Lean, Leadership & Ethics, Part 1

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Been reflecting about each of these lately, and how they relate.

But what’s Ethics got to do with anything?

We’re in a proverbial knowledge economy. The market caps of, say, Google, Facebook and Apple, dwarf that of Toyota.

Google, Facebook and Apple have comparatively little in physical capital. ‘All’ they have is intellectual capital, and in particular, human capital.

How does human capital differ, from say, physical or financial capital?

Unlike, say, a machine, or a bond, human capital can chose not to deploy. Human capital can chose to walk out the door, in fact.

“That army will win which has the same spirit,” said Sun Tsu twenty-five hundred years ago. It’s never been more true.

Yet Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report tells us that only 13% of employees are engaged in their work!

Big company disease and organizational dysfunction is so deeply entrenched that we barely flinch at such data.

Imagine you’re a factory manager and your machines are operating at only 13% of capacity!

Why are people so disengaged? Gallup doesn’t say. But I suspect that disillusionment, or even disgust, at what the organization stands for, or how management behaves, is a major reason.

There’s more. Millennials (those born after 1980) will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025. And Gallup tells us that ethical behavior in corporations is even more important to millennials than to their parents.

Of course Ethics matters. People will not follow swine, at least not willingly, for very long. People will certainly not commit their hearts and minds – unless they feel good about what the organization stands for.

Best regards,

Pascal




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

The Work of Leaders
Why is Lean So Hard? – Organizational Elements
The Trouble with Corporate Clichés
Economy I and II - Never the Twain Shall Meet?

What is Intellectual Capital & Why Should You Care?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

I left engineering & business school well versed in how to take care of two kinds of assets:

• Financial, and
• Physical

Managing these kinds of capital is necessary, of course.

But in the world of Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook, is it sufficient?

Clearly not. Nowadays, many extremely valuable companies. Have negligible physical assets.

What they do have is Intellectual Capital -- the sum total of all the knowledge, experience, capability, creativity and urgency of all team members.

How well do we manage Intellectual Capital?

The answer is obvious, is it not?

Do we harvest this splendid resource?

Do today's organizations grasp the catastrophic effect of thoughtless layoffs, excessive exec compensation, stifling bureaucracy and all other IC killers?

There are many kinds of wealth -- financial, physical, intellectual, relational, reputation, time and so on.

These are inter-convertible. For example, my daughter Eleanor has time wealth (& Dad's wallet...), which she is transforming into capability wealth.

When she graduates, God willing, she'll translate capability wealth into financial wealth.

But Intellectual Capital differs from financial & physical capital in that,

1. It can be withheld, and
2. It can walk away,

IC is controlled by our team members.

Treating them like dirt is akin to hitting yourself in the face with a two-by-four.

How many corporations understand this?

Best,

Pascal


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

Value Stream Maps
What is a Key Thinker?
Macro Value Stream Kaizen – Zoology
Poka-Yoke – Preventing Inadvertent Errors

Lean, Leadership & Ethics, Part 1

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Been reflecting about each of these lately, and how they relate.

But what’s Ethics got to do with anything?

We’re in a proverbial knowledge economy. The market caps of, say, Google, Facebook and Apple, dwarf that of Toyota.

Google, Facebook and Apple have comparatively little in physical capital. ‘All’ they have is intellectual capital, and in particular, human capital.

How does human capital differ, from say, physical or financial capital?

Unlike, say, a machine, or a bond, human capital can chose not to deploy. Human capital can chose to walk out the door, in fact.

“That army will win which has the same spirit,” said Sun Tsu twenty-five hundred years ago. It’s never been more true.

Yet Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report tells us that only 13% of employees are engaged in their work!

Big company disease and organizational dysfunction is so deeply entrenched that we barely flinch at such data.

Imagine you’re a factory manager and your machines are operating at only 13% of capacity!

Why are people so disengaged? Gallup doesn’t say. But I suspect that disillusionment, or even disgust, at what the organization stands for, or how management behaves, is a major reason.

There’s more. Millennials (those born after 1980) will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025. And Gallup tells us that ethical behavior in corporations is even more important to millennials than to their parents.

