Hubris and Ethics

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Hubris is the ancient Greek word for arrogance, excessive pride or self-confidence.

Hubris is a common root cause of unethical behavior and, arguably, the most dangerous enemy of great companies.

(Check out this fine book on hubris and the Enron catastrophe entitled The Smartest Guys in the Room.)

What's the countermeasure to hubris?

Humility -- the extreme awareness of limits, of standards, of all that we are not. Humility is one of the Great Virtues, and underlies Prudence, Temperance, Courage and Justice.

Justice, for example, is only possible if we’re humble enough to accept a higher standard or code.

Visual management, 5 S, standardized work and all the other elements of the Lean business system are designed to keep us humble.

Our old Toyota plant in Cambridge Ontario won many awards. "How could they give us an award?" we'd wonder. "We're so screwed up..."

We need great companies -- they show us what's possible.

And great companies need humility - for the same reason.

Best,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

TPS and Agile
Lean Means Don’t Be a Dumb-Ass
Scatter - Our Nemesis
The Biggest Weakness is Contemporary Business Culture?

TPS and Agile

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Over the years, our Lean Pathways team has had the pleasure of working with software developers – a fun, capable and creative group.

For some years now, the software world has been using the Agile methodology to increase throughput while reducing defects and lead time.

In my experience, Agile and the Toyota Production System (TPS) are entirely simpatico.

In fact, it seems clear to me that Agile is a child (or perhaps grandchild) of TPS.

Core TPS principles and methodologies like visual management, team huddles (scrums), rapid experimentation and total involvement are central to Agile.

As you may recall, I am not interested in ‘theology’ – only in what works and lasts. TQM, TOC, BPR and Agile are all true, and all congruent with TPS.

All roads lead to Rome.

The clear and present danger for TPS/Lean, and Agile, is superficiality.
(Superficial systems generally attract opportunists seeking a quick hit.)

A set of connected principles and methods become a Way (do in Japanese) when they connect to your deeper being.

If our work is to last and attract new practitioners (e.g. Millennials) we need depth, which means connecting with TPS/Lean roots, and committing to years of practice.

Thereby, we’ll attract practitioners (deshi in Japanese) who’ll further develop the Way, and attract future deshi.

Best regards,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Lean Means Don’t Be a Dumb-Ass
Scatter - Our Nemesis
The Biggest Weakness is Contemporary Business Culture?
What Makes a Great Sensei?

Lean Means Don’t Be a Dumb-Ass

By Pascal Dennis

I owe this gem to our friends & colleagues in the great state of Alabama.

Our partners there have a way with words, and a fine appreciation of Lean fundamentals.

Lean is ‘simple’, is it not?

1. Define Purpose clearly
2. Make problems visible at all levels
3. Treat people with respect – team members, customers, suppliers and the community
4. Involve everybody In problem solving

Lean methods like visual management, standardized work, Help Chains and the like are about making problems visible, so we can fix them.

Once the problem is visible, the countermeasure is often obvious, no?

To be sure, some problems (e.g. Strategic, Design, Supply Chain, machine, information flow etc.) are complex and have multiple causes.

Countermeasures reveal themselves only after much reflection and experimentation. Lean methods enable this process. (Without them we often jump to a dumb-ass ‘countermeasure’)

An old Henny Youngman joke goes like this:

Henny, flapping his arms like wings. “I went to my doctor and told him it hurts when I do this!” Henny makes a face. “The doctor told me, don’t do that!”

Lean methods help us understand what ‘that’ is, so we can fix it.

Our challenge is that we often learn dumb-ass things in college and in dysfunctional organizations. Things like, let’s hide our problems, let’s brutalize our team members, let’s try to hoodwink our customers, and the like.

The truth will out.

Don’t be a dumb-ass.

Best regards,

Pascal

PS Andy & Me and the Hospital, describes how not to be a dumb-ass in healthcare.




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Scatter - Our Nemesis
The Biggest Weakness is Contemporary Business Culture?
What Makes a Great Sensei?
Beware Prizes, Belts & Self-appointed Experts

Scatter - Our Nemesis

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Big Company Disease has many causes.

One of the most subtle is our inability to ‘wrap our arms around’ the PDCA cycle.

Myriad improvement cycles begin – but they become fragmented:

• Group A develops the Plan,
• Group B deploys,
• Group C checks the Plan, and
• Group D adjusts it.

I call this Scatter, with a deep bow to the late, great Al Ward – friend, colleague & profound Lean thinker.

Al described this syndrome to me over lunch a decade ago, and then again in his splendid book Lean Product & Process Design.

Improvement, whether a Kaizen Workshop, Problem Solving cycle or Strategy A3, requires complete PDCA cycles

One person (or team) needs to wrap her arms around the cycle, and thereby develop the profound, sympathetic knowledge central to breakthrough.

Thereby, our entire brains start firing – Left, Right, prefrontal cortex etc.

The countermeasures we select are usually simple and clear.

There’s usually a sense of release. “Of course! Why didn’t we see it before!”

As opposed to the ponderous, countermeasure-by-committee stuff that blights so many report outs.

So how to reduce Scatter?

Lean fundamentals like visual management and Leader standard work are a good start.

Veteran Lean companies like Toyota have developed the Chief Engineer role in Design, and Key Thinker (aka Deployment Leader or Pacemaker) role in Strategy Deployment.

Their job is to oversee & manage broad PDCA cycles – and to record & share the learning.

There are all a good place to start in your never-ending battle with Scatter.

Best regards,

Pascal



In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

The Biggest Weakness is Contemporary Business Culture?
What Makes a Great Sensei?
Beware Prizes, Belts & Self-appointed Experts
Aikido & Lean – It’s All the Same