There is a trend towards removing the Japanese language or jargon from Lean transformations in the U.S. I understand why organizations would want to make lean thinking and the corresponding tools easier to digest, but I think we should seriously consider keeping it Japanese.
People get used to new words and phrases better than you might think - Until a few years ago nobody knew what an iPod was. A cougar used to be a big cat and not a woman who likes younger men. Jewelry is now commonly called bling.
There is no standard for Americanized Lean - Some call Gemba ”three actuals (actual place, actual process, actual people)”, others brand it as “direct observation”, some refer to it as just “process walk”, and I am sure Gemba goes by other names. The problem with this is members of your organization can not easily learn Lean from external sources. Article and book authors tend to use the Japanese terms at least in reference but your staff may miss it if the original word is not shared with them.
Lean transformation is a significant change and language should reflect that - A lot of Lean will seem counter-intuitive at first and there is a major shift in thinking that will take place on your journey. A significant change in the language will help communicate to the culture that things will be different from here on out. To paraphrase Deming, you are no longer using the language of the old world.
Choosing the language of Lean is a strategic choice for your organization. It is easy to dismiss the notion of keeping the Japanese out and making easier translations. Please consider the pro side of keeping the original language.
I am very interested in your comments.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Dan Pink has an outstanding TED talk about how to motivate workers in the 21st century (some readers may need to open this post to be able to view the 19 minute video). Dan’s message about the difference between what science knows versus what business does will hopefully give you a new perspective.
Leadership can get into a trap when it tries to get compliance instead of commitment or engagement. Dan discusses how incentives can do more harm for your business. The speech discusses the need to move from a reward by carrot or punishment by stick practice.
Dan also speaks about an interesting study by Dan Ariely whom I greatly admire. I wrote about how his findings can help you connect actions to cost.
Please comment with your reactions to Dan’s speech.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
To get new windows in our house it has taken a minimum of five installations due to lack of inspection.
After the problems with the first installation (see part 1), I kept in constant contact with the sales person to ensure the windows that will be replaced are double-hung, has the same grid pattern, and the same energy efficiency. The sales person advised me the windows will be the exact same as the first installation except double-hung.
I had a family member at my house while the crew came for the second installation since I have to work and they only come M-F 8:00-5:00. After the windows were installed, my family member called to advise there were grids in both the top and bottom glass instead of just the top (which is how the single-hung windows looked like at the first installation). We also advised the crew to inspect one of the other windows that were installed previously because the framing was chipped.
The sales person advised me that I now have to work with the manufacturer since his company finished the install. The issue was now part of the warrantee with the window company and not the sales/installation company. The sales person told me the window company has a week backlog before they are even able to call people back to discuss problems. The sales person added that the window company will have to deal with the chipped framing as well.
I finally got a call from the window company and they advised they will come out to replace the windows with the incorrect lower grids. I asked for an evening or weekend install and they refused. I asked them if their refusal was serious especially since it is to fix a mistake they made. They advised they were serious.
The correct windows were finally put in for the third installation. They looked at the chipped framing window and advised they will come out again to replace it (M-F 8:00-5:00 only again). Luckily I happened to have had a weekday off to be there when they came a fourth time to fix the chipped framing but the installer ordered the wrong parts and needed to come back a fifth time. This Thursday will be the fifth time so my fingers are crossed but the cynic in me is expecting trouble.
I share this story to help highlight where Lean could help this situation. Below is a partial list:
The sales/installation company should have done a quality inspection before spending the resources installing the wrong parts.
The window company should have a better quality check before they wasted time building incorrect custom windows.
I am sure there was a communication flow issue between the sales/installation company and the window company that can be standardized.
The fact that there is a weeklong backlog before problems can even begin to be addressed should be seen as a problem for the window company. Getting to the root cause will help them fix the issue instead of always putting out fires.
An understanding of what is value added to the customer will help both companies. I expect more value when a problem is identified but they treated the issue like it was normal. From my experience, most customers judge a company by how they deal with problems if they unfortunately encounter one.
What other opportunities do you see for either company?
