Reprise: Jidoka & the Titanic

By Pascal Dennis

Building quality into the process, (Jidoka), depends greatly on developing in-process and end-of-pipe embedded tests into our standardized work.

We know thereby, if we are OK or Not OK, and have an early warning that countermeasures are needed.

And who is the source of such tests? Why the people closest to the work, hence the centrality of total involvement.

Common sense, you might say. (Doesn't everybody know this?)

But, as the saying goes, nothing is more uncommon.

In fact, just a few generations ago, the concept of embedded tests and Jidoka were literally unthinkable.

The most skilled people in the most advanced societies could not conceive of managing complex systems and machinery in this way.

As evidence, I offer the Titanic.

Some years ago I did a root cause investigation of the catastrophe. Here's one of the Cause & Effect (Ishikawa) diagrams

Almost all the root causes entailed an absence of embedded tests, including:

• Is lifeboat capacity adequate?


• Can the steel & rivets withstand cold North Atlantic temperatures?


• Does the ship's turning radius meet a predetermined standard?


• Can we evacuate this ship with a predetermined amount of time?

(Some homework for you. Can you identify at least five other tests?)

Nowadays, we wouldn't dream of designing a complex system without Jidoka and embedded tests.

But for the Titanic's designers, engineers and managers, Jidoka was unthinkable.

But 104 years later, are we not in a similar position?

Our management systems are more complex than ever. Have our mental models kept pace?

Our corporations comprise countless deep, complex, hyper-specialized multi-national, multi-cultural silos.

Is our thinking up to the challenge?

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

Is Our Thinking Up to the Challenge of the 21st Century?

By Pascal Dennis

In an earlier blog I asked the above question.

I'd compared our situation in 2013, with that of the designers, engineers and managers of the Titanic, a century earlier.

I suggested that we, too, we unprepared for our century's management challenges.

(Don't want to be misunderstood - I am NOT suggesting any imminent catastrophe.)

I've dedicated myself to deepening & extending our mental models.

I'd like to help teach the thinking way I was so fortunate to learn.

In my view, our deepest and most common management dysfunction is in our treatment of people.

We are very good at managing Financial and Physical Assets (Capital), and a good part of the curriculum of business and engineering school focuses here.

This is necessary, of course, but is it sufficient?

In a world dominated by Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, isn't Intellectual Capital even more important?

(Lean thinkers, please forgive the accounting jargon.)

Yet, we manage people, the source of our Intellectual Capital, in haphazard or even plainly foolish ways.

Jack Welch famously said that Human Resources are the most important department.

Jack took some heat for it, but, as usual, he was prescient.

The world's best organizations invest heavily in their people.

The explicit deal is:

• We'll invest in you, make you more skilled and employable, and give you a job for as long as you want it.
• You'll help us be successful

Taiichi Ohno's Respect for People concept, remarkable in the late 1940's, with WWII's scars still open, is an early expression.

In blogs to come I'll dig deeper into how we might manage Intellectual Capital better.

Again, please forgive the accounting jargon, but we need to learn to talk to the CFO.

Best,

Pascal

Jidoka

By Pascal Dennis

Building quality into the process, aka Jidoka, is a cornerstone of the Toyota Production System.

And embedded tests are a cornerstone of Jidoka.

To make a good product, or provide a good service, I need:

1. A clear picture of what good is (i.e. a Standard)
2. Quick feedback on how I'm doing right now, and
3. A way of getting back to a good condition

Embedded tests address element 2, and should be

• Simple,
• Low cost, and
• Binary (i.e. OK/Not OK)

What's the best source of embedded tests?

Wait for it...front-line team members.

Who knows the work better?

Who else has absorbed the 'nicks & knacks of the work'?

That's why Total Involvement is the heart of the Lean Business System.

Without it, the system is akin to a beautiful sailboat - without any wind.

Which leads us to Respect for People, another central tenet, and the topic of an upcoming blog.

Best regards,

Pascal