Provision #741: Knowledge Matters
Laser Provision
Two weeks ago I wrote about the importance of kaizen to leadership. Kaizen is
the Japanese word for "good change," and it has come to be used in reference to
continuous improvement and Total Quality Management or TQM. Unlike some quality
systems that focus on inspections, quotas, and merit ratings to achieve
quality, the system developed by W. Edwards Deming argues for constancy of
purpose, pride of workmanship, and a no-fault learning environment where
everyone, at all levels, is constantly and forever striving to improve
operations. Which of the two sound better to you? Once you have the knowledge,
there's no going back.
LifeTrek Provision
When it comes to leadership, knowledge matters in at least two senses of the
word. On the one hand, leaders cannot be effective unless we know what is going
on in our organizations, with our people and customers, and in the world at
large.
That requires not only systems of data collection but also open and honest
communication, all the way up and down the line. When information is being hid
from leaders, an all too common situation, leaders cannot lead.
On the other hand, leaders cannot be effective unless we know what is important
and how best to lead our organizations. We need, in other words, what W. Edwards
Deming referred to as a theory of knowledge that focuses our attention and
guides our decisions. In the absence of an adequate theory, our efforts as
leaders may not only be ineffective, they may also be counterproductive. Common
sense is not enough when it comes to leadership.
That's because common sense becomes common through the accretion of cultural and
developmental dynamics that often work against the goals of leadership. Leaders,
for example, want people to give their very best, to work hard, and to be
creative when problems arise. How do we make that happen? From the time we were
young children, the assumption has been that those things get commanded and
reinforced by those in authority. That represents one theory of knowledge. But
is that really the best way to lead?
Deming, as well as many others, says, "No." What may have worked well with
2-year-olds, who are still developing their internal controls, does not work
well with adults. Adults require a different theory of knowledge altogether, and
yet many leaders show up with the same frameworks we have been using all our
lives.
Want people to work harder? Threaten them with negative consequences, up to and
including termination. Want people to give their very best? Provide large,
financial incentives for quality work. Want people to be creative when problems
arise? Tell people to make suggestions if they have any ideas for improvement.
Sound familiar? It's common sense to lead people in this way. It happens all the
time. And the disease is spreading. What once was limited to manufacturing
operations and the shop floor has now taken the world by storm. Even the most
humanistic of professions, such as education, is being held to performance
standards with the carrot and the stick. Reward the high performers and punish
the low performers. What could be simpler than that?
Unfortunately, to paraphrase H.L. Mencken, simple is not always better. In fact,
it can be quite wrong-headed. Mencken wrote: "For every complex problem, there
is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." Using extrinsic motivators to
enforce compliance in the workplace, whether in education or in any area of
human endeavor, is one such example of a solution that sends us down a rabbit
hole from which there is no escape other than a new theory of knowledge that
takes us in an entirely different direction. Knowledge matters, especially when
it comes to leadership.
Deming argues that what leaders need is a theory of profound knowledge. Profound
knowledge is often the opposite of common sense. Profound knowledge is uncommon
sense, but it is the key to effective leadership and organizational success. In
Deming's system, profound knowledge requires an understanding of four dynamics:
systems theory, causes of variation, learning theory, and human
psychology. Without understanding these four dynamics, no leader can hope to be
effective.
- Systems Theory. This goes far deeper than the recognition that
organizations are systems made up of interconnected parts. Everyone
acknowledges that basic truth, but not everyone understand its implications.
Profound knowledge recognizes and accounts for the interdependencies between
internal as well as external parts so as to optimize the synergy of the
entire system; in other words, so as to make the whole greater than the sum
of the parts.
Implications of systems theory include, for example, the idea that no change
is made to any individual part of system without analyzing and considering
the impact on the whole system. For Deming, that included a statistical
analysis of all the components, processes, and people within the system. The
point of this analysis, however, is not to judge, blame, or rank the
component parts apart from their contribution to the aim of the entire
system. In systems theory, the parts are never evaluated separately from the
functioning of the whole.
Another implication, then, is that long-term, cooperative relationships
between parts is the best way to structure the internal workings of a
system. Deming believed in loyalty both to employees and to suppliers.
Single-source solutions were better, in his view, than competitive and
adversarial relationships around pricing, materials, and services.
Leadership amounts to optimizing these relationships.
- Causes of Variation. Deming notes that there are two causes of
variation in any system: common causes that occur regularly and special
causes that occur exceptionally. Leaders make a big mistake when we confuse
the two. If we fail to notice a variation as exceptional, we may not make
the necessary adjustments or learn all that the event has to teach us. If we
interpret routine variations as special cases, we may start tampering with
the system in ways that will only make things worse.
To illustrate this principle, Deming was famous for his Red Beads as well as
his Funnel experiments. In each case, a natural degree of variation occurs,
regardless of what people do or do not do. Things get worse rather than
better, in such cases, when people start adjusting the experiments on the basis of
past results. Such adjustments are ill-advised. Trying to manage essentially
random events degrades future performance and creates other
problems as well. Yet leaders do this all the time.
