The document discusses how lean principles are focused on supporting people. It explores the human side of lean, examining human nature, values, motivation, psychology, education, thinking and work styles. It discusses how the origins of lean in Toyota focused on supporting workers to eliminate waste and create value. Lean science aims to have workers work at the right levels to eliminate waste by using pull and limiting work-in-process. Lean management creates an environment where workers can thrive and delight customers. The document emphasizes that lean is about systems thinking applied to educating and supporting workers, not just achieving results.

1. Lean
Is About People
BECOMING
LEAN-agile
© copyright 2011. Net Objectives, Inc.

3. Lean for Executives
Product Portfolio
Management Business
ASSESSMENTS
CONSULTING
T RAINING
COACHING
Lean
Enterprise
Manage
Team
ment
Kanban / Scrum Lean Management
ATDD / TDD / Design Patterns Project Management

4. 60s: Software Crisis
70s: Software Eng/Waterfall
80s: PCs
80s: 4th Gen Language
90s: Internet
90s: Rigorous Process / Y2K
00s: Agile methods

5. Different Perspectives
People
Process

6. Different Perspectives

7. Different Perspectives

8. Structures Help People

9. Outcomes
 The Nature of People
 Taiichi Ohno and People
 The bias of the Machine that Changed the World
 How Lean Supports People

10. which part of the
airplane FLIES?

11. Values
Social Motivation
Needs
People Psychology
Think-
Create- Education
Work

12. MINDSET

13. Different Perspectives
Stake-
holders
yees
Emplo-

14. Different Perspectives

15. Nature of People - Values
1. Values • Honesty
• Fairness
2. Motivation • Quality
3. Psychology
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

16. Nature of People - Motivation
1. Values • Intrinsic
• Service to others
2. Motivation
3. Psychology
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

17. REALITIES

18. Nature of People - Psychology
1. Values • We like to feel in control
• We like to be right
2. Motivation • Fear of unknown
3. Psychology • Uncomfortable with too much change
• Tend to fall back into old habits
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

19. T E L L I N G P E O P L E “J U S T D O I T ”
JU S T D O E S N ’T D O I T

20. Too much change brings stress
Why not start where you are?

21. Rate of Change
 Massive change without understanding
– Fight or Flight
– Need a burning platform
– Not sustainable
– Go back to old habits
 Small change - continuous improvement

22. Nature of People - Education
1. Values • How do people best learn?
• Incrementally
2. Motivation • With real experience
3. Psychology
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

23. Common
understanding
helps create
collaborative
action

24. “ Theory by itself is useless.
Experience by itself is expensive”
Edwards Deming
theory
learning
application
“ Theory by itself teaches nothing.
Application by itself teaches nothing.
Learning is the result of dynamic interplay between the two.”
Peter Scholtes

25. The World We Live In
 Simple
 Chaotic
 Complicated
 Complex

26. different kinds of predictability
Micro-don’t
know the color
Macro-more money
is staying than
leaving

27. Next time you
are in a
situation
where you
have no
control
see if you can
make it worse!

28. PDCA is original adaptive
system
But it’s based on white-box (explicit)
models

29. NEW PERSPECTIVES

30. Context of Lean Origins
 Circa late 40s early 50s
 Toyota could not compete on basis of
– Technology
– Marketplace
– Volume
 Had to compete based on people getting better

31. The basis of the Toyota production system is
the absolute elimination of waste. The two
pillars needed to support the system are:
 just-in-time
 autonomation
It is easy to misunderstand
and think Lean is about this
result. It is actually systems
thinking applied to educating
and supporting the workers
to move toward this result.

33. Lean Science
Muda (waste) is caused by muri
(overburdened workers) which is caused
by mura (unevenness of flow).
Essentially, use pull and WIP limits to have
workers work at right levels & eliminate waste.

34. at some point
Physics
was no longer
Newton’s
New methods
are evolving

35. Product Portfolio Management
Kanban
Lean-Flow Across Teams

36. Lean science makes
Lean management possible

37. Lean Management
The role of management is to create an
environment for the workers to thrive
and to delight customers
Management as leadership
This requires attention to:
Context within which work takes place
Psychology of people

38. Leadership Self-organizing teams
Product Management Quality practices
Holistic view All teams are different
Proper Focus Proper Workload

39. Nature of People – Think-Create-Work
1. Values • Diversity improves creation
• Structure aids creativity
2. Motivation
3. Psychology
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

40. Diversity Is Key
A complex problem, like discovering ways to delight clients, is
best solved by a cognitively diverse group of people that is
given responsibility for solving the problem, self-organizes, and
works together to solve it.
The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management – Steve Denning

41. Does
Self-organizing team
mean
do what you want?
No

42. Must Attend to Laws

43. Feedback Is Good

44. REFLECTIONS

45. Nature of People - Needs
1. Values • Feeling of self-worth
• Acknowledgement
2. Motivation • Sense of service
3. Psychology • Financial
4. Education
5. Think-Create-Work
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

46. Self-Organization Works &
Also Supports People’s Needs
 Feeling of self-worth
 Acknowledgement
 Sense of service

47. Needs of People - Financial
 Deming’s Point # 1
Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of
product and service, with the aim to become
competitive and to stay in business and to provide
jobs.
The goal is not to become more productive so you
can fire people.
It is to create more value with the people you have.

48. Nature of People - Social
1. Values • Tribal
• Organize in groups
2. Motivation • How do groups relate
3. Psychology • How to relate to other individuals
• Peers
4. Education
• Managers / leaders
5. Think-Create-Work • Mentees
6. Needs
7. Social
thinking
points

49. Just because Kanban can enable you to
work without teams doesn’t mean you
should
Use Kanban to create teams when they
don’t exist

50. Needs
Social Psychology
Motivation
People Values
Think-
Education Create-
Work

51. Questions to Ask?
Are you fighting or flowing with
human nature
Are you using people as tools?
or are you helping them to solve
problems?

52. Values of the Lean Software
& Systems Consortium
 Accept the human condition
 Accept that complexity and uncertainty are natural to
knowledge work
 Achieve better economic outcomes
 Achieve better sociological outcomes
 Seek, embrace and question valuable ideas from all
disciplines
 Enhance the speed and depth of positive change
through a value-based community

53. Thank
You! ASSESSMENTS
CONSULTING
T RAINING
COACHING
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alshall@netobjectives.com
Lean Agile Project Management Stockholm 3-4/11
I’ll be at LESS 2011 Stockholm, 30/10-2/11
copyright © 2010 Net Objectives Inc.