Practical Eloquence Blog

Personal Kaizen

By Jack Malcolm / 8.6.2012 / 1 Comment

They had an amazing ability to multiply

“Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts.” John Wooden

Years ago, my kids and my wife got into the beanie baby craze. These were small teddy bears that came in hundreds of varieties. Each cost only a few dollars, so from my point of view it was a great gift. The problem is that they were so cheap that my wife thought nothing of buying one—no single purchase was painful. But over the months the purchases continued; by the time I started looking into it, we figured out that they had spent over $800 in teddy bears!

The beanie baby incident was a reminder of how small things can add up very quickly, and great transformations can happen through tiny changes patiently accumulated. That’s the central idea behind kaizen, the strategy of continuous improvement that is one of the core principles of lean thinking. It works as well in personal productivity as it does on the factory floor.

Kaizen works mathematically not only because things add up, but because of the magic of compounding. A small percentage improvement continuously applied over time means that each successive improvement is larger than the last, and that can make a huge difference over time.

But kaizen also works because of the psychological mechanism. While we’re often exhorted to set big goals for ourselves, the size of the goals can sometimes be self-defeating. Big goals can stress us out; they engage our mind’s self-defense mechanism and engender fear. How many times have you set yourself a big goal—say, a new year’s resolution—and had it fail? Kaizen can help melt resistance.

Besides improving ongoing efforts, kaizen can help you get started on things that you’ve been putting off. One reason we procrastinate on large goals is that their very difficulty can generate fear. We know it will take a large effort, so we put it off until we think we can be in a position to succeed. But often that time never comes. It’s better to take some small steps today that move us a tiny bit closer, than never to take the big steps that will get us a lot closer. There’s a wonderful quote from a mindfulness coach in One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, by Robert Maurer: “I’d rather they go home and meditate for one minute than not meditate for thirty minutes.”

Kaizen isn’t just a practice—it’s also a mindset. It’s having the attitude that your performance is not limited by fixed abilities and traits but rather is under your control. It’s about creative dissatisfaction: knowing that it is always possible to improve a process. Finally, it’s about being mindful of what you’re doing and why that opens your eyes to improvement possibilities.

Here are some small steps you can begin taking now to start implementing kaizen:

Choose an area to apply it. Kaizen can be applied to specific areas of your personal life and work, such as fitness, relationships, or learning a particular topic. It may also be applied to the way you work, such as implementing some of the ideas in this series. For example, you can make small improvements in the length of dedicated focused time you spend on a project. 5S is also a great area for applying kaizen. Although it’s a great idea to start with a blitz to begin sorting, setting in order, etc., you may not be able to get to it all at once. So, take a little time each day or each week to chip away at some areas.

Every day a little up. The header of this paragraph is a nice little phrase from The Remedy: Bringing Lean Thinking Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization by Pascal Dennis. The key word in continuous improvement is continuous. You can’t develop habits in quick bursts—they must come from the patient accumulation of actions and small successes. But those small successes can become large over time. Continuous means that kaizen is not something separate from your daily work that you do once in a while when you have time or you think of it, but it becomes a part of your work. You become mindful of what you are doing and how you are doing it and improvement opportunities are more likely to become visible. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a journal or other consistent place where you can record ideas as they occur to you. You can also build in time during your morning plan or your evening’s review to remind yourself.

Set your goals lower. If you don’t have the time right now for the big goal, break it down into smaller parts and choose those.

Big changes can be OK, too. Although so far the focus has been on small changes, there is definitely nothing wrong with big breakthrough or radical transformations if you happen to think of them and have the motivation to pursue them. In fact, you can combine the two approaches. Just as companies will have dedicated kaizen events, in which they will bring together people for three days to brainstorm improvement ideas, you may occasionally pick an area you would like to improve and then take some time to think about the processes and jot down ideas.

Copy and improve. A friend of mine likes to brag that he uses the CASE method: “Copy and steal extensively.” No one has a corner on good ideas, and we can always learn from what others are doing. But blind copying isn’t enough; what worked for them might work differently in our own situation, so we should try to improve their practices and ideas. The Japanese have a word for it: yokoten.

