Thursday, May 29, 2008

We work in a hierarchy!

“Hey, Curmudge. Did you realize that we work in a hierarchy?”

“Of course I do, Jaded Julie. If it weren’t a hierarchy, there would be chaos. Businesses, hospitals, churches, and even Boy Scout troops are hierarchies. Out in nature, everything from an elephant herd to an anthill is a hierarchy. Did you ever dig your heel into an anthill? It messes up their organization, and the ants run around like crazy. It’s not a pretty sight unless the anthill is in your lawn. So what is your concern?”

“During the past several months we’ve been speaking of hierarchies as if they all had leprosy. Back on February 18 you listed all sorts of nastiness that occurred in the old command-and-control cultures. Now you’re telling me that hierarchies are okay. What’s the straight scoop, O Ancient One?”

“I confess, Julie, that similar issues have been haunting me. Then I found a book that has swept the cobwebs out of my mind.”

“If it can do that, it must be one heck of a book.”

“It’s Harold J. Leavitt’s Top Down. Why hierarchies are here to stay and how to manage them more effectively. Published in 2005 by Harvard Business School Press. As you will learn, Julie, we want to convert the hierarchy’s middle managers into manager/leaders. Shall I continue?”

“I think class is now in session, but please, Professor, no snap quizzes.”

“Leavitt tells us that in his discipline, management and organizational development, there have historically been two streams of thought, systemizing (organizations as masters) and humanizing (humans as masters). The old command-and-control hierarchies represented systemizing in the extreme. The intent of humanizing was to enhance personal growth, which we now recognize as servant leadership.”

“But Curmudge, we think of the ‘respect for people’ aspect of the Toyota Production System as humanizing, but the TPS also has some systemizing elements. Things like standard work and hoshin kanri planning.”

“Exactly. Even Toyota requires a hierarchy, and it contains systemizing and humanizing aspects. Today’s hierarchies, like Toyota’s, are not like Henry Ford’s.”

“So what does that have to do with managers and leaders?”

“This clash of cultures occurs right on the head of the middle manager. She is required to be a systemizer. We hope she will also become a humanizer, but as Leavitt says, ‘Leadership is a managerial elective.’ The day she is promoted manager, the hierarchy anoints her with a measure of authority. The authority that accompanies her promotion is an inescapable aspect of her place in the organizational hierarchy. It affects how people act toward her, communicate with her, and react to her decisions. Of course, all of that depends on their position on the totem pole.”

“That sounds rather ominous, Curmudge. What else does she need to do?”

“If she wants to flourish in her new position, she must develop what Leavitt calls authoritative presence, which is comprised of authoritative savvy and authoritative aura. Authoritative savvy means knowing and exercising appropriate behavior in the presence of superiors, peers, and subordinates. Authoritative aura is the intangible air of authority that bosses somehow exude.”

“If I ever get to meet the Queen—or even just Hillary—I’ll learn first hand what authoritative aura is.”

“My daughter met the Queen Mother many years ago. I’ll ask her if some of the aura rubbed off. So up to this point we’ve learned about managers and the authority that they acquire in a command-and-control hierarchy. I hope you’ve perceived that in today’s hierarchies authority isn’t sufficient and that the other essential ingredient is leadership. We’ll talk about leadership in hierarchies next time.”

“You mean I’ll have to wait a week to learn more of Leavitt’s lessons?”

“Maybe longer, Julie, if my grass needs cutting.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Hardwiring What We Have Learned

“Hey, Julie, why do you brush your teeth every morning?”

“I guess I don’t think much about it. My mom taught me how and made me do it. Later I learned that it was necessary to prevent cavities, and I didn’t want my breath to scare away the boys. After brushing for so many years, it became a habit. I just do it without thinking. As Quint Studer would say, it became hardwired.”

“Often the environment where we live—like a little girl with her mother—forces us to retain, or hardwire, what we have learned. In school, we learned the course material to pass the final exam, to prepare for the next course in the sequence, to pass a comprehensive exam, to get through graduate school, and to be successful in our career. If we end up teaching the course we once took, that’s when we really learn the material.”

“If it’s a required course that we’ll never use, we forget the material the day after the final. And unless we have been using the subject matter each day, most everything—even the essential stuff—is gone after forty years. At least that’s what you told me.”

“Regrettably, I know about that first hand, Julie. Wiring comes in varying degrees of hardness, and in your case we’d like it to last through your professional career.”

“Okay, Curmudge, how do I hardwire Hunter’s leadership essentials that you listed in our last session? Is it a matter of practicing them over and over until they become second nature?”

“It sure is. But that won’t happen unless a person is accountable to herself or to someone else. Only about 10% of the people who take a course or read a book have the necessary inner discipline to become a servant leader by themselves. Usually people require external encouragement and sometimes even someone who will, figuratively, hold their feet to the fire.”

