Though I must have read it in November as well, it really hits me this time.

Gonna think of ways to put the lessons in practice.

Thanks.

as usual, you’re hitting it right on the nail. I believe “Problems First” is one of the largest contributions of Toyota’s version of lean to the business world. It’s link to their rather curious assertion that TPS is nothing other than applying the scientific mindset to business problems.

Indeed, what I’ve always found the most counter-intuitive in scientific reasoning is the focus on anamolaies: on events which disconfirm our beliefs rather than reinforce them. This requires real mental effort and discipline because our brains work the other way around, by selecting information which reinforces (reassures, etc.) our beliefs.

We naturally look for the lost key where the light is, but looking for anomalies is about seeking out areas where reality does something different than we would have thought: areas where we have something to learn.

Problems first is the practical everyday reflection of this attitude: looking for areas where things don’t go the way they ought to, or the way we think they should. These events are key opportunities to learn and to enrich our mental models.

However, as with scientific thinking, problems first is very demanding beyond the psychological unease of stepping where angels fear to tread: where we are wrong.

Problems first means we 1) are clear on what should normally happen, which means that we have an explicit theory (a “standard” in lean parlance) of the way things work and 2) the ability to spot the deviation (hence the focus on visual management). Both skills are, well, skills, and hard to acquire:
1) expliciting theories as work standards and standaridzed work
2) visualizing process in a way that reveals problems
is the bedrock of what is unique in lean practice (as opposed to other problem solving methods such as brainstorming, thinking hats, six sigma, etc.)

Finally, I believe that lean is truly empowering in the sense of teaching people to solve their own problems and, in the process, making better business decisions. So yes, I have to agree that “problems first” is one of the key messages of the book, and I trust, one of the key contributions of lean to management,

Do you agree?

We have a Lean project status board. When my boss notices something in red he says, what are you going to do about this? And I respond with, I will push harder. I will do more of what I have been doing. I will meet more often with the person responsible for this task and I will push on him.

So now I wonder what if the assembly line were managed like my Lean project board, and a problem arose. I guess you’d have a bunch of supervisors and managers standing there with their arms folded expecting the assembly line worker to “try harder”.

Thank you for your insight.