[wheel visualization: coming soon]
1. Drop Assumptions
Don’t assume current methods are the best. Always question why things are done in a certain way and look for better approaches.
2. Be Proactive
Always seek out problems and work towards solving them, rather than waiting for them to swell in size and escalate.
3. No Excuses
Focus on overcoming obstacles, not on the obstacle itself or allow it to hold you back. Find ways to improve (the product, process, your skills, etc.), view it through various lenses or reframe the problem entirely.
4. Don’t Accept the Status Quo
Resisting change is a knee-jerk reaction. Try to move past that initial response. There is always room for changes for the better.
5. Seek out Challenges
Proactively look things that are not working right, could be working better or may fail later if not fixed. Ask yourself what am I missing? How could this potential go wrong? Keep Murphy’s Law in mind, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” (at some point).
6. Empower Everyone
Create a culture where everyone feels safe to make suggestions, point out something that is not working or could be done better. Every decision should be taken at the lowest level possible. The person working closest to the problem, is most likely the greatest expert in that area. If this person thinks something is an issue and should be fixed, then most likely it should, and sooner is better than later. Thus, give people authority to make changes that leads to improvements. In most cases it is quicker to roll back a change the few times it turns out that a low-level decision was wrong, than the cost of decision delay if every little things needs to escalated and decided higher up hierarchy. At the higher levels, it’s also likely that the decision-maker does not know the intricate details well enough to make a solid decision, as compared to the person closest to the problem.
7. Look Beyond the Obvious
Don’t take problems at face value. Investigate to find the real root causes, e.g. using the 5 Whys method.
8. Focus on Solutions
Think about different ways something might be done, rather than on why it cannot be done. Stay more in the “green”/creative zone.
9. Stay Away From the Blame Game
Don’t focus on who caused the problem, but rather orient your energy towards the issue and how to fix it.
10. Never Stop Improving
Always strive towards getting better. There’s no final goal in improvement, just continuous progress. it’s an infinite game.
To learn more about what infinite games:
How to Build Stronger, more Innovative, more Inspiring Organizations
A Gemba Walk is a management practice where leaders go to the “real place” (gemba in Japanese) to observe operations firsthand and identify areas for improvement. Read on to learn more
The 10 Steps of a Successful Gemba Walk
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