“I suppose that in a business or a hospital, the best ‘enforcer’ is one’s boss, right?”

“That’s a bit strong, Julie. If you are already a manager, even your direct reports will help you. Let’s look at Hunter’s three-step process: (1) Foundation: Set the standard in terms of required behavior for a leader. That comes from a book or workshop. (2)Feedback: Obtain 360-degree feedback from bosses, peers, and direct reports to identify the gaps between where you are and where you need to be as a servant leader. This will require that the leader-to-be possess a lot of humility and fortitude.”

“And guts, too, Curmudge.”

“The third step is Friction, or healthy tension. In this step we eliminate gaps and measure the results. Goals—usually based on the leadership essentials we listed last time—are established, and your 360-degree group members assess your progress. This provides accountability with a capital ‘A’. You’ll never achieve perfection, but this process should generate continuous improvement.”

“Continuous improvement! That sounds a lot like Lean.”

“The heart of servant leadership is respect for people; that also sounds like Lean. Perhaps, Julie, that’s why we are spending so much time talking about leadership.”

“After I’ve become a servant leader and go home and tell my husband about my accomplishment, do you know what he will say?”

“Congratulations, I hope.”

“He’ll say, ‘Yeah, Julie. What’s for supper?’ Then I’ll cry.”

“Me too, Julie.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Curmudge, I want to be a leader. What does it take?

“Congrats, Jaded Julie. I want you to be a leader, too. It takes character, and you have plenty of that. Tell me again why you want to be a leader.”

“With Lean, the workers in gemba need to use their heads as well as their hands. They need to become problem-solvers and idea-producers; this will require their being the best that they are capable of being. Constructive leaders will be necessary to help them develop these talents. That’s where it’s ‘at’ in health care, and I want to be there.”

“Let’s start by defining leadership, using the words of Hunter: ‘The skills of influencing people to enthusiastically work toward goals identified as being for the common good, with character that inspires confidence.’ The importance of character is emphasized in this familiar statement: Management is what we do; leadership is who we are.”

“Hey, Curmudge. After I learn how to become a leader, maybe I can get the kids to put their toys away enthusiastically. That would be for the common good of our household, but it’s sure not a common occurrence.”

“These are qualities that people tend to desire in their leader: honest, respectful, fair, appreciative, predictable, and good communication. We can learn from this list by advising folks who are already managers to ‘be the leader that you want your leader to be’.”

“Anything that sounds that Biblical has to be good advice.”

“Every author seems to have his own list of leadership essentials. This is the list proposed by Hunter:

· Patience and self-control. Predictable in mood and actions.

· Kindness. Appreciate, listen well, and give credit for efforts.

· Humility. Be authentic, without pride or arrogance.

· Respect. Treat all people as important people.

· Selflessness. An Army lieutenant sees that his people are fed first.

· Forgiveness. Separate the person from his behavior.

· Honesty. Behaving with honesty and integrity builds trust. But you must hold your people accountable for their actions.

· Commitment. Have passion for personal and organizational continuous improvement.”

“Curmudge, if I had all those qualities, my husband would think that he married an angel.”

“That would be nice, Julie, but it’s not our objective. We want you to develop these qualities and demonstrate to your boss that she hired a saint.”

“It’s not as easy as you suggest, Curmudge. I suspect that most people—and I’m one of them—read a book or attend a workshop and then go back to their job and do things the way they always did. People tend to suffer not only from a leaky memory but also a leaky conscience. Senior citizens like you must know all about leaky memories.”

“Sad but true. In our next conversation, we’ll talk about the problem of building people’s commitment to becoming a constructive leader.”

“Great idea. Tell me again when we are going to meet next time.”

“Sorry, Julie. I forgot.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Jaded Julie Learns about Leadership and Character

“Jaded Julie, we promised to talk about leadership. Let’s do it.”

“I agree, Curmudge. Where do we start?”

“At birth, of course. Where else can one start except at the beginning? I hope you realize that at birth, everyone is self-centered. The first thing a baby does in life is to cry; he has a need, and he is going to shout until it is met. If he had been born with good manners, he would have said, ‘Thanks Mom; it’s been a great nine months’.”

“C’mon, Curmudge. We’re supposed to be talking about leadership, not obstetrics. What’s the connection?”

“Peter Drucker, one of my favorite management sages, defined people skills in the workplace as ‘good manners’. Babies don’t have good manners. So now may I talk more about babies?”

“Go ahead, but it’s the last thing I thought you’d know anything about.”

