The Battles We Have to Win: Fear

Here is the third in a series on the transformation battles we have to win. 

Doing nothing is the riskiest option. 

When the ocean is in furious flux, alertness, agility and speed are of the essence. Doing nothing is the riskiest option. In business the clearest expression of these qualities is ambidexterity – the ability to both protect the core business with Lean/OpEx, and also, to ignite new Growth using Digital methods.

What are the proverbial transformation ‘battles’ we have to win? Ignorance, Fear, Scatter, and Guesswork, and Space.

Today I’ll talk about Fear.

Fear

Transformation fatigue is a state of exhaustion, resistance & fear that employees experience when subjected to continuous change. Symptoms include a diminished capacity to cope with change, heightened stress and anxiety, and a general sense of apathy or numbness. 

When I launched our advisory service (in 2000) the Toyota Production System was all the rage. TPS was the ‘machine that changed the world’, and companies around the world were anxious to learn its secrets. The past decade plus, ‘Digital’ has supplanted TPS as the ‘killer app’. Indeed, I’ve spent this period learning & applying Digital methods in innovation hot spots. And now of course, AI has exploded into our world in much the same way as TPS and ‘Digital’ did. No wonder people are afraid!

How do we overcome Fear in our organizations? Here are some measures I’ve found to be helpful – both for protecting the core business and igniting new growth with Digital methods. Note: in the paragraphs below, I’ve focused on the ‘Igniting New Growth’ ‘swim lane’. The same activities & principles apply for ‘Protect the Core’, but the content is of course, different.

Countermeasures to Fear:

Senior Leaders:

Small Group Mentorship:

• Short focused lessons, practical activity, followed by applied homework
• Leaders learn by doing – in a safe environment

Executive ‘Forums’

·       Ecosystem meetups with Tech orgs and peers facing similar challenges.

·       Tech ‘deep dive’ workshops that provide Executives with a practical understanding of key innovation methods, thinking & technology.

·       Learning expeditions - explore prominent Tech ecosystems in innovation hot spots

·       Innovation projects (‘Showcases’): focused innovation projects that showcase new ways or working, and lead to effective commercial pilots.

Middle & Front-Line Leaders:

Practical Learning Academies

These entail boot camps wherein practitioners learn innovation fundamentals by doing. Design Thinking, Growth Hacking and Lean Experimentation are core curriculum elements. Key features:

• ·       'Centre of Excellence’: small team of practitioners who manage curriculum & network
• ·       Focused curriculum based on key learning gaps, and
• ·       Growing network of practitioners who share learning, problems and innovations
• ·       Multiple communication channels including regular meetups, study groups, and intranet

The Light Touch

The light touch is a friendly, relaxed, and funny way to doing things. Senior leaders set the tone & change is much easier when their language, affect & aura say, “It’s going to be alright. We’ll get through this together, and we’ll succeed beyond any possibility of doubt.”

I’ve been lucky enough to know such leaders & don’t wish to embarrass them by extolling their virtues.  Suffice to say, such cheerfulness is a necessary (though not sufficient) antidote to fear. You see such leaders at Boot Camps, Hackathons, kaizen events, new product launches, and the like. They tirelessly reinforce our core Values, Aspirations and Winning Logic. They exude, ‘everything is going to be alright.’

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….

Transformation - the Battles We Have to Win - Ignorance
Transformation - the Battles We Have to Win
Daily Management Walks - a Primer

The Battles We Have to Win: Ignorance

What's the leader’s Job One? 1) Protect the core business with Lean/OpEx, and 2) Ignite new Growth using Digital methods. Such ambidexterity does not come easy. Here’s the second in a series on the battles we have to win.

Doing nothing is the riskiest option.

The deadly risks of our day are Volatility, Black Swans, and Obsolescence. Doing nothing is our riskiest option. When the ocean is in furious flux, alertness, agility and speed are of the essence. And the clearest expression of these qualities is ambidexterity – the ability to both protect the core business with Lean/OpEx, and also, to ignite new Growth using Digital methods.

What are the proverbial transformation ‘battles’ we have to win? Ignorance, Fear, Scatter, Guesswork and Space. Today I’ll talk about Ignorance.

Ignorance

When I launched our advisory service (in 2000), the Toyota Production System was all the rage. TPS was the ‘machine that changed the world’, and companies around the world were anxious to absorb & apply its secrets. Toyota even opened its factories and shared its methods with the world. And yet, 70 to 90% of Lean transformations have failed to achieve their goals.

Digital Transformations also have failure rates exceeding 70%.  Will the results be any better for AI?

So, why is it so hard to absorb & apply new ways of working like ‘Lean’ or ‘Digital’ (or ‘AI’)?

