Lean Quote: There Will Always Be New Things to Learn From, If You’re Curious Enough

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up." — Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking, the brilliant British theoretical physicist, died last week at the age of 76. I saw the quote above on some online article and couldn’t help think of similarity to Lean thinkers.

This world we live in is constantly growing and developing in many ways. If we look out for it, there are countless new things we can learn every day.

Learning never stops. Look around your surroundings, even the people you spend time with.

There is so much out there to learn from. Read a new book, meet a new friend, or sign up for a new class.

If you pay more attention to the things around you, you might even learn something new just by going for a walk outside.

Throughout his career, Hawking did revolutionary work in the fields of astronomy, cosmology, and mathematics. He conducted extensive research relating to the origin and development of the universe and also published a widely popular book on the subject in 1988 — A Brief History of Time — which has sold over 10 million copies. Hawking also served as a professor at the University of Cambridge for most of his career and received more than a dozen different honorary academic degrees for his trailblazing scientific work.

In addition to his professional achievements, Hawking was known for his personal resilience, as he battled the neurodegenerative disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) from age 21 onward. The disease left him almost completely paralyzed, but did not stop him from pursuing his lofty scientific ambitions.

Despite being so brilliant, Stephen Hawking remained relatable throughout his life. His leadership qualities were readily apparent to anyone he met, thanks to his willingness to speak out, his passion, and his total authenticity. Dr. Hawking left behind a legacy of creating and passing down knowledge, and we’ll continue to learn from him for many years. I thank Dr. Hawking for his numerous contributions to the field of science, and for being an outspoken advocate of learning and leadership.

Increase Your Competency By Practicing Kaizen

A strong organization offers career protection in today's economic marketplace. If it’s financially successful, your paycheck is more secure. If it keeps getting better and better in the way it does business, your future usually gets brighter.

But the organization can’t improve unless its people do, whether it’s in operational savvy, sales ability, computer expertise or placement effectiveness.

Continuous improvement - the Japanese call it “Kaizen“ - offers some of the best insurance for both your career and the organization. Kaizen is the relentless quest for a better way, for higher quality craftsmanship.

Think of it as the daily pursuit of perfection.

Kaizen keeps you reaching, stretching to outdo yesterday. The continuous improvements may come bit by bit. But, enough of these small, incremental gains will eventually add up to a significant, valuable competitive advantage. Also, if every employee constantly keeps an eye out for improvements, major innovations are likely to occur. Higher levels sometimes lose perception of what’s going on in the “trenches” because they aren’t in them every day. Good companies realize that and encourage feedback from staff. The spirit of Kaizen can trigger dramatic breakthroughs, whether it be redesigning a simple form or developing new company protocols.

Without Kaizen, you and your employer will both gradually lose ground.

Eventually, you’ll both be “out of business” because the competition never, ever stands still. Ever.

Tom Peters put it this way: “Good quality is a stupid idea. The only thing that counts is your quality getting better at a more rapid rate than your principal competitors.

It’s real simple. If we’re not getting more, better, faster than they are getting more, better, faster, than we’re getting less better and more worse.

Nobody can afford to rest on a reputation today. Circumstances change too quickly today. Competition gets tougher and more global all the time.

What we consider “good” today is seen as “average” by tomorrow.

Every single employee should assume personal responsibility for upgrading job performance. Your productivity, response time, quality, cost control, and customer service should all show steady gains. And your skills should be in a state of constant renewal.

Granted, this drive toward an ever-improving performance doesn’t guarantee job security, raises or promotions. It’s just not feasible in today’s business climate.

You still can be a victim of circumstances, even in strong, financially successful organizations.

But if you passionately practiced Kaizen, you’ll have built your competency level. Your track record will help sell you and let you make your own good luck!

Don't Point Fingers, Focus on Problem Solving

Problems are the natural offspring of change, so you'll see plenty of them in the years to come. Build a name for yourself as a problem solver, and you'll be a valuable person to have around. 

Organizations need people who can take care of problems, not merely point them out. Too many employees get this confused. They seem to think complaining is a constructive act. Their keen on identifying all of the problems - often in an accusing, blaming fashion - but contribute little towards improving things. Their attitude is "Upper Management is supposed to make it all work. We'll sit back, watch them struggle and second guess their solutions." 