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
As someone who helps people improve their processes and quality for a living, being a consumer can sometimes drive me batty! I think there will always be a need for the lean principles to be applied (although some companies do not recognize the need). My wife and I recently purchased new windows for our whole house and have had cascading problems since.
The sales person did a quote while we were at work and mailed it to us. To understand what the windows he quoted were, we visited the showroom and the sales person showed us a double-hung window where both the top and bottom opened. We advised we wanted the energy-efficient and gas-filled glass. We pointed out the measurements on the quote weren’t correct so he was going to send someone out again and provide us with a more accurate quote.
The updated quote came and the price was good so we agreed via telephone.
During the day of the first installation I stayed out of the way from the crew. I popped out at one point to see one of the windows that was finished. It was a single-hung window where the top did not open like I ordered!
I called the salesperson who was very rude stating it was on the quote I agreed to. I advised it was not the window my wife and I saw in the showroom. He said that was just a demo of the window brand and we were not clear to him we wanted double-hung. I asked where it said on the quote that it was single hung to alert me as a customer that I might not be getting what I expected. He said next to each measurement is the code “SH” for single hung. I advised him that as the window expert, I would have expected him to explain technical codes to me the consumer and asked why he would not have tried to up-sell me on the more expensive window anyways. We eventually came to agreement to get the correct custom windows installed. This was truly a test of my respect for people principle!
Besides the obvious upset customer (me!), there was a lot of waste for the sales/installation company and the manufacturer:
The installers have to send their crew out twice (you will find out it will be three times in part 2!).
The single-hung custom windows are now scrap cost to the installer and/or manufacturer.
The time the salesperson spent fixing our problem took time away from him to generate new business for the installation company.
Potential counter-measures: 1) Train salespeople to ask customer’s the right kind of questions to ensure their needs are met prior to ordering. 2) Make quotes visual with descriptions with explicit explanations with no code so the customer can understand what they are agreeing to. 3) Don’t blame the customer when problems happen but own the issue.
I will share part 2 next week. Any other wastes or counter-measures you see in this story?
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
There are people in your organization who live with drastic waste everyday but they do not communicate it to anybody as a problem. I call them martyrs.
They take on work that is not value added for your customer. They perform duties that are a waste of their skills and pay level. Most of these activities have no thoughtful processes and are highly subject to variability. Martyrs usually do this work without productive complaint because “someone has to get it done and nobody else will do it.” (I say productive complaint because they most likely share their frustration with coworkers and families).
Leadership must actively identify and help martyrs.
Only by observing people doing the work will leaders see the problems martyrs face – because they will not tell you. Some do not even recognize it as a problem.
Help these martyrs recognize problems and do everything you can to help them solve it.
Assist them with understanding processes so they can remove waste from their work.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Remember the song “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen”?
I was thinking how appropriate some of the lyrics are for people who see problems in their work area everyday that never get fixed. Encourage your teams to make problems visible so they can begin to solve issues.
Make a whiteboard where everybody writes problems they see.
Have blank A3 paper handy so someone can begin to uncover the root cause.
Remind people to not just keep problems limited to memory because in a fast-paced workplace it is easy to forget or trivialize as time progresses.
Assign or facilitate someone in the workgroup to own the resolution of the problem.
Reinforce a culture where leadership supports problems being visible and not used as an easy punishing device.
Giving your team an avenue to express the problems they see will bring massive improvement to your organization.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Inflexible staff responsibilities and lack of cross-training leads to customer waiting. Simple changes can help your organization easily achieve customer satisfaction.
My wife and I rented a car for our vacation last week and experienced a very unnecessary 20 minute wait to return our car. This company definitely was not a Lean Enterprise.
The rent-a-car location has two connected offices. One office was for Cars and the other was Trucks. We returned the car about an hour after it opened only to see a sign on the locked door for the cars division stating they were dropping off a customer and to call a number if needed. We called the number and was advised the Car Division employee would return in 20-25 minutes.
We went into the Trucks Division office and two employees were talking together. They were not on the computer or phone. They advised they can only take the keys from us but could not give a receipt or change the credit card like we wanted to.