Change is hard, life is hard.  In these tumultuous times, many people are just hanging on, and just showing up is a triumph. Awash in a sea of data, factoids and impressions, people understandably shut down, numb & exhausted.

Plato viewed the mind as a “wax tablet" which receives and retains impressions. One’s experiences are like drops of water that create self-reinforcing channels. The more experiences, information and data, the deeper the channels, and the harder it is to create new ones. Ignorance, seen in this light, is a shutting down, a closing off to new experiences. How does one stay open?

The challenge of leaders and learners is ‘stay young, stay foolish.’ I paraphrase Steve Jobs, of course, who famously celebrated the ‘crazy ones, the misfits, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes, the ones who see things different…”

So, how do we overcome Ignorance in our organizations?

For a start, we should hire people who score high on openness and who believe they have control over events in their lives (‘internal locus of control’). And we have to give our people the opportunity to learn.  Here are more detailed countermeasures. (Note: below I’ve focused on the ‘Igniting New Growth’ ‘swim lane’. The same activities & principles apply for ‘Protect the Core’, but the content is of course different.)

Countermeasures to Ignorance:

Senior Leaders:

• Small Group Mentorship:
• Short focused lessons, practical activity, followed by applied homework

(Pardon the plug; >150 senior leaders have completed my Protect the Core and Ignite New Growth programs).

Executive ‘Forums’

·       Ecosystem meetups with Tech orgs and peers facing similar challenges.

·       Tech ‘deep dive’ workshops that provide Executives with a practical understanding of key methods, thinking & technology.

·       Learning expeditions - explore prominent ecosystems in innovation hot spots

·       Innovation ‘showcases’: focused projects that showcase new ways or working, and lead to effective commercial pilots.

·       Key Enabler: Executive ‘air cover’ against corporate antibodies

 Middle & Front-Line Leaders:

Practical Learning Academies

These entail hands-on boot camps wherein practitioners learn by doing. Design Thinking, Growth Hacking and Lean Experimentation are core curriculum elements. Key enablers:

• ‘Centre of Excellence’: small team of practitioners who manage curriculum & network
• Focused curriculum based on key learning gaps,
• Network of practitioners who share learning, problems and innovations
• Multiple communication channels including regular meetups, study groups, and intranet

These are some activities that help dispel Ignorance. Next time, I’ll talk about Fear.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

#transformationblockers #businessambidexterity #Ignitingnewgrowth # businesstransformation #battleswehavetowin

In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….

Transformation - the Battles We Have to Win
Ambidexterity-in-practice

Ambidexterity – the Battles We Have to Win

 Doing nothing is the biggest risk.  21^st C truism

Nowadays, can we rest on our proverbial oars? Can we afford to coast, confident that our voyage & destination are assured? Are we immune to the deadly diseases of our day – Volatility, Black Swans, and Obsolescence?

Our good luck & curse is to be ‘born in interesting times’. Doing nothing is our riskiest option. When the ocean is in furious flux, alertness, manoeuverability and speed are of the essence. And the clearest expression of these qualities is ambidexterity – the ability to both protect the core business with Lean/OpEx, and also, to ignite new Growth using Digital methods.

This is the first of a series of articles in which I describe the transformation blockers I have experienced.  These are the ‘battles’ we have to win whether we are launching a Lean ‘model line’ or an Innovation ‘showcase’:

• Ignorance
• Fear
• Space
• Scatter
• Guesswork

I'll describe them briefly today and set the stage for a deeper discussion in articles to come.

Ignorance

When I launched our advisory service in year 2,000 the Toyota Production System was all the rage. TPS was indeed the ‘machine that changed the world’, and companies around the world were anxious to absorb & apply its secrets. In a marvelous spirit of generosity, Toyota shared its methods and opened its factories to the world. And yet, it took a long time to lift the veil of ignorance.  Indeed, it’s estimated that between 50 and 90% of Lean transformations fail to achieve their goals.

Fear

Senior leader mentorship is a big part of my personal practice these past few decades. I’ve worked with CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, CROs and with independent & executive Board members. With very few exceptions, they are smart, capable and committed to doing the right thing for their companies, team members and communities.  (To be clear, I carefully screen mentees – no bozos, a-holes, or ‘dark triad’ types.)

Fear is perhaps their most common shared emotion.  They don’t want to let people down; they don’t want to look bad. They want to leave the company is better shape than they found it.

Space

Transformation requires space – physical, temporal, financial, strategic, and cultural space. Such space requires ‘executive air cover’ against the inevitable ‘corporate antibodies’ that will shut down a model line or showcase in overt and covert ways.

