"The most common source of mistakes in management decisions is the emphasis on finding the right answer rather than the right question." — Peter Drucker
Ability of leaders to ask the right questions is critical to the success of a project. The type of questions will determine the quality of process improvements. If leaders do not know what to look for, teams would get the message that they can get away with whatever is possible.
All management should learn to ask these three simple questions:
1) What is the process?
2) How can you tell it is working?
3) What are you doing to improve it (if it is working)?
Nothing sustains itself, certainly not Lean manufacturing or Lean management. So, establish and stick to a routine including regular visits to the Gemba, check the status of visual controls, follow-up on daily accountability assignments, and ask the three simple questions everywhere. Lean management is, as much as anything, a way of thinking.
Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them.
When an employee brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what action steps do you recommend?" Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the process.
If you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer.
All management should learn to ask these three simple questions:
1) What is the process?
2) How can you tell it is working?
3) What are you doing to improve it (if it is working)?
Nothing sustains itself, certainly not Lean manufacturing or Lean management. So, establish and stick to a routine including regular visits to the Gemba, check the status of visual controls, follow-up on daily accountability assignments, and ask the three simple questions everywhere. Lean management is, as much as anything, a way of thinking.
Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them.
When an employee brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what action steps do you recommend?" Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the process.
If you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer.
I've learned that the wrong questions are often because management may have the wrong priority or incomplete information. If one really believes that safety comes first then the company safety committee and steering committee should always be looking at safety concerns first as a priority. When push comes to shove and the pressure is for ever higher production and profit leaders will often make poor choices by turning a blind eye and asking the wrong questions thus neglecting the top priority questions regarding safety...The "New Detroit" in the southern states automotive plants and auto supplier plants are currently negligent and of not asking the right questions and doing what is right for safety.
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