Category Archives: Lean News

Every Time You “Fix Your People”, a Baby Kitten Dies

There is an old principle in management called the “Peter Principle”.

The Peter Principle says that employees and managers will get promoted throughout their career, until they reach their level of incompetence.  In other words, until they reach a job that they actually can’t perform that well, and end up doing themselves, and the employees they serve (yes, I said serve: more on this later), a disservice.

If you are reading this, I think it’s fair to say that you are the type of person who is taking charge of your own path in life.  So don’t let the Peter Principle happen to you!  To avoid it, follow this Lean principle instead.

The Principle of Lean Management

There is a very simple principle in Lean Management that says we must improve our process, or way of work, and build our people.  Think about it.

Most managers, bosses, even employees themselves do it the other way around – they try and fix the people they serve instead, and build the processes they perform.  Not only is it ridiculously non-efficient to try and fix individual people, but building process upon process merely results in waste and inefficiencies, making the work harder to do.  As an example, you might have harsh words with one employee, only to see them leave, ignore you, or even get promoted (probably to their level of incompetence).  And yet, this method is the knee-jerk reaction many bosses have.

Fixing the Process

Counter this with the Lean principle of fixing the process instead.  When we improve a process, it improves it for everyone.  Having an accepted, trained standard way of performing the work, that is made visible at the work station or desk so anyone can see if it is being followed or not is a great place to start with improvements.

We must also support the standard process with a problem solving culture.  To do this, Charlie Munger recommends matching the incentives to the outcome that we want.  For example, measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on zero rework, instead of simply churning through as many items as possible with no regard for customer or quality.  It may seem simple but it’s extremely powerful stuff.

Once we have looked at fixing our processes, we can build our people.

Building our People

This means we teach them the problem solving tools of Lean, enable them to use it, and support it with leaders who are happy to follow the methods as well.  It will sometimes involve stopping when there is a problem (instead of sweeping it under the rug) so you can swarm around it and fix it close to when it happens.  This builds a culture that solves problems close to the source will give you results 1000 times better than trying to fix it three weeks or even three months down the track, when information is hazy and there are other fires to put out.

Doing it the Lean Way Will Change Your Life

Think about your own life, and when something goes wrong don’t blame the person.  Look at the process they are following (and if one doesn’t exist, then now would be a very good time to buy yourself another copy of Five Minute Lean) and the incentives that surround it.  The funny thing is, when you stop blaming your people, they will be more likely to look at doing the right thing by you as well.

Yours in change,

David McLachlan

Lean and the Zen Master’s Story

There is an old saying in Zen, originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, and later translated by D.T. Suzuki in one of the first books on Zen to reach the western world. 

It goes like this:


“Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers.

When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers.

But now that I have got its very substance I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.”


This saying might seem paradoxical at first (just like a lot of Zen might) but in truth it makes complete sense and applies itself to Lean perfectly well in the form of Lean Tools, and Lean Culture.

How the Zen Story Applies: Lean Tools vs Lean Culture

You see when a man or woman first starts down the path of Lean, it is all about the Tools.  They see the wonderful tools, the amazing things they can do in making their job better, reducing lead times, improving quality by leaps and bounds, and they are excited.

After many years of studying and applying Lean, it becomes about the Culture.  They say that only the culture matters, one of Lean Management and enabling people to swarm problems and solve the root cause, building people to be proficient in the Lean problem solving skills.

Then after many more years, when they finally get it, it is all about the Tools in the end.  This is because the tools are how you actually teach your people.  The tools are how you frame a problem in a way that helps you solve it efficiently.  The tools are what you use every time you are building that capability in your team-mates.

So there you have it: Mountain, not-mountain, mountain again.  Keep learning and applying Lean and I know you will see the mountain again in your own life.

Yours in change,

David McLachlan

Why Ten Percent of People Will Hate What You Do

Have you ever gone through a period in life where you just can’t seem to win, no matter what you do?  You might seem to be surrounded by people who block you at every turn or seem to be intentionally  on your case, all the time.

The good news is, you’re not alone.  The better news is, with this simple rule, you can move through it and on to bigger and better things.

The Rule of 10, 80, 10

There’s a rule in business and change management that reads “10, 80, 10”.  What it means is that when you are putting something out there, whether it is an idea for change, a better way of doing things, a new product or even a change in your personal style, there will be 10 percent of people who hate it.  It’s just the way it is.  Not everyone is going to love your stuff, and the sooner you know it, the sooner you can move on.  Thankfully though, the tale doesn’t end here.

This is because there will also be 80 percent of people who are indifferent to your idea, and will simply ebb and flow with the tide depending on how well you work with them.  Sure, that’s a lot of people, but realise that they have their own worries, their own lives and their own agendas.  It can’t all be about you.  Some of it can, though, which brings us to the last part of the equation.

This is where there will be 10 percent of people who absolutely love it.  They will “get” your passion, your idea, and the way you do things.  And they will love YOU.  They will be your raving fans.  They will help to spread your message, and will do it with a smile because they feel as though it’s right.

Look at Where You Are Now

So take a look at where you are now.  Are you surrounded by detractors, or raving fans?  Sure, sometimes it might feel as though nobody likes what you do –  but it’s simply an illusion, because you are merely surrounded, at this point in time, by the 10 percent of haters.  When you move around, move on, or keep working into other areas and meeting new people, you will meet the indifferent 80 percent.  Keep going a little further, and you will meet the loving 10 percent.

So don’t be discouraged.

Know that you can change and move, and there is a “10 percent” of raving fans waiting out there, just for you.

Yours in change,

David McLachlan

Standard Work and Kaizen: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Describing Lean to people can be both extremely easy, and extremely hard.

Easy because many people brush over it in a sentence, and tell their audience of the massive increase in quality and reduction in time it takes to do the work that Lean can bring.

