Teaming and Lean--Overview

“Hey Curmudge, it’s been awhile since we talked.  Have you been on vacation?”

“I’ve been bringing home the files from my now-defunct cube.  Finding room for them in my apartment is turning a slight case of clutter into a raging epidemic of chaos.”

“Does that mean that you are finally getting settled in the old folks’ home?”

“C’mon, Julie!  It’s just like any other apartment only it’s roomier and is quiet at night.  And despite all the externalities mucking up my life, I’ve finally found time to read a book.  It’s Teaming by Amy Edmondson (1).  Without saying so (she used the word ‘Lean’ only once), Prof. Edmondson has provided the psychological basis for what we have been promoting as the ‘Lean culture.’  Because the book’s author is on the faculty of Harvard Business School, it appears to give the academicians’ imprimatur to the Toyota Production System.”

“Impri…what?  Well, as long as Harvard gives its approval, it should make old academicians like you feel better.  So you are writing a book review?”

“More than that, Julie.  A book review describes what a book will say to most readers.  What we will discuss—and it may take more than one posting—is what the book says to me.”

“Let’s have at it, Old Guy.  The book had to be good for you to have read it cover to cover.  Of course, I skimmed it so I can ask pertinent questions.  And as in our earlier discussions, any quoted material may be attributed to the book’s author.”

“Historically, a team was a group with little variation in makeup working in concert for a fairly long period.  However, it is more common today for a team to be ad hoc and comprised of members that vary in background, profession, and outlook.  Prof. Edmondson tells us how these new teams can be assembled and can perform effectively despite their diversity.  She calls this process teaming, which she defines as ‘a dynamic way of working that provides the necessary coordination and collaboration without the luxury (or rigidity) of stable team structures.’ “

“The author recognizes that a one-size-fits-all approach to teaming won’t work for all enterprises, so she has divided organizations along a process knowledge spectrum into those with routine operations, complex operations, and innovation operations.  Most of the hospitals she studied were teaching hospitals, which probably influenced her to put them in the complex category.”

“New words and expressions abound in Teaming.  They are neither esoteric nor psychological jargon, and the reader will immediately have some degree of their understanding.  Full chapters with corporate examples then develop our appreciation of the new concepts.  Examples are framing, psychological safety, and execution-as-learning.”

“You said the book had features in common with Lean.  What about respect for people, one of Lean’s most a basic tenets?”

“Julie, respect for people is so essential in teaming that it is addressed repeatedly—but not as ‘respect for people’—in terms of its development and use.  In fact, it and communication might be regarded as the overarching themes for the whole book.  Communication arising from mutual respect is basic to the four behaviors required for successful teaming: speaking up, collaboration, experimentation, and reflection.  And an essential for good communication—especially for speaking up in a meeting—is psychological safety.”  

“I recall, Curmudge, that we had two postings on Trust back on May 29, 2009 and June 4, 2009.  I suspect that trust within a team is an essential factor in psychological safety.”

“You’ve got that right, Julie.  Edmondson says that ‘leaders must trust those they lead,’ and I’ll add that team members must trust their leaders.  If a leader loses the trust of any member of his team, the whole teaming effort goes in the tank.  This is so important that we’ll devote our next conversation to leadership and psychological safety in teaming.”

“Meanwhile, Curmudge, go back to the old folks home and 5S your chaotic room.”

“Julie, it’s not the old folks home!”

Kaizen Curmudgeon

1.  Edmondson, Amy C.  Teaming.  How organizations learn, innovate, and compete in the knowledge economy.  (2012, John Wiley & Sons).