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