Learning
The Builder
Author unknown
An old man going down a lone highway
Came in the evening cold and grey
To a chasm vast and deep and wide
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
That swollen stream held no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old Man” said a fellow standing near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with this passing day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”
The old man lifted his old grey head.
“Good friend in the path I have come,” he said,
“There follows after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This swollen stream which was naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend I build this bridge for him.”
I first heard this poem over 30 years ago. I liked it then. Now, I truly appreciate it.
When I look back on my 25 yr quest to become a professional, although I’ve attended dozens of workshops, it turns out that only a handful were designed to grow useful skills and help me learn (what I now know to be) key principles. Unfortunately there was no way for me to know this ahead of time and relatively few thought-leaders in the field whose guidance I could rely on to help me chart a path that would shorten my “lead time to professional competence.” This was well before any certifications existed, and prior to the formalization of a body of knowledge for either (what is now known) as six sigma, or “lean thinking,” as well. The “apprentice model” was the predominant approach to effective professional development in the performance improvement field when I started out.
So, in the spirit of The Builder, I’d like to pass along two key pieces of guidance that I received when I was just starting out:
- Learn your craft
- Always work from a model of performance
The idea behind #1 is to invest the time to learn what it takes to become a true performance improvement professional (in contrast to say, a competent technician).
The 2nd piece of guidance is aimed at applying the scientific method (PDCA) to performance improvement situations so that you can distinguish between superstitious behavior and effective principles, guidelines, and methods that achieve repeatable results.
Under the “I wish I knew then what I know now category,” as part of learning my craft, I’d include key concepts and principles of “lean thinking” to what I now think of as foundation principles, concepts and skills. More importantly, I’d place equal emphasis on respect for people, effective coaching, go see for yourself, and people development along with kaizen principles and concepts (those associated with ongoing continuous improvement-not the more popular time-boxed improvement events)
I’d also learn all I could about viewing and operating work as a system. (If you are interested in learning more about systems thinking, I’ve posted some great videos of Russell Ackoff).
Where do the “usual” lean practices or tools, such as kanban, 5S, or value stream mapping fit in? Why did I deliberately choose to exclude these? Am I saying these are somehow inappropriate?
Not really. I’m guided in part by the twin beliefs that “every idea has its time,” and “timing is everything.” I’m saying that you’ll better understand when, why, and how best to apply any of the “usual” lean techniques or countermeasures plus those yet to be invented or created, once you’ve learned and internalized key concepts, principles, and models of performance first. I believe there exists a set of first principles of performance improvement that, once understood will help you make sense of subsequent practices and tools that you’ll encounter over the course of your career.
So, what does this mean to you?
A lot, if you’re looking for training on how to apply lean principles, concepts, and techniques (practices) in transactional, service, or office settings.
I’ve joined forces with Alec Sharp to offer a 3 day workshop that contains several of the “first principles” that I alluded to above. The workshop also contains guidelines, concepts, models, procedures, and checklists that help you apply these principles in order to improve business process performance. Alec and I have discovered, validated, and accumulated this content over a combined 50 years of consulting work. We know it works. By attending this workshop, you’ll be able to accelerate your own development much more quickly.
And Alec and I will have built some bridges.
