If you want to learn - be honest, and practice

As Organizational Secretary of LOS Norge (the learning organisation network in Norway), I get to visit several companies that proclaim that they are very good at lean and/or learning. Interestingly, many of these companies still separate learning from the actual work, training is often classroom based and heavy on theory. Fine. They learn theory about lean tools such as 5S, visual boards or Kanban, and maybe about good leadership. What good leadership is, that people are different and should be treated as individuals and so forth. However, few make the connection between thinking, training and work. 

As a former musician, this doesn′t make much sense. You can′t learn music by talking about it. You have to listen, practice, play - listen, practice, play - listen, practice, play. This should get you pretty far, but you will also need support from both peers, and from someone who has been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. Someone who is an expert in their musical field, who can hear what we can′t hear yet and point us in the right direction for the next step of our particular learning curve. This also applies to work. However, instead of listen, practice and play, we need to think, practice and work. 

• Think more deeply about how we do our job and how it connects with others around us to deliver whatever value we create.
• Practice both problem solving, kaizen and the fundamental skill-set we need to create value (such as mechanical or electrical engineering, coding, assembly, maintenance or teaching).
• Get better at value creating work.

This training loop is more similar to how we progress when mastering an instrument, compared to what we usually think of as training or development, often detached from the actual job we are doing. 

However, just like with music we need to practice together with other people, and to make the most of it we need to create an environment of mutual respect and honesty. What Amy Edmondson calls psychological safety. Without this type of environment, real personal development is almost impossible. Surprisingly (or not), people, and companies, find it difficult to be honest. Does it mean that we lie to each other? Well yes, that′s what we do. By refusing to accept the truth, we accept a lie. Because we tell people what we think they want to hear, not what they need to hear. The flip side is that we don′t want to hear the truth because often; the truth hurts. It′s personal. However, in the long run, it′s much better to accept the hard-cold truth, even when it feels like a personal attack. Back in my guitar playing days for example, I used to think of myself as a considerate and accomplished accompanier. Probably because I knew a lot of chords, and I mean a lot. The shock was pretty big of course when Mike Moreno (American Jazz guitarist. Check him out. Good stuff) told me in no uncertain terms to shut up when the piano player was soloing because “it sounds like you′re in a different building”. 

You don′t come across this type of feedback very often. It′s honest and quite brutal. There are plenty of people who would consider it rude. No one should have to listen to stuff like that. But haven′t we all gone a bit soft? At the time, the hard truth that needed to be told was: “You are not really listen to what the other guys were doing. Because you are too pre-occupied with making yourself sound good”.Anyway, does it sound familiar? By understanding your own work deeper, you will also see the connections with others clearer. If you are to pre-occupied with whatever you are doing, it is extremely difficult to grasp what is going on around you. We need honest feedback to move forward.

I recently spoke to a great Lean CEO in Norway that reminded me of my encounter with Mr. Moreno. Someone who has made honest feedback one of his main leadership tools. It can be quite brutal, but at the same time, it was obvious that his approach created a real learning environment at the company as it forced his leadership team to deepen the understand how their company actually operates. It also meant that news, good or bad, got shared between the leadership team as soon as possible. There was no hold up, no-one was covering up for themselves or their friends. In his words, bad news was the most important news. His thinking was that sooner or later reality will show up, and when reality comes knocking, It's usually way too late for any meaningful action to be taken besides extinguishing fires and hoping for the best. So being honest up front will actually be less painful.

In the world of company politics, owning up to your mistakes and sharing real information is not a natural trait. It needs to be worked on, nurtured, led. Because, let′s face it, it′s scary stuff holding your hand up and admitting a mistake, not finished when you promised, underdelivering on quality, or not understanding what′s going on around you. It is even harder to point this stuff out when you see them happen to your peers. Therefore, we also need to have compassion to relieve some of the pain that comes with sticking the neck out. 

Did Mr. Moreno show compassion? Well, not in words. However, he did ask us to play the song again, and this time he joined in. What happened? Let′s just say for about 10 minutes our rehearsal space was moved to Smalls in New York, he also demonstrated the potential in my writing (music, not articles, I′m terrible with those), and gave us all a glimpse of what was possible.

So, go and find yourself your own Mike Moreno, and don′t be offended by what he has to say. My own experience is that working with an expert Sensei or a CEO that advocates honesty is a breath of fresh air that will allow you to climb the learning curve of your expertise and develop a deeper understanding of your company as a whole much faster than what would otherwise be possible. They will be honest with you, but they will also accept that each person’s learning curve is unique.

Check out our new book “The Lean Sensei”.