Deer Hunting and Lean, Ergonomics, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.)
One of the things that I and my company specialize in is “Do More with L.E.S.S. (Lean, Ergonomics/Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking). It’s a unique approach to solving business problems related to organizational system and employee performance, efficiency and safety. This same Do More with L.E.S.S. approach can be used away from the workplace, quite successfully I might add. In fact, it is something I use (initially without even realizing it) in my favorite activity—deer hunting. This blog is the first in a series of explaining and relating what I do as a consultant for organizations to what I do as a deer hunter. The idea for this came about from wanting another tangible way for people, from friends & family members to prospective clients to those just interested to understand what and how I and KED do what we do.
Background:
I’ve only been hunting a few years. I was introduced to deer hunting by my husband just after we got married in the fall of 2005. I love being outdoors and deer hunting sounded like fun so he taught me how to shoot a rifle. Long story short, on opening day of gun season in WI I shot my first doe and I was hooked. I loved being in the woods, seeing different critters, enjoyed the anticipation of seeing deer and loved the satisfaction of getting one. The first two seasons were a definite learning curve for me. I started to learn that deer hunting was much more than placing a stand in the woods and hoping for a deer to come by. There was a science and a bit of an art to it. Fast forward to today. This fall marks my 8th hunting season. Luckily both my husband and I have a passion for deer hunting which makes it a year-long activity as we are always thinking about, preparing and doing things in order to ensure a successful season. I’ve come to realize that the things we do in the off season and during the season demonstrate L.E.S.S. perfectly. We’ll explore the big picture and some of the finer details of hunting to explain.
Basic Principles:
- Lean essentially means reducing waste, non-value added steps in order to improve efficiency and performance. In hunting this can be used in a variety of ways—from getting ready before the hunt and coming in after the hunt, to finding quicker and easier methods of moving stands, etc.
- Ergonomics and Human Factors are words that are supposed to be synonymous but yet many perceive they mean different things. For the purpose of this series I will define ergonomics as physical ergonomics and human factors as cognitive ergonomics. HF/E is highly needed in hunting in order to avoid injury and errors.
- Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology. In hunting one can use Six Sigma principles to improve on various aspects of hunting such as target shooting accuracy and having successful hunts.
- Systems thinking/engineering may be a harder to recognize and appreciate at first glance in regards to hunting. However, one must think of others while hunting be it your hunting partner or group, or other hunters and/or animals. Thinking as a “silo” instead of as “gears” in many cases could lead to less than an optimal hunting experience.
That’s a quick overview of using L.E.S.S. in deer hunting. In my next blog I’ll address physical ergonomics in regards to clothing, equipment and weapon of choice (bow and/or gun).