Just remember, even though perfection may be impossible, perfecting is something you can do every day.

Productivity

Slow Down to Speed Up

By Jack Malcolm / 8.3.2012 / 2 Comments

Let’s walk down and do them all

My high school swim coach used to love to tell the story of the old bull and the young bull, standing on a hill overlooking a herd of cows. The young bull says, “Let’s run down there and (do) one of those cows.” The old bull replied, “Let’s walk down there and (do) them all.”

I mention this in this series because so far the implication has been that using lean principles to improve personal work means getting more work done faster. So, when we strive to improve personal productivity, it’s tempting to try to pick up the pace of our work. Common sense tells me that if I want to drive from Point A to Point B, I can save time by going faster. But constantly changing from lane to lane to try to get a momentary advantage may actually slow me down, not to mention that my speed may cause me to be pulled over by the police or cause an accident. By trying to do too much, we run the risk of exceeding natural speed limits that exist for good reasons.

In weapons training, you’re constantly reminded that “slow is smooth; smooth is fast.” This speaks to the importance of flow, which brings us to the connection with lean principles. It is the idea of lining up all steps in the value stream so that they get done in a steady continuous flow with no wasted motions or interruptions. The steps taken to improve flow: focusing on the actual object being worked on (make work visible), removing impediments and rethinking work practices, all take time to implement, but the effort can cut work times in half, according to Womack and Jones in Lean Thinking.

There are limitless ways of taking time before, during and after your work to improve outputs and ultimately speed up cycle times. Here are just a few examples:

Five whys: When we encounter a problem, we want to solve it as quickly as possible so we can keep going on with our work. But if we treat the symptom and don’t get rid of the root cause, we are likely to have to repeatedly solve it. The Toyota technique of asking why five times (the number is not hard and fat) adds time to the process but forces you to think at a much deeper level and may help you uncover and address the root cause, which saves a lot of time (among other things) in the long run.

Thinking slow: I’ve written here before about the two modes of thinking we all use, popularized by Daniel Kahneman as fast, intuitive, System 1 thinking; and slow, rational System 2 thinking. Most times intuition and instant recognition of what to do serves us well, but we’re all subject to built-in biases which can lead us astray. The trick is to know when to slow down and apply careful, deliberate thinking to the problem or task at hand. It becomes particularly important in a fast-changing environment, because we’re more likely to encounter situations that are different from anything we’ve seen before.

For creativity, start fast and end slow: In my own experience, whether writing an article or completing a sales call plan, there’s a tremendous benefit in doing a first draft early and then putting it aside. Flashes of insight seem to come instantly, but actually slowing down can help here as well. Somehow the flashes seem to come much easier when they’ve been incubating in my subconscious for a while. It’s especially helpful in crafting and rehearsing an important presentation; taking the time to space out the rehearsals will spark many more improvement ideas.

Preparation: Investing time upfront in preparation is one of the best ways that slowing down can help you finish faster—and better. That’s no newsflash to anyone reading this, so I won’t waste keystrokes with the usual examples. What is amazing, however, is that preparation can improve outcomes even in situations that would seem to allow no time at all for it, such as in superfast sports activities like returning a serve in tennis or hitting a baseball. Frank Partnoy in his book Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, explains that 500 milliseconds—half a second—elapse from the time a ball leaves the server’s racket to the time the receiver hits it. The first 200ms are required for visual reaction time. This “see” phase is the same for amateurs and pros alike. That leaves 300ms for the actual physical reaction, the “hit” phase. While you or I might be able to raise our racket into the path of the ball during that time, the pros can do the physical part in 100ms. The extra time is used in gathering and processing information, so that they can actually choose their shot. In other words, the ability to go fast at the end allows them time to better prepare.

