Over the past couple weeks we’ve witnessed what happens when leaders don’t have the emotional intelligence to admit to even the smallest and most originally inconsequential mistakes. This has caused me to reflect on some of mine over the past few decades. I won’t bore or entertain you with some of the personal doozies – we’ve all been there, done that – but there have been a few that have taught me life-changing lessons.
Obviously that’s the importance of reflecting on mistakes: to learn. Then move forward, change and improve, and perhaps even teach.
Dig Deeper
After committing a design error that cost a lot of time and money, one of my first bosses sat me down and admonished me to “sweat the details.” Although over thirty years ago, I remember that like it was yesterday. As an engineer I thought I was detail-oriented, but what he meant was I should peel back the onion to understand what was really happening. Eventually I would realize that this is the same as asking “why?” more than one time.
Continue reading on the Gemba Academy blog…
Benjamin Taylor says
Ahem. Super piece – I’m assuming the error in the title is deliberate?!
Molly McEvoy says
Hello Kevin,
I am a senior Supply Chain Management at the University of Rhode Island and I really enjoyed your post. Not working at a full time job yet I know I have lots of mistakes and learning lessons coming my way, but this has opened my eyes to realize some things to keep in mind when I am working at a company. Especially when you talked about dealing with the problems that needed to be worked on and having everyone involved in it to help teach them as well as help sustain lean.
When you left school, do you wish you knew anything before you started working that you could possibly share with me? I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Molly McEvoy
JAY BITSACK says
Hi Kevin,
Introspection can be a good thing; particularly when it leads to new knowledge/insights/understanding that can then be applied to one’s own and – ideally – other’s benefit. In this regard, my take on your career experiences and those instances where a “CLOSED/BLINDED MIND” (i.e., a lack of ability or willingness to see reality in any way other than how one wants/needs to see it).approach had serious consequences.is that there’s a significant missing GUIDING element in those experiences. What might that be, you wonder? No it’s not a religious (aka faith-based) or metaphysical element. Instead, it’s what Toyota refers to as a TRUE NORTH ORIENTATION.
I know you know the term and the concept. Accordingly, I have to wonder why you haven’t made it part of the stories above. I suspect, the reason is because one did not exist in any of the CONTEXTS for those stories. Had a true TRUE NORTH ORIENTATION been present in the form of the combination of the following elements: 1) a COMPELLING PRIMARY PURPOSE/REASON-FOR BEING, 2) a DESIRED/NEEDED/TARGETED FUTURE STATE-OF-BEING (which is in line with the PRIMARY PURPOSE), 3) a SET OF ENDURING/UNCOMPROMISABLE VALUES (that every member of the organization can and does subscribe to), 4) NEAR and LONGER-TERM OBJECTIVES (that will serve as milestones for progress in the on-going pursuit/realization of the organization’s REASON-FOR-BEING… I have to suspect that the “gotchas” that were encountered could have been avoided and much better outcomes could have been achieved.
As you know, an organization’s TNO can be/should be a very powerful guiding force within an organization. It sets the tone for creating and sustaining and evolving a WORK ENVIRONMENT that is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY in terms of being highly conducive to having the members of an organization exercise their FULLEST LEVEL OF DISCRETIONARY THINKING AND BEHAVING in both their individual and collective pursuit of a common/shared PURPOSE/REASON-FOR-BEING.
When such an ENVIRONMENT exists, it doesn’t mean that people won’t make errors of both commission and omission. But what it does mean is that whatever decisions/choices are made… they are made with the INTENT of maximizing the COMMON GOOD. And in that CONTEXT, one never has to be concerned with looking back and asking whether or not they made the RIGHT decision/choice. LIFE is a LEARNING EXPERIENCE. And the best to way to experience it is working toward a HIGHER-ORDER (aka VALUE ADDING) state-of-being that represents the maximum potential possible for delivering the greatest amount of benefit to the largest number of stakeholders possible.
Bob Hawkins says
Been there, done that. Went in bright and busy tailed to improve a printer company, only to find that there product was obsolete. And, also went in as a factory manager just one month before 911 ending in out of work by Thanksgiving.
Taylor Crank says
A takeaway I took away from this is letting people become teachers themselves. Lean thinking is something I am still learning while at college and is something that benefits me greatly. Throughout college I have been fed a bunch of terms and concepts about lean thinking. I haven’t felt that it really benefitted me till I started working on my green belt project. As of now I am currently in the process of improving an aerospace company and finding ways to delete waste from the company. Working with my group, I am continually learning more and noticing how one small change can make a larger impact in the future. Learning is a marathon and not a sprint with a great return on investment.