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Today I read an interesting article in the March issue of Systems Thinker. It is titled A Systemic Path to Lean Management by Thomas Johnson. He exposes the heart of Toyota’s Lean thinking and why so many have failed to follow their example.  Businesses have achieved temporary improvements, but the long term average for most of them has not been satisfying. Toyota on the other hand has managed to continuously improve their performance over a long time.

Go deeper

What is the difference? The reason for failure is, according to Johnson, that the Lean practitioners do not go deep enough and change their underlying thinking. The followers emulate, but does not see the system change needed. Most managers believe that to increase output they can manipulate the separate parts of the business operation independently. The prevalent idea is that the financial results is an linear addition of the contribution of the parts. A company could almost be condensed to, expressed in and controlled by a spreadsheet of financial results. The company is viewed as a machine.

When the management try to improve financial results, they will probably destroy relationships; the core of true business. They might have short term improvements, but the results will be devastating in the long run. This way of thinking of a company is influenced by the old concepts of Physics about mechanical processes and has been erroneously transferred to social systems.

A living social system

This is not the Toyota way, according to Johnson. They build their business as a system that itself naturally produces results. Business is most of all a human living social system, a system of relationships and improvement lies in nurturing and reinforcing the system of relationships that produces the desired results, ultimately for the customers.

Accounting

Johnson challenges the usual management accounting practises, by saying that one-dimensional quantities can only describe a living system. They cannot successfully be used to explain what is going on or used to control multidimensional interactions going on in the business. Toyota dispenses with the usual production control and accounting control for daily operation. They do it differently. Johnson says:

The prevalence of management accounting control systems in American business probably contributes more than any single thing to the confusion of levels that causes managers to believe they can run operations mechanically by chasing financial targets, not by nurturing and improving the underlying system of human relationships from which such results emerge.

This is very interesting stuff, isn’t it? Lean thinking and systems thinking, hand in hand. It deserves a closer look, especially how Toyota implements it. Does Johnson have a too idealistic view of Toyota? He continues to discuss this subject in Profit beyond Measure. This book ended up in my wish list at Amazon immediately.

It is fascinating how you can move from a feeling of powerlessness and lack of ideas to a state of energy and fresh initiative in just a short time by focusing on others. It happened to me a while ago. I started to look to much into myself and pondered the difficulties and as a result doubt and fear rose. My own mind tricked me and the flow of creativity was blocked. I did not know what to do about a certain situation. Suddenly I realized what had happened. I started to think how I could be of service to the people involved and then ideas started to flow.

The change of feeling was so obvious that I had to stop for a while and reflect over it. What is the lesson here? Be aware of your own attention. Check where your attention is directed and make sure it is directed towards people. I believe that a prominent trait in a leader should that of being a servant to those you lead.

In a few days a PSL course will start in Stockholm with me as one of the participants. PSL means Problem Solving Leadership and this is what it’s all about.

For 34 years, Jerry Weinberg has continuously kept improving the Problem Solving Leadership workshop, which he invented together with his anthropologist wife Dani Weinberg back in 1974. The almost week-long (sunday to friday) workshop is about how to think and act clearly, creatively, and congruently – even in chaotic situations. Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby are co-hosting the PSL workshop with Jerry. Esther and Johanna are both internationally renowned consultants and writers; but most importantly for this workshop: they are the best facilitators there are for this setting. One thing should be stated early about PSL: there are no powerpoint slides, there is not even a projector. The PSL workshop is about simulations, observations, and reflections, while solving hard problems with others. This is multichannel communication. This is experiential learning.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it! Jerry Weinberg wrote the book Introduction to General Systems Thinking and I know that he as well as the other leaders on this course are people that apply systems thinking.

I have just completed Behind Closed Doors by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby.  I wanted to read something by these authors, since I will be going to their Problem Solving Leadership training in January in Uppsala, Sweden. Gerald Weinberg will also be part of the teaching team and you can be sure I look forward to it.

The book

I read this book two times and that tells you how much I appreciated it. Behind Closed Doors is about best practise in management. Rothman’s and Derby’s approach is a bit different than in many other books. Here we have a story about fictitious manager, Sam, newly employed at a software development company. You follow him as he deals with different situations and uses sound management principles. The story is accompanied with the author’s comments about the situations. At the end there is a chapter called Techniques for Practising Great Management that discusses some of the principles in greater detail.

Story-telling

The story-telling ingredient in the authors teaching style is a great idea and it enables them to communicate and paint the picture of good management even better. Though the story does not have novel quality, it carries the message in an acceptable way.

Team building

It is very interesting to see how Sam treats the development department as a system and how he works on jellying the leader group together. Leadership is creating an environment that enables people to work successfully. Sam spends time every week with his group leaders in one-on-one meetings. He helps them to see the big picture and their role in the company. Together they create shared goals as a team and time boxed action plans.  Sam coaches them to formulate personal goals that fit into the company’s goals.

Ego

People often optimize for their own success, at the expense of the team or the entire organization.  I have surely been guilty of this. We are working each one in our own hole, digging and shovelling. There is clearly a need for leaders who can bring people together.

System problems

We are quick to blame each other for problems, but often problems are not caused by individuals. The cause can be  rooted in the system and its processes. People do not see the system problems, because they are part of the system. They are on the inside of it. An experienced manager (systems thinker) can see the system and facilitate the group’s problem solving work. A system problem can only be solved by the involved group of people. This is very interesting. The ability to take a step back and reveal what is going on and see the system processes is extremely valuable.

People

Sam is very interested in each one in his department employees. He coaches them to improve their capabilities and gives them clear feedback. Step by step he builds a successful team in difficult situations, prioritizing (and reprioritizing as circumstances change) the work that supports the goals of the group and the organization.

Simple principles

Rothman’s and Derby’s main tenet is that the principles of good management are not that difficult to understand. They discuss for example one-on-ones, portfolio management, feedback, coaching and delegation. The thing is to consistently and reliably perform these practises week after week.

Wise thoughts

I have started to read good books a bit more careful lately. When good thoughts are brought to us, we can act as they are just interesting; like standing at a distance and observing them. But wise thoughts should be treated in a better way. If you find them, take the time to expose yourself to them. Thoughts are powerful. Let them sink in and affect your mind-world and your feelings. There is plenty of room for some changed worlds today.