Where Lean Has Gone Wrong & What to Do About It, Part 2

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

“What is your thinking way, Pascal-san?”

Thanks for your thoughtful feedback on part 1 of this note.

The Lean ‘movement’ is indeed in flux, no? We need to reflect and adjust our activities in accord with the needs of our partners and communities.

How to do this? In my view, we need to double-down on Lean principles. Otherwise, may I suggest that we are essentially a skilled trade – useful, honorable, worthy of study and practice – but not a game-changing, earth-shaking, get out of town transformation.

Lean – aka Toyota Production System, aka the ‘Profound System of Knowledge’ (Deming) – is a set of principles that turn into methods & tools appropriate to the situation.

But many of us have become enamoured of our tools & methods, have we not? To be sure, Standardized Work, Jidoka, Heijunka and the like are splendid & powerful methods. But unless we understand & translate the underlying principles, our impact will be limited.

Principles are ideas; methods are the action that bring them to life. Principles are eternal; methods, temporary.

For example, principle like ‘Make Problems Visible’ and ‘Build Quality into the Process’ find expression in Toyota’s famous Andon board. If we focus on the Andon board, and not the underlying principles, how are we to help, say, a developer of financial security software?

Do we advise them to install an Andon board & all the related electronics, because that’s how we did it in our manufacturing plant? The IT company would show the ‘sensei’ the door – rightfully! (“I don’t care what you did in your manufacturing plant…”)

But if we reflect deeply on the underlying principles, we might come up with very interesting countermeasures, as have the splendid Menlo Innovations and their CEO Richard Sheridan – (two coders side-by-side, checking & confirming each line…)

Or we might have come up Agile & its constituent methods (Scrum, Kanban etc.), as our IT colleagues did a decade ago.

Now ideas are harder to teach & apply than methods. Unlike methods, ideas cannot be turned into three-day, or five-day, or three-week ‘programs’. Ideas are not so easily monetized. But their impact is much greater, and the astute leader will notice the difference.

Much of my personal practice entails coaching senior executives. I start with the principles, to get their interest, then provide examples of how the principles have been applied in different industries.

Underlying message: “Lean is a transformational strategy, a game-changer…”

Starting with tools sends a different message. “Lean is like a skilled trade – helpful, useful, worth doing, but not a game-changer.”

Our Toyota senseis emphasized principles above all, and their core question is burned into my consciousness: “What is your thinking way?”

If we deepen our understanding & application of Lean principles (thinking), we’ll be relevant & helpful for decades to come – and have a hell of a good time too.

Best regards,

Pascal




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

Where Lean Has Gone Wrong & What to Do About It, Part 1
What is Courage & What’s It Mean for Strategy?
"How Will You Motivate Your Team, Pascal-san?"
What is a Good Life?

What Does Breakthrough Mean? - Part 1

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Not understanding Breakthrough - common failure mode in Strategy Deployment.

Too often, our Strategy A3 papers are full of work that's routine or entails continuous incremental improvement.

Our A3 becomes crowded with non-critical stuff & we lose sight of the critical few.

Strategy Deployment is about breakthrough - the few things you will emphasize to take your business to another level.

So how do we come to better understand breakthrough?

Here's a useful technique.

As yourself, "What are five problems, whose solution will transform our business?"

The question is a fractal, and applies at every level of the organization.

The higher the level, the more "play" in defining the "boundary conditions" & "design space".

Sometimes the answer is obvious.

For example, if you're launching a new model in an auto plant, breakthrough might entail:

• Reducing ergonomic burden by 50%
• Improving productivity by 30% (through Waste reduction)

If you're in agriculture, breakthrough might mean:

• Reducing employee absenteeism & turnover by 40%
• Increasing Yield by 30%

But other times, breakthrough is not obvious. We can become stuck in our mental models, unable to see what's all too visible to 'fresh eyes'.

Or as we rise in organization, we can lose touch with the front line, where Value is created.

Other things can hinder us as well.

For now, let's remember the above question - and it's corollary: "Why not?"

As in, "Why not zero injuries, infections, defects, waste...?"

Best,

Pascal


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

Suggestion boxes vs Quick & Easy Kaizen
What is Intellectual Capital?, Part 2
What is Intellectual Capital & Why Should You Care?
Value Stream Maps

Where Lean Has Gone Wrong & What to Do About It, Part 2

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

“What is your thinking way, Pascal-san?”

Thanks for your thoughtful feedback on part 1 of this note.

The Lean ‘movement’ is indeed in flux, no? We need to reflect and adjust our activities in accord with the needs of our partners and communities.