Delay and persuasion: Since a big part of getting things done is getting others to do what you want done, this precept applies to persuasion as well. In persuasion, we often find that trying to convince someone before they are ready can be counterproductive. Sometimes by slowing down selling you can speed up buying, and vice versa. A buyer who feels rushed may react or shut down entirely. New ideas often take time to gain acceptance. When you’re trying to sell ideas internally, it can be tempting to go straight to the top and get a decision forced on the organization, but good luck implementing it. In negotiations, impatience and hurry can be your biggest liability. As long as time is on your side, you don’t have to accept a bad deal.

Presentations

Do Senior Executives Think Differently During Presentations?

By Jack Malcolm / 8.2.2012 / No Comment

Go ahead, tell me a story

The short answer is mostly yes, and if you’re using average presentations techniques with executive audiences, it’s like bringing a BB gun to hunt elephants. Senior level executives are not average; they think about different things, and they even think differently from the average audience member.

Sophisticated audience: They have heard thousands of sales pitches, whether from salespeople or from their own subordinates. They’ve heard all the clichés and standard phrases, and have evolved highly sensitive BS detectors. Avoid fluff: all those suggestions that you rely on stories and flashy visuals, or appeal to their “lizard brains” may just make them more suspicious. I’m not telling you to leave out some of those compelling elements, but if you plan to sell the sizzle instead of the steak, you’d better be sure there’s prime beef underneath it all.

They also have learned how to get to the heart of the matter very quickly, but they will respect and appreciate someone who does it for them by simplifying and clarifying their message, so they don’t have to. Make the package easy to open.

Broader vision: If you’re presenting a pet project internally, it’s easy to get passionate about it and get so wrapped up in it that you ignore the big picture. Executives appreciate presenters who think above their pay grade and know how their proposal fits into the big picture. The catch is that you don’t have the same high-level view they have, so you have to pay close attention to their questions during and after your presentation for clues and make adjustments accordingly. They also have a broader set of stakeholders to keep happy than you have, so make sure you’ve thought about how your proposal affects them as well.

Time misers: The higher you are in an organization, the less your time is your own, so you resent anything that wastes it. Studies have shown that powerful people actually perceive time differently, so the old saying, “be bright, be brief, be seated” especially applies when presenting at this level. And it’s not just about being concise; make sure you give them the bottom line up front. When they know what you’re proposing and why, it helps them organize their thoughts around your message, and can often lead to quick decisions. When they’ve heard enough, they will let you know. Pay attention to them and don’t talk past the close.

Always plan for your presentation to be shorter than the time allotted to it; you’ll probably get interrupted many times (that’s a good thing), and no one ever complains about a presentation being too short.

They are interested in different things: Another old saying in sales is, “You get sent to who you sound like.” They want to hear about how you are going to help them increase profits, solve problems, or improve processes. If you spend your time during the presentation talking too much about product specifications, they’ll tune out. If you’re a salesperson, they don’t want to sit through seventeen slides that tell your corporate story—they want to hear their story and how you will help them have a happy ending. Be flexible: if you’re using slides, keep the text to a minimum on the main ones, but have detailed ones as backup to address specific expected questions.

Having said this, it’s also possible to go too far, though, because in some ways, they are the same as anyone else. Don’t try to sound more intelligent by using bigger words than you’re used to. Trust me[1], it won’t make you sound smarter, especially if you mispronounce it.

In summary, you should always consider the needs of your audience and tailor your approach accordingly.

[1] Actually, you don’t have to trust me. Here’s a study that backs it up: http://personal.stevens.edu/~ysakamot/730/paper/simple%20writing.pdf

Book reviews - Clear thinking

Book Review: When Can You Trust the Experts?

By Jack Malcolm / 8.1.2012 / No Comment

Daniel Willingham wrote When Can You Trust the Experts: How to Tell Good Science from Bad in Education to help educators sift out good science from bad in education, but it is an excellent primer for anyone in business who is contemplating making a change based on recommendations from experts making scientific claims. In business, as in education, the demand for advice is as high as it has ever been, and there no shortage of willing suppliers. That makes it more important than ever to know how to separate good advice from bad.