Of course Ethics matters. People will not follow swine, at least not willingly, for very long. People will certainly not commit their hearts and minds – unless they feel good about what the organization stands for.

Best regards,

Pascal

Are Google & Facebook Destroying Our Minds?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Do no evil?
Google motto

Steven Zuckerberg, Sergei Brynn and Larry Page and their ilk are reportedly well-meaning people. And I imagine their employees try to live up to some version of Google’s motto.

But good intentions not enough, as outlined in a recent, splendid Guardian piece by Paul Lewis.

Google, Facebook & social media, Lewis suggests, are weakening our ability to think deeply, reflect and learn. They are master manipulators, Lewis continues, who are weakening us, hurting our children and degrading democracy.

Don't want to be misunderstood. We're not helpless. And in measured doses, our screens can be enormously helpful. Our technology can the "bicycle for the mind" that Steve Jobs imaged.

The dose makes the poison, is a core principle of Toxicology. Some substances that are toxic at high doses, are actually beneficial and even essential at low doses.

Pure acetic acid causes severe burns, yet small quantities, say, in a fine vinegar, enhance our enjoyment of food. Pure oxygen will scorch your lungs. Alcohol poisoning is a chronic problem, yet a glass of red wine each day enhances health.

Our daughters, Katie & Eleanor, both in university, agree with Paul Lewis. "Dad, we may be the last generation to grow up relatively free of screens."

They're protective of their teenager brother, Matthew, who is surrounded by screens and thus vulnerable to the manipulators.

Accordingly, our family applies the following guidelines:

1) No phones or Pads after 8:00 p.m.

2) One hour reading for every hour at a screen

As a general principle, I turn my cell phone on for an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch, and an hour late in the afternoon. It's off the rest of the time (exception: Safety).

Do such measures work? Partially...but that makes all the difference.

Google & Facebook may be destroying our minds. Write it on the bathroom mirror, on your whiteboard, in your journal so you see it every day.

Tell everybody you know, and above all, take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones. Let's use the technology, not the other way round.

Stay safe, stay awake

Pascal

Lean, Leadership & Ethics, Part 1

By Pascal Dennis

Been reflecting about each of these lately, and how they relate.

But what’s Ethics got to do with anything?

We’re in a proverbial knowledge economy. The market caps of, say, Google, Facebook and Apple, dwarf that of Toyota.

Google, Facebook and Apple have comparatively little in physical capital. ‘All’ they have is intellectual capital, and in particular, human capital.

How does human capital differ, from say, physical or financial capital?

Unlike, say, a machine, or a bond, human capital can chose not to deploy. Human capital can chose to walk out the door, in fact.

“That army will win which has the same spirit,” said Sun Tsu twenty-five hundred years ago. It’s never been more true.

Yet Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report tells us that only 13% of employees are engaged in their work!

Big company disease and organizational dysfunction is so deeply entrenched that we barely flinch at such data.

Imagine you’re a factory manager and your machines are operating at only 13% of capacity!

Why are people so disengaged? Gallup doesn’t say. But I suspect that disillusionment, or even disgust, at what the organization stands for, or how management behaves, is a major reason.

There’s more. Millennials (those born after 1980) will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025. And Gallup tells us that ethical behavior in corporations is even more important to millennials than to their parents.

Of course Ethics matters. People will not follow swine, at least not willingly, for very long. People will certainly not commit their hearts and minds – unless they feel good about what the organization stands for.

In the weeks to come, we’ll dig into Ethics and how it relates to Lean and Leadership.

Best regards,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

How Will You Motivate People? - Part 2

By Pascal Dennis

Me again, continuing our road 'to the interior'.

So how does a leader motivate people to do extraordinary things?

(Change is hard, transformation hurts. By contrast, doing nothing is easy.)

Here's what I have found.

Safety & Security are Job One

If people don't feel secure in their jobs, forget it.

Great companies live the 'Safety first' mantra -- and that means both physical & psychological safety.

Immature organizations may pooh-pooh such ideas.

'Human capital' -- morale, ingenuity, flexibility, problem solving -- have little value for them.

Does that make sense in the world of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google?

Noble Goals

People want to be involved in something bigger than themselves.

No man is an island, said the poet John Donne. People will die for a noble idea, a just cause.

