Why We Are in Such Denial?

Written by Jason Haines

“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” -George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Walking into organizations, and I am sure many of you have heard this, I constantly hear the same old worn-out adage that, “we have always done it that way.” Especially when you bring in change management principles that everyone thinks they know everything about, but many know so little about. What am I talking about, I was one of those people at one time. I thought I knew it all. These people just do not understand my job, so what they are selling will not work here. Boy, was I wrong, and little did I know that my life would change when I really started to dig deeper into what real leadership and Lean meant to the working-class person. Those forgotten people at the frontlines who want to have a future and succeed with the organization.

When I say forgotten, I do not mean to say that they are not forgotten. What I am saying is that there are leaders out there trying to help them out, those leaders are just trying to find a way to show them that we care about them. It is not always easy because there are many who will do anything to hold anyone back, especially those who are trying to help the frontline people. I mean look no further than Jesus Christ, himself. So why is it that so many leaders are trying to hold people at the frontlines back and those real leaders who are trying to help them?

One big reason is fear of looking bad. So, people will deny people who are working hard to make improvements for those at the frontlines from making things better. This denial comes in many forms and true leaders must find ways that they can successfully make the proper changes that will improve people’s lives. If the leaders give up, they have allowed the status quo people to be successful in their denial of them becoming better. You cannot allow this to happen. Right now, you may be asking how exactly are we supposed to do that? I do not have an exact answer to that question, but I will give a few ways that may work against anyone who is denying you from succeeding.

The first way is through not accepting anyone or any organizational cultures acceptance of what status quo and success is looks like. Easier said than done you say. Well yes and that is the way it is supposed to be because those things worth having are not meant to be easy. When we are truly leading a Lean transformation there are going to be many people who will be against us because they do not want it to succeed, they do not understand it, or they do not see the need for the change. The thing is, many in the organization will not see a need for any changes ever because many times they have been told how well everything is going and think nothing is wrong. Or that their department is doing great, so they are safe. With Lean this could not be any farther from the truth.

With Lean, if you have one department doing well and the rest sucking, this means the whole organization is sucking. Because Lean is meant to help everyone work together as an organization and not fight against each other. One department doing well means that the rest of the departments are usually struggling to breathe and fighting constantly against the department doing well. So, there are no sacred cows in a Lean transformation because we must find a way that the whole organization is successful. We do this first by accepting that we need to change, despite what things look like, or the things people are saying, we can always change for the better and make improvements that will help over the long haul. As Ohno said, “no problem is problem.” We must get out there and find the places that are giving us problems and improve them.

One vast area that people who go to any Lean training fight against is going to the Gemba or going to where the work is done. “For to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more,” Luke 12:48. Especially in today’s world of computers and technology because everyone thinks they can run the organization from their office. Correct? Not exactly. Now I used to be of the mindset that this was true, but not why you might think. I was being told by people at the frontline that once I got my degree and moved into a supervisor position that I did not have to go out to the frontlines anymore and could sit in the office. Boy was I wrong. I found out quick that I needed to get out to where the work was being done and learn how it was done and how to improve it. That could not be done sitting in my office and filling out SAP or spreadsheets to make the top managers happy. I was there to serve the people.

We must deny our first instincts to think we are on easy street and no longer need to be out amongst the frontline workers when we become leaders. That we are better than that. This thought process will only get us into trouble and create more problems for us over time. Our job is to fix the problems impeding the frontline workers from producing products that our customers are buying. So, the second way that we can buck the trend of going with the status quo and denying people of respect and change is getting out to where the work is done and start making improvements to the work being done. Solving the problems will also pay off eventually because it will gain trust from the frontline workers as well as start to get us noticed by those who are leading us. People will see that we care about making the organization better.

The last advice that I can give you, and something that has helped me, just do not worry about what other people are doing and try to make the changes you need to make to improve the system. Yes, sometimes this works and sometimes it does not, but there is not any harm in trying to make things happen. If you have leaders who are trying to tell you not to do the things, you are doing to make improvements then you are not working for a place worth working for. You are also doing something right as well. If they allow you freedom to make changes and improvements, then you will reap the rewards of trust from your frontline employees and those who are leading you as well. There is no harm in trying new things and making things better.

A few things have changed for myself in recent years and one of those things was denying myself the opportunities to advance by allowing others to tell me that certain things could not be done that way in this organization. I started to go out and get answers instead of allowing others to control my way of doing things, but I also started to realize that living in a world of assumption was miserable. I decided to deny myself the things I did not need and start to go after the things I did need in my life. I became less busy through saying no to the things that were not benefiting me and that were denying me from improving. No this is not selfish because it gave me time to be there when I am needed by others, and I mean to be fully present. Denial is when we think we always have to say yes and continue to do things the same way we always done them. Once we face what is really holding us back, we can then make the proper changes that will help us grow along with helping grow others.

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 do not know where to start give Industrial Solutions a call to start the conversation.

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