Learn by Doing!

Tell me and I will forget,

Show me and I may remember,

Involve me and I’ll understand.”

This ancient Chinese proverb is as relevant today as it was during the height of the Ming dynasty over six hundred years ago. People learn in a variety of different manner but the retention rate of the material presented increases dramatically when you have to get up from behind the desk or conference table and actually get your hands on the process. After all, this is where the theoretical meets the practical.

The concept of experiential learning or learn-by-doing is not new. Around 350 BC, Aristotle wrote in the “Nichomachean Ethics "for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them". Unfortunately for a concept that has been around for centuries, in my experience, I find most organizations ignoring this practical approach and settling on the classroom PowerPoint presentation scenario. 5 days and 1200 slides later, the students emerge from the darkened class room bleary eyed, bored to tears and no better prepared today than they were a week ago to attack and fix real problems. Sure they might have retained a couple knowledge tid-bits, if they weren’t texting under the table, but was the modest value-added gain worth 5 days?

Now compare that approach to a Boot Camp. Solving real world problems using the necessary and appropriate Lean & Six Sigma tools for your particular business case. Learn how to engage and involve everyone, not just a select few.  Define the scope, gain agreement, measure current state, determine and fix root cause, & implement sustainability measures. The trick is making this typically complicated process simple and fast. This process results in hundreds of improvements a year rather then 1 a quarter

If your interested in a high intensity, action filled day with several on-site follow ups tackling the issues that keep you up at night, join us on June 7th. (Click image above for registration details) Otherwise don’t be surprised with the normal less than 20% learning retention and the lack of speed and unresolved business issues that result.

No Capes!

Anyone familiar with the animated movie “The Incredibles” probably remembers the crotchety and opinionated little fashion designer to the superheroes, Edna Mode. Her one rule on the creation of superhero costumes is “No Capes!” She believed that they added a “madly fluttering distraction” and had potentially “lethal consequences”, sighting numerous examples where superhero’s capes where caught or snagged leading to disastrous results.

Does your company have a  “No Capes” rule?

If you are like most organizations, you have superheroes all over the place, flying in at the last moment to save the day.  It’s 4:40pm on a Friday and the product labeler just went down, does the process owner fix the problem? Probably not, send up the “Bat Signal” and the Dark Knight (engineer) shows up in the nick of time to save the day.  Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Almost every organization has some degree of a hero culture. The knowledgeable few that have the skills and experience to deal with the urgent matters to ensure product gets out the door and the customer is satisfied. Unfortunately, they often hoard vast amounts of tribal knowledge because they believe it gives them power. Individuals often feel a source of pride and ownership that the hero culture facilitates; being the problem solver, the fire fighter, the one that saves the day, not to mention the belief that this behavior makes them valuable and irreplaceable, i.e. job security.

Organizations that have a strong hero culture typically have a low organizational intelligence. The critical business knowledge is tied up with only a few key employees. Due to this silo’ed behavior, these experts, “heroes” move from fire to fire, never slowing down to explain or teach how they resolved the issue. As a result, people come to follow this behavior and sit around and wait for someone else to solve their problems. In addition, your heroes spend very little time on value-added work. Therefore, the company can only move as fast as their few superheroes and never benefit of leveraging their diversity.

As we know from the Toyota Production system, this practice is contradictory to the central pillar of “Respect for People”.  One way to help transform your culture is through the creation of self-directed work teams following the A3 process. Having the process owners lead the exercise, leveraging and capturing the knowledge of the hero in standard work helps increase the overall organizational intelligence. This also allows your hero’s to reduce the number of fires they fight, aligning them better with the strategic goals.

As Edna Mode so eloquently stated, Capes add a “madly fluttering distraction” and have potentially “lethal consequences” to your organizational growth. Implementing a “No Capes” rule helps transform traditional mindsets and facilitates a business process culture where all of your employees can contribute.