Hard because the depth of Lean, once you really get into it, is massive.  Yes, it is a method for improving your business, and your work processes, and it can increase quality and reduce delivery times significantly.  But it is also a mindset change, where team-mates embed a problem solving and continuously improving culture that supports the tools.

If you are talking to someone with even the slightest knowledge of Lean tools and practices, however, I’ll make it easier for you.  That’s because I can sum it up in two concepts: Standard Work, and Kaizen.

Standard Work

It’s hard to improve something that you don’t have.  That is why it’s important to have a standard, repeatable process in place before you set about improving it.  While this might seem like a mundane or ordinary thing, very few companies actually have it (or even know how important it is to have).

Michael Gerber called it out in his best selling book “The E-Myth, Revisited”.  He used the term “operating manuals”, but it doesn’t matter what you call them.  If you don’t have Standard Work in your job or business, there’s a good chance you will have to hire or work with expensive “experts” with their own knowledge and way of doing things, or rely on people who have been doing the job for years.  Their methods may not even mesh with what you want, and certainly may not match the work culture you already have in place.

With a good standard operating procedure, a person off the street should be able to come in and do the job with a minimum of training.

Kaizen is Continuous Improvement: Every Person, Every day

Kaizen is the term for continuous improvement in Japanese, and when we have a stable, standard process, it is our aim to work on improving it.

We do this by calling out problems as quickly as possible – anything that slows it down, causes re-work, waiting, unnecessary inventory (pretty much any of the eight wastes).  It means supporting a culture that celebrates problems instead of hiding them, that error proofs the process or at the very least stops work if something is not right.

Put Together, They are Unstoppable

So we have standard work, then we improve it.  This creates a better process, and we can improve that.  This creates a better process again.  As we progress, lead times go down.  Re-work goes down.  Complaints go down.   Costs go down.  Morale goes up.  Customers are happier.

And suddenly, you find yourself enjoying your job again.

Yours in change,

David McLachlan

Why is Game of Thrones Lean?

Two of My Favourite Things

Game of Thrones is one of my favourite shows.  Sure, you have to send the kids to bed before you click that play button on the DVD player, but it’s a great reminder of the cool things you can do as an adult.  Like watch a lady-knight and a man-knight kick each other in the groin.  Ok – cool, and slightly disturbing.

Lean is also one of my favourite work philosophies.  Sure, not many people really understand it, but when you are surrounded by a few good people who do, life just seems that much easier and worthwhile.

This is why I nearly wet myself when I stumbled across the fact that Game of Thrones is, well, Lean.

Enter a Good Friend

A good friend of mine gets HBO every year for the few months that Game of Thrones is on cable.  This year, a funny thing happened when he called up to arrange access.

After the first ring, a voice prompt said: “Press “1” if you are calling because you want to watch Game of Thrones this season.”

He pressed “1”.

It took her to another section where he was prompted to enter his cable details and password to confirm.  And it was then that a beautiful thing happened.

He was automatically signed up for just the right channel so he could watch Game of Thrones, placed on his regular bill so no additional payment details needed to be given, and which would also cancel immediately and automatically when the season ended.  No more, no less.  Just the right amount, just in time.

When a Company Gets it Right, It’s a Beautiful Thing

The cable company nailed it.  They knew that value is determined by the customer, and that seven million viewers can’t be wrong.  They separated the hordes of callers all wanting the same thing, gave them exactly what they wanted, when they wanted it, in one simple, speedy, transaction, and enabled the regular call centre staff to continue doing their job.

When customers get the value they crave, the financial rewards flow for the company delivering it.  The stock price of said cable company has gone up more than 100% in the last two years.  Not a bad return.

Now, I just have to hold my breath for the next series, and hope like crazy that George R. R. Martin finishes the books in time.

Yours in change,

David McLachlan

Lean Articles Vault

Review Our Lean Articles Archive

Below is a list of the Lean articles published at Five Minute Lean.   Click on any of the links below to learn more about these Lean methods.

 

Seth Godin on the Gemba

Seth Godin, author of the fantastic book “Tribes” often brings great ideas to the marketplace and certainly has more than a few hungry customers ready to snap up his every word.

In the book Tribes, Seth notes that “the top isn’t the top anymore, because the streets are where the action is”.

What he’s describing, without knowing it, is the Gemba.  Otherwise known as “where the work is done”, the Gemba is where the action is, where the customer interacts with us, and where we have the power to make or break a company.

Leading from the top is no longer enough.  Simply decreeing change will no longer work, it has to be led from the ground up.  The best way to discover customer value is by being there on the front lines.  The best way to see wasteful processes is to be there performing them.

Leading from the bottom, by creating a movement, a groundswell, a crowd of raving fans, is also the way to incite positive change.  Whether it is in a company or an entire industry, change is led from the bottom more than ever before.

And when we have a movement, an idea worth believing in, then all we need is a means to connect and communicate with our tribe and create that groundswell.  We have the tools to do this already at our fingertips – with Twitter, with Facebook, with WordPress, with dozens of other tools, all free and easy to use.

So if you’re having trouble connecting to your customers or inciting change, go to the Gemba.  Those third-hand reports you’re getting are simply not going to cut it.

Yours in change,

Dave McLachlan

What You Are About To Witness Will Truly Change Your Life

Wow – I can’t believe you made it here, but I’m so glad you did!

You see, what you are about to experience is something that is going to change the world.  But not only the world – it will also change your life.

How can I say this so flippantly?  Simple.

If you’ve ever dreaded going to work on Monday morning, or hated the long days you are forced to work in the business you created, then the short, powerful lessons contained at this site have been made just for you.

And you made it.  Here.  Just in time.

Stick around and we’ll chat soon,

David McLachlan