So leadership is story-telling, narrative.

How to frame our activities so that our team members feel they 'building a cathedral', and not simply cutting stone?

Then, how to deploy our goals so that each front line team is engaged?

Simple Decency and the Great Virtues

The Great Virtues are enduring standards of behavior. As in manufacturing, ethical standards make problems visible.

People will not follow swine, at least not for long. Safety plus noble goals plus simple decency allows people to relax.

'I'm okay here. These are good people & they'll do the right thing...' -- which unleashes commitment & creativity.

Brain imaging technology reinforces these observations. Under stress, the Pre-frontal Cortex, the brain's managerial centre, shuts down.

The limbic and sub-cortical, fight or flight, parts of the brain light up.

Fear makes us stupid. Deming intuited this decades ago: "Drive fear out of the organization!"

Safety, Noble Goals and Simple Decency are simply good business.

Great organizations, those that have prospered for generations, understand this in their marrow.

(For more on the Great Virtues, see here)

Best,

Pascal

What is Intellectual Capital & Why Should You Care?

By Pascal Dennis

I left engineering & business school well versed in how to take care of two kinds of assets:

• Financial, and
• Physical

Managing these kinds of capital is necessary, of course.

But in the world of Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook, is it sufficient?

Clearly not. Nowadays, many extremely valuable companies. Have negligible physical assets.

What they do have is Intellectual Capital -- the sum total of all the knowledge, experience, capability, creativity and urgency of all team members.

How well do we manage Intellectual Capital?

The answer is obvious, is it not?

Do we harvest this splendid resource?

Do today's organizations grasp the catastrophic effect of thoughtless layoffs, excessive exec compensation, stifling bureaucracy and all other IC killers?

There are many kinds of wealth -- financial, physical, intellectual, relational, reputation, time and so on.

These are inter-convertible. For example, my daughter Eleanor has time wealth (& Dad's wallet...), which she is transforming into capability wealth.

When she graduates, God willing, she'll translate capability wealth into financial wealth.

But Intellectual Capital differs from financial & physical capital in that,

1. It can be withheld, and
2. It can walk away,

IC is controlled by our team members.

Treating them like dirt is akin to hitting yourself in the face with a two-by-four.

How many corporations understand this?

Best,

Pascal

Building Intellectual Capital

By Pascal Dennis

What's the proper role of the Kaizen/Continuous Improvement Office?

I was taught that it was three-fold:

1. To create capability
2. To share learning
3. To create kaizen spirit

More and more though, I think about the great Taiichi Ohno.

"I am not just building cars - I am building people!"

A splendid concept from a true revolutionary.

I am building people!

Underlying this sentiment was Ohno's remarkable respect for people - expressed by challenging them to do their very best!

Tough love indeed.

I've been privileged to have such senseis, both at Toyota and in Aikido.

But how does this help the corporation? Where does this show up on the Balance Sheet?

Sadly, it doesn't - for now.

But I am hopeful that before too long Intellectual Capital will begin to appear on Balance Sheets

Intellectual Capital means people - and their capability, creativity, flexibility, sense of urgency, knowledge, relationships and camaraderie.

At companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Intellectual Capital dwarfs financial and physical assets.

So how can we continue to ignore it?

So, let me suggest that in the next decade, the Kaizen/CI Office needs to think as follows:

Our job is to create Intellectual Capital - by growing people.

Best,

Pascal

Social Media & the Lean Business System -- Risks & Opportunities

By Pascal Dennis,

Been thinking a lot about this lately.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, as well as, the abundance of cell phone apps -- what do they mean for Lean thinkers?

Seems to me social media represent a powerful new learning channel -- provided we keep the fundamentals in mind.

Yokoten -- means shared, lateral, experiential learning.

We learn by doing -- not by browsing.

If we spend too much time at our screens -- we sacrifice depth.

Depth of understanding requires action followed by reflection -- away from your screen.

Use the screen to supplement your knowledge.

Then turn the damned thing off and get to the gemba, where you must practice, practice, practice.

Social media are marvelous, helpful and oh so seductive. Used properly, they're a boon.

But they're no substitute for experience, for the school of hard knocks, of growth & learning.

Regards,

Pascal