How to do this? In my view, we need to double-down on Lean principles. Otherwise, may I suggest that we are essentially a skilled trade – useful, honorable, worthy of study and practice – but not a game-changing, earth-shaking, get out of town transformation.

Lean – aka Toyota Production System, aka the ‘Profound System of Knowledge’ (Deming) – is a set of principles that turn into methods & tools appropriate to the situation.

But many of us have become enamoured of our tools & methods, have we not? To be sure, Standardized Work, Jidoka, Heijunka and the like are splendid & powerful methods. But unless we understand & translate the underlying principles, our impact will be limited.

Principles are ideas; methods are the action that bring them to life. Principles are eternal; methods, temporary.

For example, principle like ‘Make Problems Visible’ and ‘Build Quality into the Process’ find expression in Toyota’s famous Andon board. If we focus on the Andon board, and not the underlying principles, how are we to help, say, a developer of financial security software?

Do we advise them to install an Andon board & all the related electronics, because that’s how we did it in our manufacturing plant? The IT company would show the ‘sensei’ the door – rightfully! (“I don’t care what you did in your manufacturing plant…”)

But if we reflect deeply on the underlying principles, we might come up with very interesting countermeasures, as have the splendid Menlo Innovations and their CEO Richard Sheridan – (two coders side-by-side, checking & confirming each line…)

Or we might have come up Agile & its constituent methods (Scrum, Kanban etc.), as our IT colleagues did a decade ago.

Now ideas are harder to teach & apply than methods. Unlike methods, ideas cannot be turned into three-day, or five-day, or three-week ‘programs’. Ideas are not so easily monetized. But their impact is much greater, and the astute leader will notice the difference.

Much of my personal practice entails coaching senior executives. I start with the principles, to get their interest, then provide examples of how the principles have been applied in different industries.

Underlying message: “Lean is a transformational strategy, a game-changer…”

Starting with tools sends a different message. “Lean is like a skilled trade – helpful, useful, worth doing, but not a game-changer.”

Our Toyota senseis emphasized principles above all, and their core question is burned into my consciousness: “What is your thinking way?”

If we deepen our understanding & application of Lean principles (thinking), we’ll be relevant & helpful for decades to come – and have a hell of a good time too.

Best regards,

Pascal

Is Lean a Set of Principles or a Set of Tools?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

“What is your thinking way, Pascal-san?”

Thanks all, for your thoughtful replies to the above question. Fine insights from many good people.

I’m reminded of a gemstone, that when held to the light reveals an array of color.

I suggested that Lean is a set of principles that turn into methods & tools, and that the latter may vary with the application.

Principles are ideas; methods are the action that bring them to life. To quote my friend & colleague, Skip Steward, “Principles and methods work hand in hand. Without one, the other will fail…”

A core principle like ‘Make Problems Visible’ will entail different methods in different situations. Different methods in, say, a consumer goods supply chain, than in a hospital pharmacy.

Much of my personal practice entails coaching senior executives. I start with the principles, which immediately gets their interest. Underlying message: “Lean is a transformational strategy, hard to do, but a game-changer.”

Starting with tools sends a different message. “Lean is like a skilled trade – helpful, useful, worth doing, but not a game-changer.”

Many of you wrote that Lean is a culture, a way of thinking. Well said, and I would add: we create a culture when a large group of people understand, absorb and consistently practice a set of principles.

Our Toyota senseis emphasized principles above all. A common question: “What is your thinking way?”

Lean principles (thinking) are the road to transformation. They open the door for elegant, intuitive and useful Lean methods, and help senior leaders understand Lean’s full potential.

Best regards,

Pascal

Making the Problem Invisible

By Pascal Dennis

Japan workers 'told to lie about radiation'

More nuclear follies, folks.

You may recall an earlier blog entitled Reverse Magic.

The gist was that the Lean Business System, aka the Toyota Way, is essentially a magic act.

We seek to make the invisible, visible.

Looks like TEPPCO subcontractor workers were encouraged to do the opposite.

"Let's make the visible, invisible.

Let's hide a potentially deadly problem."

Here are some reflections:

Is this just a problem at TEPPCO & the nuclear industry?

Or are there other industries adept at hiding problems?

How about your business or ours?

Are we making problems visible -- warts & all?

Socrates was famously unattractive, and seems to have used his unsightliness.

"I'm not pretty, but sometimes, neither is the truth."

At the very least, accepting the often ugly facts, saves a great deal of energy.

Faking it is exhausting...

Best,

Pascal