As employees, in fact, as an entire society, we've gotten unbelievably good at the blame game. We're experts at dodging personal responsibility and using our energy to criticize and complain instead. This carries a terrific cost. So long as we search beyond ourselves for solutions, we disempower ourselves. You might say that even as we commit the crime and blame someone else. We also become the victim. 

Even when we find someone else to blame for our circumstances, we win a hollow victory. It may feel good for the moment to get ourselves off the hook, but it perpetuates the problem. 

Finger-pointing does not position us to do our part - that only we can do - toward workable solutions. 

We've come to expect too much from our institutions, and too |e of ourselves as individuals. In the long haul, it simply doesn't work. The organization's values grow out of individual employees values. The organization's results are merely the accumulation of singular people's results. 

So instead of being a finger-pointer, and rather than trying to single out somebody to blame, assume ownership of problems. Let the solutions start with you. You'll increase your odds of career success.

Lean Quote: A Handful of Skill is Better Than Bagful of Gold

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"A handful of skill is better than bagful of gold." — Irish Proverb

This is a quote about preparation and skills. The question is what are your skills, and how can you pass them on to another. A skill I have is the ability to see problems, and come up with ideas on how to fix them.

Problem solving is an essential skill in the workplace and personal situations. Everybody can benefit from having good problem solving skills as we all encounter problems on a daily basis; some of these problems are obviously more severe or complex than others.

Problem-solving may seem straightforward at first glance, but there are many employees who stumble over one or more of the critical steps, failing to successfully resolve workplace issues. Successful problem-solving requires several important skills that will help you proceed efficiently from identification to implementation.

In the early stages of problem-solving, you need to have strong observational skills. Rather than accepting issues at face value, you need to demonstrate lateral thinking and analytical abilities. These will help you properly assess what's going on and pinpoint the core cause of the issue.

As you explore potential solutions to the issue, you must demonstrate persistence. Finding the right approach to the issue won't come easily. Innovative thinking will serve you well. Employees who know how to utilize their creative thinking facilities will excel in the second and third stages of problem-solving, as they're able to come up with approaches that others have overlooked.

Implementing your solution requires its own skill set. This typically requires a careful balance of teamwork and leadership. You'll need to demonstrate resilience to withstand inevitable pushback from co-workers who resist change. Both communication and negotiation are important at this point. Once you've implemented your solution, you'll need to utilize critical thinking and attention to detail as you assess the results and tweak your strategy as needed to make sure the problem is successfully resolved.

This old Irish proverb rings true for me. How about you? What are your best skills and who will you pass them on to.

The Four Rules of Lean Transformation

People are often quite uncomfortable with change, for all sorts of understandable reasons. This can lead them to resist it and oppose it. This is why it's important to understand how people are feeling as change proceeds, so that you can guide them through it and so that – in the end – they can accept it and support it.

Recently, I was reading William Bridges’s book Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change.  He recommends following four simple rules, “show up, be present, tell the truth, and let go of outcomes,” to deal with transitions. As I was thinking about these rules, I realized how useful they are for leading “Lean” transformation.

Rule 1: Show Up

It is startling how often we miss precious opportunities by taking ourselves out of them. All our predictions of success or failure are simply our own imaginings, for we never have a true picture of all the factors in a situation. There is no way to guess how many failures are traceable simply to not giving something a try – to not “showing up” for the event.

Lean Lesson: There is no perfect time to start Lean transformation. Don’t wait. Start Now!

Rule 2: Be Present

Some people show up, but they don’t give it their best shot. They don’t want anyone to say later that they didn’t, but they don’t bring all of their energies and talents to the table. They merely go through the motions, put in their time.

Lean Lesson: Engage all you employees in your Lean transformation. Many hands make light work.

Rule 3: Tell the Truth

Saying what you think you are expected to say has several drawbacks. First, you may get the expectation wrong. Second, the expectation may suddenly change – in fact, it can be guaranteed to change these days. Third, it is difficult to keep clear on what you’ve said in the past, especially when expectations keep changing. Fourth, it destroys your mind and spirit. Telling the truth is often the most powerful action you can take. Many seemingly overwhelming problems have been transformed when someone finally told the truth.

