Brucisms - Thoughts on Life, Leadership, and The Pursuit of Happiness

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The Leadership Compass

As any sailor or woodsmen knows, the compass is the most basic and essential tool for navigation. Leaders, likewise, need a compass to navigate the turbulent waters of problem solving and the wilderness of decision-making. It is a core set of values that when followed will always keep you on the path to success.

True North: Creating Value
Just as the needle of a compass always points toward magnetic north, the leadership compass must always point toward actions that create value – for the individual, the team, and the organization.

Navigation: Finding your way
A compass works only because of the underlying law of magnetism. This law is a constant that can be depended upon. The leadership compass must be supported by governing values that provide a constant direction as well. There is a wealth of leadership and management knowledge available today. As a leader, the more you absorb, the finer you will hone your leadership skills. The following four concepts and behaviors will provide a solid foundation for your leadership compass to follow.

Kaizen

(kai: change); (zen: good)

Kaizen literally means change for the better” or “improvement”; the common English usage is “continuous improvement” or “continual improvement”.

Kaizen is a daily activity whose purpose goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work (both mental and physical), and teaches critical thinking and problem solving skills with the intent to spot and eliminate waste in business processes.

To be most effective kaizen must operate with three principles in place:

• Consider the process and the results (not results-only) so that actions to achieve effects are surfaced;

• Systemic thinking of the whole process and not just that immediately in view (i.e. big picture, not solely the narrow view) in order to avoid creating problems elsewhere in the process; and

• A learning, non-judgmental, non-blaming (because blaming is wasteful) approach that insists on the consistent re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in the current process.

The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as: standardize an operation -> measure the standardized operation (find cycle time and amount of in-process inventory) -> gauge measurements against requirements -> innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity -> standardize the new, improved operations -> continue cycle ad infinitum. This is also known as the Shewhart cycle, Deming cycle, or PDCA.

Hansei (han: to change, turn over, turn upside down); (sei: look back upon, review, examine oneself)

Hansei literally means “profound reflection”. Figuratively it describes being conscious of your behavior and its impact on others and to acknowledge your own mistake and to pledge improvement. Hansei also means greeting success with modesty and humility. To stop hansei means to stop learning. With hansei one never becomes so convinced of one’s own superiority that there is no more room or need for further improvement.

Unlike a traditional “post-mortem”, hansei is a behavior as much as it is an event. Both successes and failures are looked at with the same scrutiny. An example may be a project that delivered ahead of time or under budget – rather than celebrating this “success”, hansei would lead you to ask – Why were our estimates so wrong?

Nemawashi (ne: root); (mawasu: to go around)

Nemawashi literally translates as “going around the roots”. Its original meaning was literal: digging around the roots of a tree, to prepare it for a transplant. It is often translated as “laying the groundwork”.

Nemawashi in Japanese culture is an informal process of quietly laying the foundation for some proposed change or project, by talking to the people concerned, gathering support and feedback, and so forth. It is considered an important element in any major change, before any formal steps are taken, and successful nemawashi enables changes to be carried out with the consent of all sides.

I.D.E.A. Loops

Matthew E. May in The Elegant Solution proposed a modification to the Deming cycle that he calls I.D.E.A. loops.

IDEA is an acronym for Investigation, Design, Execute, Adjust. It’s a codification of the human learning cycle.

Our most powerful learning experiences generally occur in a four phase cycle of 1) Questioning; 2) Solving; 3) Experimenting; 4) Reflecting.

Everything starts with a question, which triggers an investigation and information-gathering effort. How can I do that better? That leads to the definition of a problem to be analyzed and solved. The search for possible answers to your question entails generating ideas, solutions, and corrective measures. By experimenting with one or more of the solutions, the most appropriate and effective is discovered. You then reflect on your experiments, observing your own thinking and actions. How well did that work? This in turn stimulates further questions, commencing the learning cycle again.

The beauty of IDEA Loops is that they can apply to all situations. Investigation, Design, Execution, and Adjustment are the universal denominators to successful innovation.

Staying the Course
An expert navigator instinctively measures weather patterns, terrain, currents, etc. to choose the safest course. These instincts are honed by years of experience. It is equally essential that the principles above be practiced until they become instinctive in order for the leadership compass to provide dependable guidance. Superficial knowledge of these concepts is not enough; they must be practiced repetitively until they become behaviors and ultimately ingrained values. It is then that they will become the guiding principles of your leadership compass.

From the author:

The principles contained in “Setting the Compass” are foundational to the Toyota Production System as introduced to the western world in The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker. As was reported by the New York Times, these principles are not easily translated to western culture – even by Toyota.

As a westerner who has spent many years studying eastern thought, I believe that it must be understood that Japanese culture is deeply influenced by the Buddhist and Zen traditions of awareness through deep meditation. It is this awareness – the embodiment of the principles – that is the key to successfully mastering them. As I pointed out in the article, superficial knowledge of the principles is not enough – they must become part of the value system of the leader; and ultimately the organization, to promote lasting, positive change. It is this embodiment of values that creates a leadership culture – and as Jason Jennings points out:“Culture is the ultimate competitive advantage!”

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