & 3

Assessment/ Evaluation /Priorities

Implementation

(HCMS Modules)

Implementation

Phase2, 3,..

Project

Component

Shared Space Improvements

Business Systems Modernization Roadmap

Funder/Customer

Publish Research Results

Perform Research Program

Design Research Program

Propose work

Public – Policy Makers

Measure Impact/

Influence

Urban’s Core Value Stream

Current state mapping

The Proposal ProcessCurrent State

The Proposal ProcessCurrent State

z

v The Proposal ProcessFuture State

Finding the balance between impact and ease

Imp

act

Ease

Content

Mgmt

Budget Std

Wk

Proposal

Tracking

Feedback

Proposal

Project Plan

Opp

Clearning-

house

Ext. Partner

Std Work

Comm.

Guidelines

Eval Checklist

Int. Partner

Std Work

Copy Edit &

QC

Contract

Review & QA

Int. Tech

Review

Decision

Authority

5

5

42 3

2

3

4

Updated menu of services

Examples of guideline documents

Transformation through technology

+

Using Lean to improve process

IRB

The Use of Shared Spaces

Subcontracting

Managing by Post-it

managing by sticky notelow tech | high results

Lean vs Agile

Extending Agile/scrum to non-IT work

Urban InstituteCommunications Team

What we’ve learned

Post-modern IT systems are process driven

Technology considered early on

Flexibility of method to fit culture

Combining Agile and Lean

Leadership commitment at the outset