The ability to discern good science from bad is important if you are making important corporate decisions. If you’re a buyer, you like to complete as much research as possible before talking to salespeople. We’ve been told that buyers are much better informed than in the past, but are you better informed, or simply more informed?

If you’re reading this, you’re one of the elite who likes to keep up with the latest ideas, but how do you know which ones are likely to be true? When top experts offer conflicting advice, how do you evaluate their respective claims? It’s even critical in our personal lives. What diet should we follow? How do we know?

My own field of sales and communications training is full of “experts” peddling myths, sometimes unknowingly, such as learning styles and the often-quoted statistic that 93% of communication is non-verbal. (Full disclosure: I once had both of those ideas in my training material.)

Willingham tells us that we can learn to think more like scientists. He does not claim that we can be as good as a trained scientist with a background in the particular field, because their practices and habits of mind take years to develop, and background knowledge is essential in evaluating many claims. But, we can do much better at it than we are now.

Four steps for more informed decisions:

Step 1: Strip it and Flip It

Strip it means taking out all the hyped-up, vague or emotional language that expert persuaders wrap around it to make it go down smoothly. Simply try to write the following sentence:

If I do X, there is a Y percent chance that Z will happen.

By boiling it down to those stark terms you gain clarity on what the person is trying to say, so that you can test it. If the claim can’t be expressed clearly, then that’s a red flag right there.

Flipping it means expressing its reverse corollary. For example, when hamburger is advertised as 85% lean, it also means it’s 15% fat, which doesn’t sound near as appetizing. You can also flip the action: what happens if you don’t do what they recommend?

Step 2: Trace It

If they have the credentials, many experts will simply say, “Trust me, I’m an expert.” If they don’t, they will say, “Trust me, because I have expert sources.” There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, because life would be impossible if we had to research everything ourselves. But for important decisions, a little digging under the surface can make a big difference, and it’s so easy to do on the internet. One of the problems is that the claim may be based on a kernel of truth from a valid study, but the expert may overstate the claim (as in the 93% myth mentioned above). Go to the original source when you can.

Step 3: Analyze It

Willingham takes the reader on a tour of some basic analysis and critical thinking skills, including sample size and statistical significance. Moderately sophisticated readers won’t learn much here. I do like one important point he makes, though: “If a claim sounds like a breakthrough, it’s probably a sham, because unheralded breakthroughs in science are exceedingly rare.”

Step 4: Should I Do it?

Finally, you have to decide whether to implement the change, buy the product, etc. This chapter takes you through two comprehensive checklists. If you follow these, you may not be guaranteed a good decision, but you’ll certainly have a defensible one if it doesn’t pan out!

Will this book help you?

Before I make my closing observation, let me first say that I think When Can You Trust the Experts? is a good book, and explains a useful (albeit basic) approach that can help make you a better consumer of information and improve your decision making. BUT…there is a lot of sound advice that is worth taking that does not meet the stringent standards outlined in the book. The irony is that the book itself offers a prime example. Let’s just apply Step 1 to the book. What is Willingham’s claim?

The cover flap states:

“When Can You Trust the Experts? offers parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers the tools they need to ask tougher questions, think more logically about why an intervention might or might not work, and ultimately make more informed decisions.”

If we strip this claim (including evidence cited in the book itself), we get,

“If you follow the prescriptions in this book…

…there is a ____% chance…

…that you will make more informed decisions.”

This brings up a few questions:

Do I have to follow all the prescriptions? (Let’s use the 16 questions on pages 208-209 as a template?)
How will I know if I have followed them? (Some of the questions are hard to answer in a binary fashion.)
What is the % chance? (I did not see any specific quantified claims in the book.)
How will you know your decisions are more informed?
How much more?
Will more informed mean better outcomes from the decisions?

So, as you can see, it’s pretty tough to get good decision-making down to a specific methodology, but I do believe this book makes a strong case that some methodology is better than none at all.

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