Turn Failures Into Breakthroughs

Is that unexpected result a stupid mistake, or an expression of the truth?  Don't resist anomalous information because it might lead to an epiphany. Jonah Lehrer has the the following advice:

Check Your Assumptions: Ask yourself why this result feels like a failure. What theory does it contradict? Maybe the hypothesis failed, not the experiment.

Seek Out the Ignorant: Talk to people who are unfamiliar with your experiment. Explaining your work in simple terms may help you see it in a new light.

Encourage Diversity: If everyone working on a problem speaks the same language, then everyone has the same set of assumptions.

Beware of Failure-Blindness: It’s normal to filter out information that contradicts our preconceptions. The only way to avoid that bias is to be aware of it.

Or as Stephen Covey might say, if things aren't working well, consider whether your paradigm is incomplete on incorrect.

(via Above and Beyond KM)

Reports From Shingo Prize Conference

(updated) Just a quick note to be sure and check out Mark Graban's reports from the Shingo Prize Conference.  In comments, Mark writes that he plans on interviewing Stephen Covey tomorrow.

In his report on Day 1, Mark relays this nugget from Bruce Hamilton about Shigeo Shingo's priorities for improvement:

1. Easier
2. Better
3. Faster
4. Cheaper

That makes a whole lot of sense from a Lean perspective, for reasons Mark goes into.  But of course this priority list would be completely inverted for most managers.

Update: Mark's interview with Stephen Covey can be read and heard here.

Stephen Covey and Lean

Via Mark Graban at Lean Blog, here's an interesting video introducing Steven Covey as a keynote speaker at this year's Shingo Prize conference.

Like Mark, I see connections between Lean and some of Covey's principles (e.g. Be Proactive,  Sharpen the Saw). My major criticism of Covey has been insufficient attention to good processes. Principles aren't enough; the skeleton needs muscle to move. But I confess to having read only the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and not some of his later books.

And regardless, I'm glad to see these two worlds overlapping.