Scatter

Scatter means the inability to pair down one’s activities & focus on the critical few.  The Pareto principle is often cited but rarely practiced consistently. There is something in human nature that likes to push buttons repeatedly, to see what happens, I suppose. This debilitating tendency has reached epidemic proportions in our screen-addled worlds.

Guesswork

Guesswork entails jumping to conclusions in the absence of data. Sometimes the deeper cause is HIPPO management (decisions based on the highest paid person’s opinion). Other times, we simply lack the data – very common when we’re trying to ascend the now mythical ‘hockey stick’ curve.

There you have it – the biggest blockers to ambidexterity that I have experienced.  In articles to come, I’ll do a deeper dive on each one.  Hope you join me.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….

Ambidexterity-in-practice
AI and Innovation, part 2

Daily Management Walks – a Primer

  

Don’t trust the report, dashboard or AI summary. Go see for yourself.

My friend & colleague, Martin, recently asked me about Daily Management Walks (DMW). I thought I’d share my thoughts with you all. DMWs are a key part of how managers deliver value.  Although they’re commonly associated with analogue industries (manufacturing, healthcare, construction), DMWs are as important in Digital industries like Tech & Financial Services.

The purpose of a daily management walk is threefold:

1) Show respect for the people doing the work,

2) Reinforce your core values & strategic direction, and

3) Confirm a good condition, both in terms of results & process execution (lagging & leading indicators, if you will). 

Show Respect for the People Doing the Work

Life is hard & people face great challenges holding things together. People who show up for work every day, ready & able to help our company meet the day’s challenges, and also to improve deserve our respect & recognition.

Mouthing cliches & feigning interest is not respectful. (‘Here comes the boss again, pretending she cares what we’re doing.’). Respect means checking on the team’s work & problems solving activity. Respect means observing several cycles or a given process & asking questions based on what you see.  ‘I noticed you were a bit behind when…’  ‘I saw a number of awkward postures…’  Would it not be easier if the work piece was a little higher when you…’

Whether you’re in an analogue or digital/virtual industry you need to understand the fundamentals of visual management, quality in the process, standardized work and ergonomics. It’s helpful if you can connect the work the team is doing with work of teams upstream or downstream, or with the ultimate customer. Core message: ‘You are part of a living breathing hole that is creating value for our customers.  We appreciate you & all your efforts. Thanks & please continue.’

Reinforce Core Values & Strategic Direction

Who are we? What do we believe in? These questions define our core values.

Where are we going? How do we get there? And these define our Aspiration & Winning Logic.

Leaders needs to articulate clear answers for themselves and then tirelessly reinforce the key points (without becoming tiresome.)

Core values must begin with People, and in particular, Health & Safety. As a Toyota manager I attended daily walks with the President, Mr. Watanabe, a person I still revere. He continually stopped to pick trash & other tripping hazards, not because anybody was watching, but because it reflected who he was & what he believed in. I remember thinking, ‘I want to be like him.’  I still do.

Here’s a clever way to measure strategic alignment: Ask ten people on the shop floor, ‘What is our company’s Purpose?’ and ‘What is our company’s winning logic?’ I recall a fine manufacturer in America’s Midwest whose team members could readily articulate the company’s aspiration (The Solution Provider) & winning logic (Speed, Cost, Innovation). The company remains as focused as a great sports team.

Confirm a Good Condition (both results & process)

Key checkpoints include output & process, informed by your strategic pillars (typically People, Quality, Delivery, Cost), and the Four M’s (Manpower, Methods, Machinery, Materials). ‘Results’ means: Are we winning or losing? ‘Process’ means: Is the process working as designed?  Do you see any evidence of waste, unevenness or physical/cognitive strain? (Muda, Mura, Muri for the cool kids).

Build a schedule that helps you touch each zone you manage. For example, if you are in charge of Zones 1 to 5, you might schedule your daily walks as follows: Monday: Zone 1; Tuesday: Zone 2; Wednesday…). In the same way, you can shift emphasis each week by, say, doing a deep dive on People in Week 1, Quality in Week 2, Delivery in Week 3 and Cost in Week 4. In other words, organize your DMWs so you cover the key checkpoints in a systematic way. 

It also makes sense to summarize key checkpoints on small cards (kamishibai for all you hipsters) and then use the cards to populate a visual schedule board. You can digitize all of this, of course, and there are intense debates in Lean circles about the pros & cons. I am an agnostic. I prefer analogue systems but working with multinationals I see the benefits of electronic systems than connect far-flung locations.

There you have it, Martin. Trust it is helpful & makes sense.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….

ambidexterity-in-practice
AI and Innovation, part 2
AI Without Acumen = Garbage at the Speed of Light