Lean Lesson: Communicate and share information with your employees. They’re adults they can handle the truth.

Rule 4: Let Go of Outcomes

In this day of heightened accountability, it’s tempting not only to do our best but to try to manipulate the system to bring about our desired ends. But we cannot ultimately control outcomes, and when we try to, we either alienate others or drive ourselves crazy. Wisdom through the ages has always counseled a wise relinquishment: Learn to do all that you are able, the let go.

Lean Lesson: Focus on the process and the results will follow.

Change happens in everyone’s life. The problems associated with change are generally not because of the change itself but more likely the transitions involved with change. According to William Bridges, change could most effectively be dealt with by concentrating on where you put your focus.

Teaching and Coaching the Mental Game

As many of you know I coach youth ice hockey and a couple of weeks ago I attended a conference for my Level 4 USA Hockey Coaching Certification.  This conference was held over 3 days and comprised of about 16 speakers around youth sports, athletics, and ice hockey.  The topics ranged from nutrition and safety to hockey strategy to leadership and coaching.  As part of this certification I had to write a short thesis on one of the subjects presented.  Probably no surprise to many of you I wrote about teaching and coaching the mental game of hockey.  Since there is so much synergy between this and teaching and coaching for Lean in operations I thought I would share some of this with you.


For me I think the section I related to the most and found the most insightful was by Dr. Wayne Halliwell on Teaching and Coaching the Mental Game of Hockey. His talk was about inspiring excellence in today’s athletes and similarly my day job is about inspiring operational excellence. It is important for Teachers and Coaches to have the right mindset. It starts with understanding this is a privilege and a great opportunity.

Dr. Halliwell shared John Wooden’s philosophy on life and coaching. The two sets of 3’s consisted of never lie, never cheat, never steal, don’t whine, don’t complain, and don’t make excuses. Remember if you point fingers at others there are always three fingers pointing back at you. Coaches and leaders inspire through passion. Passion is not something you can fake and is not something you can hide.

According to Coach Marc Trestman leaders have two primary goals: The first is to serve others, the second is to bring out the hidden value of every member of the team. Leaders set process goals for the team to improve and performance goals around execution and work ethic. Focus on the process and the performance and the results will look after themselves. Dr. Halliwell added that the only thing that matters to get you from here to there in the next five years is the books you read and the people you talk to. I think he has a good point.

Leaders should make the unnoticed noticed. This is done by motivating your team members. The three most powerful motivators are recognition, appreciation, and gratitude. In the workplace there is no motivator with more impact than purpose-based recognition. There is little that people won’t do if they really feel appreciated. Gratitude is a positive emotion which shows thoughtfulness and touches people’s hearts.

Dr. Halliwell concluded his presentation with five elements to lead today’s athletes. The five elements are:

• Understand them
• Empathize with them
• Communicate with them
• Connect with them
• Inspire them

These elements are vital in leading athletic teams, work teams, and other teams in our life. The lessons Dr. Halliwell shared will help me have the right mindset to inspire others to achieve their excellence.

Lean Quote: Culture Changes When the Organization is Transformed

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day." — Frances Hesselbein

Corporate culture, safety culture, quality culture, lean culture …What is the culture of your organization? Is it one that reflects the values of your business and is supported by the behaviors of all those that work there?

Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together.

An organization’s culture is shown in:
(1) the ways the organization conducts its business, treats its employees, customers, and the wider community,
(2) the extent to which freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression,
(3) how power and information flow through its hierarchy, and
(4) how committed employees are towards collective objectives.

In a healthy business culture, what's good for the company and for customers comes together and becomes the driving force behind what everyone does. Culture determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong, workable or unworkable. It encompasses all learned and shared, explicit or tacit, assumptions, beliefs, knowledge, norms, and values, as well as attitudes, behavior, dress, and language.

The culture of an organization is learnt over time. It can be taught to new employees through formal training programs but is more generally absorbed through stories, myths, rituals, and shared behaviors within teams. 

Company culture is important because it can make or break your company. Organizational culture will impact positively or negatively on everything you try to do whether you want it to or not. Companies with an adaptive culture that is aligned to their business goals routinely outperform their competitors.