It is not a waste if you are using the correct buzzword
Thank for the detailed response Mark. The discussion that can develop around my orignal post and your response deserve a post of its own
I agree with you that you shouldn’t trust the newspapers. However from your own description of the project I’m afraid that the news report missed the main point. Yes, obviously the black tape is what caught my, and I guess many other’s, attention - but the issue isn’t the black tape at whole.
The problem is that we are trying to apply performance metrics where they cannot be applied, and as a side effect damaging the productivity of the organization that suffered the attack of the well meaning consultants. The problem with performance metrics for knowledge workers is that they would simply don’t work .
And although it is very sexy to chant "lean" and "agile", and I’m sure its help getting contracts, Applying manufacturing methods, that simplify and optimized the manufacturing and inventory process, to different type of processes is bound to fail as well. Telling people how to arrange their desk, either by putting black tapes or by:
Lean isn’t about tidy desks but the mindset that goes behind them. Everyone is familiar with mechanics putting tools back on a peg board.
They do that so they don’t waste time hunting for the tool the next time they need it. The lean principle about being tidy and ready for work is simply applied commonsense and no, Unipart never recommended putting tape round items on desks.
Keeping work stations business-like is especially relevant in hot desking or shift-working but applies anywhere. But that’s just a tiny part of thinking lean.
The organization methods, skills, and expected results that applies to a worker in a Toyota’s assembly line are completely different than knowledge worker. The last thing I want is to tell my programmers how to set their desks, because this will be the first step to kill their productivity and creativity.
I would assume that "Lean" in the governmental bureaucracy context should involve the use of words like "cutting down", "reduction", "lay offs" and all sort of things that make government smaller (and leaner). However I’m sure that such terms doesn’t help winning contracts that will make at least some of the taxpayer happy (at least the one that win the contract :)). So we are keeping positive term as "lean" and "agile" and telling everybody about the Toyota example and start telling how to arrange their desks. And when it will fail, as it bound to happened, it will be the fault of these workers that didn’t adopt the new lean religious:
It works extremely well if the complete set of tools and techniques is rigorously applied and the culture is prepared for some genuine workforce involvement.
And one last remark. When you call management consultant an "expert practitioner" he (or she) remain management consultant. The different between calling things in different names or doing things differently is a major difference.
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You make an interesting point about knowledge workers. Our main business is logistics for blue chips. Making sure their customers receive the goods they ordered. Vodafone being a major customer so if you have a Vodafone phone, Unipart got it to you.
But elements of lean culture, particularly knowledge transfer are equally applicable to programmers. I have very basic IT skills but from what I understand if one of your colleagues has developed a particularly elegant piece of code he or she may then face difficulties in sharing that with everyone in the organisation. In a lean organisation great efforts are made to share knowledge in a structured way so learning in one part can be shared by all and we don’t end up spending ages duplicating work already done by a colleague or re-inventing the wheel. That’s the problem with most understanding of lean they begin and end with the Toyota Production System. Equally I could argue about policy deployment (Prince II is a version) So there are things about lean which can benefit almost any organisation and we spend a lot of effort in not giving clients the answers but equipping their staff with methodologies and the culture where answers will come from the skills, knowledge and experience of existing staff. A further consequence of this is that staff in such a culture enjoy their work more and are more productive. Management fad? We’ve grown from almost noting in the third party logistics field to a major player. Could we have done it without our version of lean? Unipart does not believe so.
mark howard
8 Jan 07 at 12:53 pm
You make an interesting point about knowledge workers. Our main business is logistics for blue chips. Making sure their customers receive the goods they ordered. Vodafone being a major customer so if you have a Vodafone phone, Unipart got it to you.
But elements of lean culture, particularly knowledge transfer are equally applicable to programmers. I have very basic IT skills but from what I understand if one of your colleagues has developed a particularly elegant piece of code he or she may then face difficulties in sharing that with everyone in the organisation. In a lean organisation great efforts are made to share knowledge in a structured way so learning in one part can be shared by all and we don’t end up spending ages duplicating work already done by a colleague or re-inventing the wheel. That’s the problem with most understanding of lean they begin and end with the Toyota Production System. Equally I could argue about policy deployment (Prince II is a version) So there are things about lean which can benefit almost any organisation and we spend a lot of effort in not giving clients the answers but equipping their staff with methodologies and the culture where answers will come from the skills, knowledge and experience of existing staff. A further consequence of this is that staff in such a culture enjoy their work more and are more productive. Management fad? We’ve grown from almost noting in the third party logistics field to a major player. Could we have done it without our version of lean? Unipart does not believe so.
mark howard
8 Jan 07 at 12:53 pm
Lean has, without doubts, major advantages over wasteful. A “lean” code is most likely more efficient than a non-lean.
The problem is the application of some method religiously, far and beyond their limited scope.
Many years ago when I served in the Israeli army someone, probably a consultant, developed the idea that a division in battle should adopt the TQM methods. The division I served in was chosen to test these methods in its annual maneuvers and we, the officers, sent to learn about how to apply TQM during battle. At the end of the day one of the reserve officer, an old timer that had a lot of experience, stood up and said: ” This TQM is very nice but it is unclear to me, does the enemy soldier knows that he has to withdrawal, according to the TQM method, or will he keep fighting?”. What he meant, obviously, was that applying manufacturing methods to division in battle is idiotic.
Telling people in the assembly line how to arrange there tools make sense, but it is distractive when applied to programmers. And its seems from the article, and from the responses that you are trying to apply “Lean” methods as a universal solution, at least at my line of business we already know that there are no silver bullets.
Rogel
8 Jan 07 at 1:38 pm
<font face=”Calibri” size=”2″>Lean has, without doubts, major advantages over wasteful. A “lean” code is most likely more efficient than a non-lean.
The problem is the application of some method religiously, far and beyond their limited scope.
Many years ago when I served in the Israeli army someone, probably a consultant, developed the idea that a division in battle should adopt the TQM methods. The division I served in was chosen to test these methods in its annual maneuvers and we, the officers, sent to learn about how to apply TQM during battle. At the end of the day one of the reserve officer, an old timer that had a lot of experience, stood up and said: ” This TQM is very nice but it is unclear to me, does the enemy soldier knows that he has to withdrawal, according to the TQM method, or will he keep fighting?”. What he meant, obviously, was that applying manufacturing methods to division in battle is idiotic.</font>
<font face=”Calibri” size=”2″>Tellingpeople in the assembly line how to arrange there tools make sense, but it is distractive when applied to programmers. And its seems from the article, and from the responses that you are trying to apply “Lean” methods as a universal solution, at least at my line of business we already know that there are no silver bullets. </font>
Rogel
8 Jan 07 at 1:38 pm