About five minutes later, a guy in coveralls drove up and parked behind the building. We saw him enter a back door of the Cars Division. We knocked on the glass and the new guy advised us he just takes care of the cars and would only be able to take the keys from us.
After 20 minutes, the Cars Division salesperson showed up and took care of us.
Our waiting could have been avoided by having more flexibility between divisions. If the Truck staff was not silioed and was able to cover the Cars returns while they dropped off a customer, we would have been more satisfied. From our perspective, the employees all worked for the same company and I did not care if they were in different divisions.
Another way to avoid customer wait would be to provide credit card and return authority to the person who takes care of the cars. If the company is hiring people who they do not trust with customer credit cards to take care of the cars, then I seriously worry about the quality of the vehicle I am renting.
This experience just drives home the importance of physically going to see how your customers interact with your company and products. The contermeasures I provided are simple and easy to implement but you have to see the problem to know it is a problem.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Learn something like you will be required to teach it someday.
That advice was given to me when I was in college and selling knives to pay my way through it. We had sales conferences and some speaker, I cannot remember their name, gave this principle to me and I try to use it every day. This blog is a reflection of this mindset.
When you read a book/article, hear a speaker, or get mentored, try to learn with the intensity that you might be called on to help someone else learn the same thing. You take on an additional responsibility if you know you are not learning just for your own sake. Not everything taught to you will be perfect or relevant but you will begin to look for the gold nuggets to pass on to others.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
I have not read John Medina’s book “Brain Rules” yet but this presentation from Garr Reynolds makes the book look fascinating (RSS readers may need to open post to view presentation). If there is any trouble with the embedded video (sometimes SlideShare loads forever when I embed it), the original source is here.
Some elements really fit in with Lean thinking:
The comments about instruction space sucking the brain power out of people is quite apt to consider if you are trying to create a learning organization.
The focus to minimize interruptions to gain quality is a form of waste to remove.
I love the phrase “going analog” because it does not have to rely on technology.
Noticing where there is force feeding but little digestion makes me think of how respect for people is being practiced.
“Pictures beat text” is a great clarion call to make the workplace more visual.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Peter Block’s “Flawless Consulting Second Edition” is an outstanding book and I recommend it for anybody who is ever asked for advice. Consulting skills are not limited to people with a consultant title but anybody who helps others but has no authority over the outcome of their advice. Leaders, project managers, church elders, event planners, and many others will find benefit in this book.
I bought this book because I am an internal consultant. I had a coach challenge me to define my role as a consultant. I was not able to do so in a way that satisfied me. This book helped me tremendously to be purposeful in all of my consulting work.
Block defines the roles and needs for both consultant and client. He provides the thinking behind the business of each phase in consulting. The definition and encouragement of how to be authentic are very actionable. The book also highlights the differences between external and internal consulting.
Some stand out chapters cover:
Contracting with a client (this is not just a formal & legal contract but a relationship contract)
Understanding, recognizing, and dealing with resistance
Obtaining data
Engagement thinking and tools
”Flawless Consulting” has many elements consistent with Lean thinking such as whole system engagement, being a learning organization instead of only focusing on teaching, and moving away from just engineering to include the social side of change.
I really like the wide margins in the book to be able to write my notes and thoughts. A good sign that I get something from a book is the amount of pencil marks inside of it. Practically every other page has some notation from my pencil!
Do you ever feel tempted to just engineer Lean into your team? Want to tell your team to implement one piece flow, pull systems, cell layouts, and other tools?
The above is an easy temptation. What is missing from a desire to engineer is the understanding that Lean is about people.
Peter Block says in ”Flawless Consulting“ that most problems can not be fixed by engineering alone and are usually people problems. I love his example of how an architect can easily design and build a house, but it is more difficult to work with the family to understand their needs and wants. He points out that organizations have more complexities than a single family house.
If you are in leadership and you want to engineer your team, I challenge your commitment to the respect for people principle. You are not equipping your team to use their minds to solve problems if you tell them how to design their work. You are even more guilty if you try to design their work without ever spending time in gemba.
