Lessons from the Road: Surfacing Problems Daily
This month I am starting a new column for Industry Week. The title of the column is Lessons from the Road. Lessons from the Road is the subtitle of our book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. In this new column, I hope to provide pragmatic and actionable advice for companies on the lean journey.
The first installment is about how we surface problems each day, as part of our system. Here is an excerpt:
The worst problems are those that we can’t see. Yet most training focuses on how to solve problems. This assumes that we know how to surface problems and are surfacing the right ones. No matter how good we get at solving problems, it doesn’t do any good if we’re not solving the right ones.
Many of you have been through many rounds of problem-solving training. All of them work; it’s rarely the method that’s flawed. I find two faults. First, the right technique absent the right behaviors will still be a failure. Second, these techniques start after you know about the problem. We never hear about how we surface and manage problems, which precedes solving them.
You can read the entire column here. I appreciate your feedback, and if you have topics that you would like covered, please let me know.
Jamie,
Great article. Management’s response to problems drives what the team will do with problems. Problems won’t be brought forward if the messenger gets shot or if the problem won’t be addressed. I’m looking forward to seeing your monthly article in IW.
Chris
Jamie,
Great article. Management’s response to problems drives what the team will do with problems. Problems won’t be brought forward if the messenger gets shot or if the problem won’t be addressed. I’m looking forward to seeing your monthly article in IW.
Chris
Jamie,
Great article. Management’s response to problems drives what the team will do with problems. Problems won’t be brought forward if the messenger gets shot or if the problem won’t be addressed. I’m looking forward to seeing your monthly article in IW.
Chris
There may be more than one right problem in a conflict..Like layers of an onion there are surface problems and deeper problems. Surface problems tend to draw your attention but theyre not really important and addressing them wont change things much.
There may be more than one right problem in a conflict..Like layers of an onion there are surface problems and deeper problems. Surface problems tend to draw your attention but theyre not really important and addressing them wont change things much.
There may be more than one right problem in a conflict..Like layers of an onion there are surface problems and deeper problems. Surface problems tend to draw your attention but theyre not really important and addressing them wont change things much.
Hi Jamie – Yes not seeing problems, especially as they pile up over time (in generally exponential manner – http://transcendentman.com is greeting ;-)), is a huge issue in the political and economics arena. Writing about it on my blog and what new ways can be taken into account to bring the invisible to be seen: via opera, ballet and performing arts in general. One only has to find the handle to connect with real life experience in the workplace (which at first sight is not always easy to encounter).
Best regards from a sunny Dresden where new innovative ideas for the lean community are created
Ralf
Hi Jamie – Yes not seeing problems, especially as they pile up over time (in generally exponential manner – http://transcendentman.com is greeting ;-)), is a huge issue in the political and economics arena. Writing about it on my blog and what new ways can be taken into account to bring the invisible to be seen: via opera, ballet and performing arts in general. One only has to find the handle to connect with real life experience in the workplace (which at first sight is not always easy to encounter).
Best regards from a sunny Dresden where new innovative ideas for the lean community are created
Ralf
Hi Jamie – Yes not seeing problems, especially as they pile up over time (in generally exponential manner – http://transcendentman.com is greeting ;-)), is a huge issue in the political and economics arena. Writing about it on my blog and what new ways can be taken into account to bring the invisible to be seen: via opera, ballet and performing arts in general. One only has to find the handle to connect with real life experience in the workplace (which at first sight is not always easy to encounter).
Best regards from a sunny Dresden where new innovative ideas for the lean community are created
Ralf