We blame people for things that are essentially outside of their control,
and then we think we are doing our job as decisive leaders. such leaders
were featured in the movie, Waiting for Superman, when firing bad
teachers was identified as the way to save American education. Blaming the
victim is no way to lead, however. By knowing the difference between the two
causes of variation, which Deming would again use statistics to help
identify, leaders can make smarter decisions as to when to do what with
whom.
- Learning Theory. Deming held that leaders need a clear
"theory of knowledge," but his real concern was that leaders have a clear
understanding of how people learn. People think we learn from experience,
like an infant touching a hot stove. But adult learning is much more
complicated than that. Adults start with hypotheses as to what will happen
if we do something. These hypotheses shape our experiences which, in turn,
shape our hypotheses. There is an iterative and integral relationship
between hypothesis and perception when it comes to the evolution of human
knowledge. If leaders fail to understand this relationship, we fail to lead. 20 years of experience
may, in fact, be only one year of experience, twenty times
over.
That's why Deming, ever the statistician, argues that leaders need to become like
scientists. We need to become both intentional and smart when it comes to
working with data. Going around
collecting examples does not a theory make. Scientists learn by postulating
a formal theory, often invented with a little help from the imagination, and then
testing that theory through experiments. On the basis of those experiments,
theories get tweaked, scrapped, or developed. Learning takes place when
people come away from their experiments with new understandings as to how
things work now and might work in the future.
Deming is big on the notion that leaders should minimize leading on the
basis of our unfounded gut intuition or sense of things. He also doesn't
like eyeballing the data. Deming was trained as a statistician, and he knew
how often inklings and surface-level analysis could lead people astray.
Deming wanted leaders to formulate hypotheses,
conduct experiments, collect data, and work with it properly so that we don't engage in
superstitious learning, confusing the known and the unknown.
- Human Psychology. In some ways, this is what our entire book on
Evocative
Coaching is about. The book reflects the continuation of what Deming
had been writing about for many years as to what things work well when it
comes to stimulating adult learning. Leading or coaching people with the
carrot and the stick, for example, providing lots of extrinsic pressure and
incentives, interferes with human psychology. Giving people respect and
autonomy, on the other hand, advances that learning exponentially.
Deming's concern is that leaders learn how to kick up and bolster intrinsic
motivation: the desire to make things better for the pure joy of making
things better. Fostering pride of workmanship is one of Deming's management
principles. Instead of micromanaging people or pitting them against each
other through rating systems and scorecards, Deming argues for giving people
freedom and encouraging collaboration.
Such approaches tap into the very core of human psychology. People don't
like to be controlled or reprimanded. They don't like to be treated like
commodities. They don't like to function under in fear of punishment. They
don't like to be cutting corners on quality in order to lower costs and
maximize profits. People like to be treated as valuable and contributing
members of a team. The more leaders learn to treat people in this way, the
more our leadership will grow into something truly wonderful.
These principles represent the kind of knowledge that leaders need to have
and apply if we hope to be effective. Profound knowledge, as Deming calls it,
generates leadership success. It is also the secret to moving information up and
down the ladder so that we are not operating in either a vacuum or a bubble. In
so many ways, knowledge matters when it comes to leadership. With the right
knowledge, we really can steer things in positive directions. And isn't that
what leadership is always all about?
Coaching Inquiries: How would you describe your knowledge of systems, variation,
learning, and psychology? How do you relate to Deming's assertions as to the
nature and importance of each? How might you become more familiar with this
profound knowledge? What would be different about your leadership if that were
to happen today?
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
and materials sent in each week by the readers of LifeTrek Provisions. They do
not necessarily reflect the perspective of LifeTrek Coaching International. To
submit your comment, use our
Feedback Form or
Email Bob.
I really enjoyed reading the poems this week by Maura and Dave! "Where
We Live" reminded me that you are probably getting some great
birds flying through your yard this time of year during fall migration! Enjoy.
I read that poem and thought it was beautiful and was wondering if I could use
it in the Church Newsletter that I do once a month? I got a lot of comments on
the other poem that you allowed me to use and I thought this one was really
lovely too.
Thank you for another week of joyful reading. October 1st was a special day
for my family as well, since my husbands sister also got married that day. The
experience made me realize more than ever that living from the heart, being
centered within, so one can be of service to others is where we live. I cherish
my family and friends for sharing their values of community and love of life
with each other and thank you for reminding us that all this "warm and fuzzy"
stuff like caring and relationships is so important in leadership and life. Have
a great day!
I thought you might enjoy this article by
Atul Gawande that a friend shared with me (if you
haven't already seen it)....I still enjoy your weekly Provisions immensely and I
hope all is well with you and your family.
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May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School
Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association
of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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