Helping staff try new things can lead to a happier, more productive workforce.
Engaging in Lean workshops or innovation exercises are key tools to use when helping staff try new things.
One of the challenges in learning to be a Lean Leader is helping staff try new things – engaging them in generating and testing ideas. People simply aren’t used to being asked to solve their own problems, so when they are first asked for input, bosses often get a “deer in the headlights” look.
When I first learned to be a leader, it was during a time when I was rewarded for being an instant problem solver and taking heroic measures. Rather than helping staff try new things, employees expected the solutions to come from me. I believe it was easier for them to be passive in the presence of such a “strong” boss.
Unfortunately, my staff stayed passive, and I wore myself out solving all the small as well as significant problems. I have learned over time that empowering staff alleviates a lot of my stress, and they are quite often more insightful than I am.
Also, Lean has taught me that being a hero is a sign of a defect. First, I was letting defects go to the point of needing a heroic save. Second, presuming I knew the correct answer is flawed because I don’t actually do direct work with customers, and employees have far more insight into how to solve and prevent problems than I do. Third, too often, a heroic save is a Band-Aid, not a real solution.
One of the advantages of Lean workshops is that employees are required to see and solve problems, and their leaders learn to let them do so. Barriers to innovation often come up in Lean workshops, but they can be addressed through various exercises designed to help staff become thinkers and testers.
Empowering employees to solve problems helps staff try new things and takes some burden off leadership.
Here are some of my favorite innovation exercises to use when helping staff try new things:
7 Ways: People tend to think in black and white, either/or, in terms of solutions. Therefore, using Sensei Chihiro Nakao’s 7 ways exercise helps make them think. In short, the exercise presumes that there are at least 7 ways (in nature) to solve any problem, so you draw 7 ways.
6 Impossible Things: We worry so much about resources and permission that we can all get locked in the current state. If staff are afraid to think innovatively, I ask them to think of 6 impossible ways to solve the problem. Then we examine the 6 impossible things and rate whether we can have an impact over them or not. Staff find that 90% of the time, they can use some aspect of the idea and that they do have control over that aspect of the change.
Provocations: If people are stuck on any one solution, I ask them to imagine solving the problem without that solution. For example, in an ER, the staff told me nurses had to do every task in the value stream except for the physicians. I asked them to imagine how to run an ER without nurses. They quickly discovered that there are limited tasks that actually require a nursing license, allowing them to better level load the burden of work in the ER. Another provocation I commonly use is to temporarily eliminate training as a countermeasure. If teams cannot rely on training, they tend to think of more ways to mistake-proof their processes.
To learn more about helping staff try new things through problem-solving and lean workshops, click here.
This blog originally appeared in Change Craft, a change management newsletter since 2018.
For More Information:
7 Ways Idea Generation Form
https://www.velaction.com/7-ways-idea-generation-form/
Online Library of Quality Service Improvement and Redesign Tools, NHS England
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/qsir-simple-rules-provocations.pdf
https://www.simpler.com/our-approach/
https://www.leansixsigmadefinition.com/glossary/chihiro-nakao/
Gail Sausser
Executive Coach
Simpler Consulting, an IBM Company
gsausser@us.ibm.com
