On Labels – ‘Expert, Master, Sensei’ and the like

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

My friend and colleague Mark Graban, always astute, has highlighted an important issue for Lean thinkers.

Is it right and proper to call one’s self an ‘expert, master or sensei’?

In a word – no.

It's important in my view to recognize that we humans are sly, lazy, imperfect beings. (At least this one is.)

Granting one's self such a label usually means we've stopped learning.

My best Toyota senseis had no trouble saying, "I don't know." They'd run experiments and study the results to fill in their knowledge gaps, of course.

But they never put on airs, and never granted themselves lofty titles.

I remember Mr. Hayashi, our TMMC OMCD sensei, sitting at the picnic tables by the production line, quietly doodling in his notebook.

He was 75 years old at the time, and one of Toyota’s most senior and respected senseis.

"What are you doing, sensei?" I asked.

"Working on a problem,” he smiled. “It's eluded me for a long time. But I think I’m getting somewhere!”

Still humble and open at the age of 75.

Needless to say, Mr. Hayashi would never dream of calling himself an expert!

Best regards,

Pascal




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

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Fred Taylor & Illusion of Top-Down Control - Part I
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Social Media & the Lean Business System -- Risks & Opportunities

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

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




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

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You Want to Get More Done? Do Less…

On Labels – ‘Expert, Master, Sensei’ and the like

By Pascal Dennis

My friend and colleague Mark Graban, always astute, has highlighted an important issue for Lean thinkers.

Is it right and proper to call one’s self an ‘expert, master or sensei’?

In a word – no.

It's important in my view to recognize that we humans are sly, lazy, imperfect beings. (At least this one is.)

Granting one's self such a label usually means we've stopped learning.

My best Toyota senseis had no trouble saying, "I don't know." They'd run experiments and study the results to fill in their knowledge gaps, of course.

But they never put on airs, and never granted themselves lofty titles.

I remember Mr. Hayashi, our TMMC OMCD sensei, sitting at the picnic tables by the production line, quietly doodling in his notebook.

He was 75 years old at the time, and one of Toyota’s most senior and respected senseis.

"What are you doing, sensei?" I asked.

"Working on a problem,” he smiled. “It's eluded me for a long time. But I think I’m getting somewhere!”

Still humble and open at the age of 75.

Needless to say, Mr. Hayashi would never dream of calling himself an expert!

Best regards,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

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

Pascal Dennis Bio

Jerry Seinfeld - Lean Thinker

By Pascal Dennis

Splendid post by James Clear on the so-called Seinfeld strategy of personal development.

Jerry's approach?

To be better comic, you have to write better jokes, and to write better jokes, you have to write every day.

At Lean Pathways we call it the "drip, drip, drip" approach.

At Toyota, we called it "every day, a little up".

Malcolm Gladwell calls it the 10,000 hour road to mastery.

But there's always some bozo trying to short circuit the process.

(I saw an article the other day entitled, "Forget the 10,000 Hour Rule".)

Folks, there is very little new under the sun & moon. The fundamentals are eternal.

And they include the Great Virtues.

Jerry walked away from the Seinfeld Show, and an untold fortune, to marry and raise a family.

He's said to be a genuinely decent guy, and a good father & husband.

Well done, Jerry-sensei!

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

Time to Boycott the NFL?

By Pascal Dennis

I'm struck by the number of football fans asking this question.

A quick Google search will yield pages of websites wherein fans vent their frustration.

Fans are increasingly cynical about the NFL's behaviour during the replacement referee fiasco, and its tardy response to the overwhelming evidence of brain injury.

Some people argue that it doesn't matter.

"Demand for the NFL is inelastic," commented former Forty-Niners great Steve Young.

That's MBA talk for, 'You can charge what you want & they'll still come...'

But older fans will tell you that once upon a time, Major League Baseball was as big as the NFL.

Indeed, this was true for most of the last century.

MLB could not imagine it would squander the good will of its fans - but it did.

Is NFL doing the same?

(He who the gods wish to destroy, they first award big ESPN deals...)

Any lessons here for Lean thinkers?

Here are a few:

Our customer defines value - connect with them, and check in regularly.

Problems are gold - treasure & make them visible.

Seek root cause, and run experiments to confirm root cause.

Check with the customer to confirm countermeasures are working as intended.

Best,

Pascal

The Puritan Gift

By Pascal Dennis

Kenneth and William Hopper have done us a great service.

Their award-winning book, The Puritan Gift, offers a bracing diagnosis of what ails America.

The Hoppers argue that we've squandered the gift bequeathed on us by our Puritan forbears:

1. Commitment to creating a better society, indeed, a "shining city on the hill",
   
2. Putting the needs of the group ahead of individual needs,
   
3. A willingness, and pleasure in, getting our hands dirty,
   
4. Organizational genius, and
   
5. A respect for, and comfort with, technology
   

Since the end of WWII, management practice has been hijacked by the Cult of the (So-Called) Expert.

Business schools have flooded our organizations with MBA's who "should have a skull & crossbones tattooed across their foreheads."

The cult's mental models, they tell us, include:

1. "We can manage by the numbers, from a distance. We don't have to get our hands dirty."
   
2. Credentialism -- the more degrees, preferably business degrees, the better
   
3. "Every man, woman, thing for themselves!"
   
4. "The common good -- what's that?"
   
5. "Top-down control -- what can the front-line worker possibly teach us?"
   

Raw, passionate stuff!

The book has much to teach Lean thinkers. Their discussion of the meeting of East & West in post-war Japan is not to be missed.

Well done, Ken and Bill!

Best regards,

Pascal