Trust your team to solve outcome problems (reduce wait time, remove inventory, ect) not how-to problems (implement flow, create pull, ect). Your people will gain a deeper understanding of Lean by utilizing its principles to solve outcome problems.
I am an internal consultant but just recently learned I do not fully grasp what consulting is.
I feel I am an effective communicator, I can train, I have a good understanding how to implement and sustain Lean improvements, and I can help people solve problems. I was under the impression that all of these skills added together to equal consulting. I was wrong.
I have been pressing in with my coworkers to get coaching on what consulting skills are and I am reading Peter Block’s “Flawless Consulting“. I also have another book someone lent me as well.
You will see some of my reflections as I get a deeper understanding of consulting. I welcome your comments about consulting or suggestions for blogs/articles/books to further help me understand.
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration?
Kaizen Express from the Lean Enterprise Institute is an interesting book. The book focuses on the basic fundamentals of Lean and should be interesting to anybody wanting to reflect more on the principles.
I really like the book’s drawings and its focus on how to implement things like standardized work, visual management, jidoka, flow, and others. I want to emphasize a strength of this book is these concepts are not just defined like a glossary or a single paragraph but have a few pages dedicated to exploring the thinking and practicalities to operationalizing them.
Some lessons that stand out are the definition of three kinds of muda, the idea of islands, auto-eject devices, “A type pull” and “B type pull”, visual management, and zone control. The forms at the back of the book were interesting to see how similar or different to what my organization uses.
I do have some criticisms of the book. The biggest issue I have about this book is the lack of PDCA mentioned. While I learned TPS and TQC were developed separately by Toyota, PDCA is usually bundled into all Lean materials at this point. For a book about the basic fundamentals, this seems like a glaring omission to me.
I also need to discuss that this book is written in Japanese on the left side of the page and English on the right. I do not have major problems with this but found it to be slightly distracting – especially when some of the page layouts are in the middle of the page. It is quaint to see the Japanese writing but I do not see this as value added to me.
Overall, this book has a lot of gems in it and I would recommend it. I see this as a very handy quick reference book.
Conflict of interest disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review purposes.
“If you stay in this world, you will never learn another one.” – W. Edwards Deming
A lot of organizations call themselves Lean because they use the tools yet they still manage the same way as before their journey began. You will never gain a deep learning of Lean by trying to live in both worlds. This formula is like oil and water becasue they do not mix.
When leadership asks their front-line workers to change, the managers have to change as well for it to truly work.
“The Birth Of Lean” published by the Lean Enterprise Institute is a terrific book. This book is for people who want to gain a deeper insight into the thinking and struggles Toyota went through to develop what we call Lean.
I have been on my Lean Journey for 1.5 years. This book was perfect for someone at my stage of learning. I do not think this is a good introduction to Lean but functions as a book to help get a deeper understanding of the topics. If Lean was a college course, this would be a book for the level 300 classes.
The most powerful aspect of this book was the first person narrative from TPS & TQC pioneers such as Taiichi Ohno, Masao Nemoto, and Eiji Toyoda. I felt I was able to “get into their head” for a bit and understand their thinking and perspectives.
There are many gems in this book and different things that stood out to me.
SCOLDING – This surprised me to see how often the speakers talk about scolding workers and showing what went wrong and why. I am not suggesting this becomes a new practice, but this really shows an approach Toyota took to creating a learning organization. Many Lean transformations strive for the feel-good approach.
EXPERIMENTATION – Toyota just kept trying new things over and over again. They stopped the line and kept at it. They did not wait for a workshop. They practiced GAMBARE (just do it).
TWO PILLARS – I was surprised to read that Ohno’s Toyota Production System was created almost in parallel with Nemoto’s Total Quality Control. The two systems complimented each other but were not made in conjunction. Most Lean literature has merged these two systems and call it TPS but they were independent for quite a while.
If you want to think like the pioneers of Lean, this book will let you hear directly from them. There are many nuggets inside the book that will be valuable for you.
Conflict of interest disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review purposes.
