Each year we celebrate outstanding problem-solving efforts by hosting the Dorian Awards. Problem Solvers and leaders from around the globe are nominated to receive a Dorian Award in one or more categories. This article describes the Bottom Line Improvement Award.
Honoring the efforts and success of organizations who use Shainin methodology is simply one way to share our appreciation for developing the problem solvers of tomorrow. This year we conducted an interview with our President & CEO Craig Hysong to talk a bit about the award.
Let's talk about the Dorian Awards and Bottom Line Improvement award
Q: What is the Bottom Line Improvement Award and what criteria are used to evaluate submissions?
A: This award is to recognize a company or organization that has excelled in applying the Shainin tools and methodologies to make a bottom line impact in the organization. They’ve leveraged the tools to:
- Group multiple metrics/like events,
- Find those projects that are the vital few from the trivial many,
- Execute on those findings to achieve significant savings or impact to the bottom line.
What is “multiple metric/like events”?
In any organization, there is rarely a single metric that helps to diagnose and prioritize the impact of problems, especially across multiple departments. During our Rolling Top 5 leadership training, we cover how to group multiple metrics and like events to get the best return on your problem-solving efforts. This method allows company leadership to identify and agree on priorities to enhance their ability to solve the biggest problems faster and more efficiently.
What is “the vital few from the trivial many”?
In most organizations, there is an abundant number of potential improvements that could be made. The value of a leader is directly tied to how well they can select and address priorities. This is true no matter your department but is incredibly important when solving issues that impact customers or your internal team. When we say vital few and trivial many, we’re talking about applying the Pareto Principle and a few other tools to select the vital few projects that will make a substantial impact and separating them from the trivial many, or the projects that will have minimal impact.
Q: How do the Dorian Awards reflect the legacy of Dorian Shainin?
A: The Dorian Awards embody the teaching and methodologies that Dorian pioneered, and they are a way to recognize the best of the best projects and problem solvers from any given year. And it provides a chance for us to celebrate their achievements.
Q: How are the Dorian Awards presented?
A: The Dorian Awards are presented inside our customer’s organization where we gather a group of leaders and problem solvers and have recognition and a celebration of the winners.
Q: How can someone submit a nomination for a Dorian Award?
A: The submission for the nomination for a Dorian Award is very straightforward. You go to the Shainin website, shainin.com, look at the upper portion of the page, click on Resources, and then Scroll down to Dorian Awards, which then will open you up to the different awards and applications.
Q: Anything else you'd like to add about Dorian Awards?
A: President and CEO of Shainin, Craig Hysong shares, “From my personal experience in presenting the Dorian Awards at different customers of Shainin, what I see is the award acts as a real morale booster. You’ve got leadership, you’ve got the problem solving teams together and they’re celebrating the accomplishments. They’re laughing about the journey and just generally feeling good about what they’ve accomplished. They’re highly motivated to continue to solve more problems and further improve their organization.”