“Fast forward two years. They don’t call that period the ‘terrible two’s’ for nothing. It’s time for Mom and Dad to start teaching the kid the difference between right and wrong, in terms of the fundamental principles of our society. ‘Wrong’ may seem quite natural, like taking the larger of two pieces of cake. To a small child, ‘right’ might appear very unnatural, like climbing onto the big porcelain thing we call a toilet. Ultimately, the child must learn that life is full of choices and that the ‘right’ choice is often not the same as the most basic, natural one.”

“So that’s why toilet training is so difficult. It’s just not natural.”

“That’s it, Julie. Let’s carry this concept a bit further. According to Hunter*, ‘Human beings have the unique ability to choose to be different from their nature, that is, to make moral choices that rise above natural instincts and urgings.’ If we choose to do what is right but not natural over and over again, it becomes second nature. ‘A disciplined moral muscle subordinates those things that get in the way of doing the right thing. It is called character.’ General Norman Schwarzkopf said that ’99% of leadership failures are failures of character.’ Thus constructive leadership is the product of moral and ethical character. Of course, the reverse can also occur, with Adolph Hitler being a prime example.”

“Wow, Curmudge! A whole page and you finally got back to leadership, which was supposed to be the subject of this posting.”

“So this is what I hope we have learned thus far: Constructive leadership requires character, and character does not come from doing what comes naturally. Character must be taught and learned.”

“By the way, I see the book by Hunter that you referenced is about ‘servant leadership’. Some people say that servant leadership is a rather ‘wimpish’ approach to management. Others have even asked, ‘How can one be a servant and a leader at the same time?’ Has anyone resolved these concerns?”

“Julie, I think the servant leadership concept has been debased by the poor choice of its name. I would prefer ‘caring leadership’, ‘constructive leadership’, or even better, just plain ‘leadership’. Actually, a servant leader can be just as demanding of his direct reports as anyone else. However, the servant leader is requiring his people to be the very best they can be, and he is going to help them achieve it. If this sounds like the Army, it is. It should also sound like Lean. We’ll talk more about this next time.”

“Meanwhile, Curmudge, I’m going to go home and ask the kids if they thought that potty training was unnatural.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon

*Hunter, James C., The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle. How to Become a Servant Leader. Crown Business, 2004. (Available in the Appleton Public Library)

Friday, May 2, 2008

Leading Change in Gemba

“This is not your father’s hospital, Curmudge. We now use anesthesia, antibiotics, and know the importance of washing our hands.”

“It’s not even my hospital, Jaded Julie. When my tonsils were removed at age four, the anesthetic was ether. They couldn’t give me a belt to bite on because my mouth had to be open. But gruesome details aside, the real story is the dramatic changes that have occurred and continue to occur in health care. We’ll talk about changes in nursing later, so today let’s focus on guiding the other hospital employees through a Lean transformation.”

“I have read that back in the 1920’s, Henry Ford bemoaned the fact that he had to hire a whole person just to get a pair of hands. Don’t you remember?”

“Of course I don’t! That was before my time. But just think how Lean has changed our outlook. We now realize that people in gemba who work mostly with their hands are much more valuable as whole persons. A plumber’s hobby may be restoring antique cars or building clocks, and he routinely solves the problems that arise in these activities. A cafeteria worker might keep the financial records of her church. When we enlist these people in Lean continuous improvement efforts, we’ll more fully employ their abilities and enhance their appreciation of their work. A person who has some control over his working environment usually enjoys what he is doing and does a better job. It should be a win-win for everyone.”

“Great oratory, Curmudge. As we discussed last time, Lean brings management and the workers into a partnership. It frees up everyone to use his or her common sense. This is the most important lesson for everyone to understand. Regrettably however, there may be a few people who just don’t ‘get it’.”

“My guess, Julie, is that the leader/manager doesn’t have to convert single-handedly every person to Lean. In every group there usually is an unofficial hierarchy that is lead by an opinion-maker. If we can gain this person’s trust and implant a degree of enthusiasm for Lean, we are home free.”

“What about those situations where the worker simply doesn’t have some of the skills needed in the new partnership? Things like typing and computer literacy.”

“Fortunately, in today’s world computer literacy has become less of an issue. Historically, employers have helped their employees upgrade their computer skills. These days in some parts of the country, literacy in English is a greater concern."

“Do I understand, Curmudge, that use of proper English is one your curmudgeonly hot-button topics and that you actually enjoy studying languages?”


“I do admit to disturbing the other folks in our office with my expressions of anguish when I encounter a gross misspelling or punctuation error. Out of respect for its citizens, I also try to learn some of the language of any foreign country that we visit. That’s why we will never go to Antarctica.”

“Okay, Curmudge. Tell me again why you won’t ever visit Antarctica?”

“Because I don’t know a word of Penguin.”

Au revoir, Curmudge. I’ll see you next time if my foie (liver) can stand it.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon