The ROCK
By: Mike Brown
I was recently participating in a Kaizen event with a client who was
deeply engaged in solving a problem with a very convoluted “Returns Policy” at the company. The team was doing an excellent job
and there were several discussions about surfacing this problem and getting to a true ‘root cause’ solution - an action rarely taken
with past issues. We were discussing the results of a lean implementation and the fact that by lowering the water level of inventory and waste
we would uncover a lot of rocks that lay below the surface. We referred back to a slide in our Lean Leadership presentation and agreed that
they had indeed surfaced a rock and were well on their way to breaking it up – hopefully, to never be dealt with again. The team was
doing well.
The Search
Trying to be a good facilitator and a high-class consultant, I decided
that a good visual prop for the team meeting room would be “a rock”. So, I took a walk. In a grassy median in the parking lot, lay
a single perfectly shaped and sized rock for our motivational icon in the training room. Not only was it the right size and shaped rock –
it was a man-made rock of concrete, gravel, and surface pebbles. Wow – aren’t most of our problems ‘man made’.
This was the ideal visual aid. I was really proud of myself.
So, I take my ‘perfect’ rock to the training room.
I carefully wrap a piece of tape around the rock to represent the water level. And, I write the name of the problem we are solving on the tape.
It does not get any better than this. I am getting to the point that I may want to take the rock back to Nashville now – just to show it
off. I can’t wait for the next morning. (See Picture on Right)
The Reveal
Bright and early the next morning, in comes the problem solving team.
They all see the rock, like the rock, and stand in awe of this great visual aid I had come up with. But strangely, something unusual was happening
that caught my attention. As people began coming into the room, I started hearing: “Hey, I recognize that rock. I know where that
came from”. Of the first six people to come into the room, four had seen the rock and three of them knew exactly where it had come from.
The people at this company had walked over and around this rock in the parking lot median on their way into the plant for several years. This
rock, in reality a chunk of concrete in the middle of a grassy median, had been mowed around, and trimmed around to ensure the area looked neat.
With this, I became very aware that this was no ordinary rock.
This rock was “the poster child” of unsolved problems in our businesses that we walk around and work around, and maybe even make look
neat – but it is the problem rock we never get rid of. It becomes part of ‘the landscape’ – we see it every
day. We know where it is, we know what it is (a problem), and we may even know where it came from. It becomes so familiar to us that we do not
even see it as a ‘rock’ anymore – it becomes part of our every day work environment.
This rock is the essence of the push for ‘continuous
improvement’ and ‘root cause’ problem solving in a business environment. Lean Enterprise tools teach you to see and observe
differently – especially those wastes or problems (rocks) that you see everyday but in fact you no longer see.
Wow!
What a rock. If it did not weigh 30-40 pounds, I would send you
all one. If you want a picture of my rock let me know.
P.S.
The Company liked the symbolism of this ‘rock’ so much
they said “it was their rock” and I could not have it. What a shame - now, if I could just get an inflatable rock to take on
trips with me.
