Howdy folks, yes it has been a few days since my last entry due to the holidays and travel. So let's get to the not so stellar moments in this Lean journey my team and I are on. Thus far all I have written about are the wins, yes wins are great and we all would love to think every decision we make will lead our team to victory. Unfortunately this is not the case and I'm going to tell of a story on Tuesday that tested my patience to the limits. Granted I've never been considered the most patient guy in the universe, but I have gotten better. What I'm about to write is how I failed on multiple fronts and how I came to realize just possibly, I was the problem. Yes, I was the problem. So without further adieu let's look at what I did wrong and what I've learned coupled with what I'll do different next time.
Let me set the scenario here, We have a table that is a one person assembly station, this station is composed of 5 components that are assembled into one complete part. What I noticed were multiple parts strewn about in various states of assembly. Yes, the old envelope lesson all of you wise and learned Lean sages have told me about multiple times. I thought to myself, "Wow, I've talked about this same scenario countless times in my Wed morning talks and here this individual is going against the grain doing his own thing." I figured this was a prime time to put the Lean thinking cap on and address this situation promptly. Mistake one, I walked over to the area without the proper mindset. A mindset of "how dare you break the laws given to us from the Gods of Lean". I didn't ask any lead in questions, I asked "How do you plan on assembling all of this?" Yeah I didn't lead in with a "W" question it went directly to the "How do/did" and it set the tone for this individual to be on the defensive vs looking at this as a problem we can both solve together. The lack of listening skills displayed by myself was sad. It was downright pitiful. I didn't listen as I had all the answers to this problem and I was going to wield them like the staff of justice, because I am the boss and I know best and I know because I read all these books and watched the videos and talked to my personal Master Jedi and I and I and I and I. See the pattern here I have an "I" infection. It is all about me and not about the people what work for me. doing the work. This bickering went on for approximately 15 min between my direct report and myself. I even opened Paul Akers 2 second Lean book and read to him aloud this very problem he had with the Laser Jamb product Fascap manufactures. Yes I started to sense things were going south and I needed to step back and reign myself in.
This is what I call a self-introspective moment in time where I was looking at how I had turned Lean into a weapon to browbeat someone. Talk about a major mistake. Me, the champion of Lean, a student of a recognized Master Jedi and I was making these huge errors. How did I turn it around?
This is where it gets good. I had to humble myself, yes kids I had to HUMBLE myself and apologize for acting this way. I felt about 3 inches tall. For a guy who is 6'4" and 225lbs with a minimum body fat composition due to my uhhh hobbies, yeah I was feeling like a total and utter jerk. This is good, as I learned once again the hard way that Lean is a lifestyle and within this lifestyle the katas that we practice need continuous improvement.
After my apology and another stab at the initial problem, my direct report informed me the Why of what he was doing and What he needed to accomplish the task in a more timely fashion. The end result of a now 30min session yielded a redesigned table. Yes a redesign from direct operator solicited input in which he even drew up the sketch so I could take it to our SWAG, (Special Work Assignment Group). Later that very day, the table came and he was a happy camper.
I really failed my team this week due to my own stubbornness and residual push vs pull mindset. I know better, yes but at least I recognized what I did wrong. See all the "I's", note to self make that Optometrist appointment and get the "I" infection looked at.
Thanks for stopping by,
Happy Trails
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