Dumb Ain't Fun

Written by Jason Haines

“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and processes rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” -W Edwards Deming

When I first took the production manager job at a newly started organization bottling essential oils, I had no idea what I was doing and let me tell you something it wasn’t fun. It wasn’t enjoyable because not only did I not know what I was doing, but neither did all the people I worked with. We were all dumb to the whole process. Dumb to how the oils effected the machines, dumb to the processes (which there were none), and dumb to everything that was expected of us. I remember, because I didn’t know myself and my pride at the time, not allowing myself to say no while telling my team member to just shut up and work when they asked a question. We had expectations of how many bottles we needed to produce but no direction on how to get there. Now that I look back, we were lost, and it wasn’t fun most of the time.

I am not saying we all didn’t have excitement at work, but I am saying that the stress of not having processes and standards put into place was a very stressful thing and made the work stressful. It was at this company when I realized that I discovered many things about my workstyle, while also adjusting many processes and creating improvements while I was there. It was an experience where I learned that everything wasn’t a priority and many of the things that I thought were a priority truly weren’t. It was also where I learned the value of Lean Thinking and how it could make tremendous improvements in an organization and in your own life as well. Since those days I have understood more about Lean and have thought about things I could have done to work on the processes that would make it better for the people. I also look and think if I had worked on my job first and eliminated the busyness, I was doing there that I could have supported and served my employees much better.

One area I have learned that can make the work dumb and not fun is not implementing and/or having standard work, or as many people say visual workplace management. After starting in the position and looking back on many jobs prior to this one, a lot of the places I have worked did not have standard work put into place. Which could have been a big reason why at many of those places we had extremely high turnover amongst all levels of employees. People didn’t know what the expectations and were constantly being told to hurry up, you aren’t doing that right, or any other way of trying to push a worker to move faster and do better. I know many of you have been through this situation just like I have been. Some of us can push through and make it, but the vast majority are not and end up quitting to move on elsewhere due to the frustration of the work we have placed on those people with no real guidance. Does that make the people who push through right and those who don’t wrong? Not necessarily.

I have learned over the years, through building relationships and getting to know my colleagues, is that almost all of us have a common goal to do well on the job. Now do not get me wrong, I have worked with a few who aren’t there for the better good of the team, but most people are there working to do well. Often, these people start off great but lose their way when they walk into a company and seem to be defeated at every turn in an organization. Some of these people stick around because they have settled and think there is nothing better and others leave for what they hope is better. Either way we need to find a way to make it better for new employees as well as make it better for the employees we currently have. Because as you know dumb ain’t fun and people don’t like working somewhere where they are frustrated and not making improvement.

Another factor in building relationships is that a lot of people do not think anyone is listening to them, and this is at all levels. Most of the time this is true because we are usually telling people that really have no control over our jobs and they can’t really help, but at times those that do have control are hearing us, but many times are too busy to do anything about what we are saying. One of the things I learned to do more of was to learn how and when to say no. Why do we need to learn how to say no as leaders, or frontline workers as well? We must as leaders because we need to be able to support our frontline workers. If we cannot support them, we will not be able to make any changes and improvements to the process and free up the time of the people.

Therefore, I tell people we have to work on our own jobs (not ourselves because that is another thing for another day) before we can make improvements to the jobs of our people. Why is this? Well, if we are too busy as leaders doing things that aren’t necessary, we will never have time to make improvements where it matters, at the frontline. Busyness keeps leaders from going to the frontline because they are worried that they may not get something done that they think needs done. It also leads us to trying to impress people with things that may not actually matter in the grand scheme of things. So as leaders we must start to find a way to eliminate all the unnecessary items on our plate and get out to the Gemba where the work is being done. This is where we will make the true improvements that will make the largest impact to any organization. Plus, our work will start to become more fun.

When we start helping others in the workplace and becoming the servant leader that we strive to be we will start to have the fun we always wanted to have at work. We will also start to make a difference, which is what it seems like so many people want to do these days when it comes to working or doing anything. As a servant leader we find new and better ways to help our followers and help them make improvements in their lives that they can achieve their goals as well.

When I went into leadership, I always wanted to help others achieve their goals. I felt my talents would allow me to do this, but I also thought I needed a title to be able to achieve these goals. Today I realize that I do not need a title to be a leader and that we will all, at some time, lead in some way. As a servant leader we will not always get the recognition or the highest honor, but we will know that we helped in our own way. I used to get upset when others would advance in life or get something I wanted, but now I look back and I was wrong. I was bitter in that point in my life, and I have broken those chains. I look back and see the lessons I learned from those times I thought I was slighted. Learned that God didn’t want me going in that direction but wanted me to learn from it. I also learned that not all leadership comes with a title, but it comes with teaching, growing, mentoring, and coaching others on how to be better. Just remember, dumb ain’t fun, always keep learning and improving.

Helping build future leaders and ambassadors while also getting people home to their families. Allowing employees to enjoy their life and their jobs. This is what Lean is about. Respect for people (Stakeholders) in all areas and in all ways. If you don’t know where to start give Industrial Solutions a call to start the conversation.

Helping grow your business through process improvement!