Who's your hero? For many children, a hero is someone who wears a costume, a cape, and flies around the world battling evil, like Superman. But a true lean thinker would define “hero” differently. For instance, shouldn't Superman spend more time at city council meetings, developing better crime prevention programs? Shouldn't he create new tax legislation that prevents Lex Luther from being able to spend so freely on his world domination plots? And as far as Kryptonite — why not just mobilize the global community, go to Washington, and lobby to ban it, instead of acting surprised and tortured every time he comes across it?
Superman was a firefighter, arriving on the scene and solving problems as they came. What we need are strategic, lean thinkers who create sustainable solutions.
Where Firefighting Falls Short
When there is a crisis, heroes emerge. After the earthquake in Haiti, Oxfam published a piece called, “Witnesses and heroes of the Haiti earthquake.” The new president of Chile praised the numerous heroes of the Chile earthquake who risked their lives to save others.
We all love heroes. And let’s face it: a crisis provides the opportunity for heroism. A crisis brings people together from across different walks of life, and this effort allows individuals to shine as they go above and beyond.
In our world, heroes are corporate firefighters: people who go above and beyond when an urgent issue arises. In these moments, they propose solutions that only need to address the immediate problem. These solutions often aren't sustainable, but the fire is so urgent that nobody minds. We recognize and reward these individuals because their efforts save a part of the business in that moment. Oftentimes, the bigger the fire and the more last-minute the solution, the bigger the recognition.
Managers love firefighters. They praise them for their can-do attitude, their team mentality, and their willingness to put in a huge effort. But we should reserve most of our praise for individuals who create long-term solutions that address the root cause of challenges and issues. We'll always need firefighters; but firefighting isn't what will grow our business. Proactive problem solving planning will.
Changing Our Culture from Firefighting to Problem Solving
Employees are the ultimate problem-solving tool. We need to develop this tool, and not just delegate our problems upward. If we reserve all problem solving for management, then too much management becomes unmanageable.
So what are the principles we should use to develop our employees? Check out the accompanying table, which demonstrates the differences between firefighting and problem a problem-solving culture.
Not only is firefighting a short-term solution, it's also dangerous, because it isn't sustainable for employees. Overworking employees can lead to exhaustion, depression, and lower productivity, writes Jonathan Steiman from Inc. magazine. Four steps can to get us moving in the right direction:
1. Encourage strategic planning. Utilize the eight-step Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) correction process that identifies root causes and prevents recurrence. Working the process assures that we understand relationships between processes and work to implement sustainable solutions.
2. Task teams with creating solutions. When a team creates their own solution based on their culture and their ideas, it becomes sustainable. When management creates the solution, it risks employee disengagement. This can also be a great development opportunity for employees. When teams create their own solutions, managers free their schedules to focus on strategic planning.
3. Reward strategic planning over firefighting. Recognize the actions taken to prevent fires in the first place. Ask, “How did this effort help the organization achieve its strategic objectives?”
4. Start a culture of sharing. Do our teams share their solutions with other teams? Why not? Creating knowledge management forums for solution sharing and collaboration is essential to lean success.
Creating a problem-solving culture is the key to the success of a company, and engaged employees provide the fuel for this fire — the right kind of fire.
Jim Garrick, portfolio infrastructure consultant, FedEx. jim.garrick@fedex.com
