In leading continuous improvement, if Eliyahu Goldratt’s quote is going to be taken into account, exactly what to work on and what to do about it mustn’t be prescribed by anyone other than the people doing the work (who’s job will potentially change just a little). All a leader can do, assuming it is important that some improvement is to be worked on, is ask questions. What question is best to ask?
I (Oscar) am confronted by this at our intensive pig farming client in central NSW. The path forward hasn’t been straightforward, nor has it been the same in every area of the operation. No surprise there as the different areas are run by different section leaders and managers. People are people, they are all a bit different.
Before getting to the question(s):
- First there must be recognition that the work can be improved – i.e. there is opportunity to do it more concisely (thus improving quality), safer or in less time. With respect to less time, we’ve taken care not to imply the worker can do the work better. That would run the risk of being offensive to them. What we need to be considering is what’s getting in the way of doing the actual work – the bit they can already do well.
- Second, there must be an agreed goal. ‘We need to be there (by ‘given date’), we’re here today.’ (I’m not sure we’ve done this that well in all sections, but that’s not the purpose of this news item.)
What follows is the questions tried by some Section Leaders at the pig farming operation.
The first was ‘what recurring problems are in your workplace?’ This drew a blank most likely because if the work is done a certain way for a lengthy period of time by the same people, where’s the problem? One can’t see what can’t be seen. The work is too familiar for this question to be helpful.
The next question tried was ‘what’s getting in the way of doing your job perfectly?’ This didn’t draw a blank in all areas (which was a step forward). But, the answers were of a big project nature, mostly requiring considerable expenditure. While valid in most cases, they simply weren’t going to happen (in the ensuing weeks, even months). We deduced the problem was the word ‘perfectly’ – much too big a leap from ‘now’.
The most recent question tried was ‘what’s getting in the way of doing your job really well that we can do something about?’ That drew a blank in two areas, but … Mid August one of the Section Leaders wrote the question down on a blank piece of paper and left it for his four staff. He left them in a room near their work area and said he’d be back in half an hour. When he got back, the A4 page was full – ideas from all 4 workers. The Section Leader is now supporting the actions being undertaken by the four staff members to remove some of what’s getting in their way.
Note, the Section Leader isn’t doing the improvements, he’s supporting the doing. This is, along with drawing out answers to a driving question, are all in line with the opening Goldratt quote.
When I’m next on site it will be interesting to see if the other two Section Leaders involved in this exercise get a similar outcome from asking the third question tried. Learnings dependent perhaps, the next step will be goal directed improvement (as opposed to random).