White space for important work [Lessons from the Road]
In 2016 I am trying, with my column Lessons from the Road, to stretch people’s thinking and not just refine it. I hope that most of my columns will generate some disagreement or at least some questions.
This month in White space for important work I am addressing Leader Standard Work and whether it is more about standardization or instead about actually creating white space for doing important things as coaching and problem solving. Here is an excerpt:
Having white space in your management system is essential for success. Why? Because much of Leader Standard Work is about surfacing problems, either requiring problem-solving or coaching. So if you follow your standard work and walk around the operation checking control points, and you find an abnormal condition, you have to react. If you have no white space on your schedule, you add the problem to a list which is an inherent promise to fix it sometime in the future. This is a promise easily and often broken.
I hope you’ll read it. I encourage you to ask questions and comment here or on IW’s site.
I would also love to hear from you about the challenges you face in your personal or organizational transformation. Please contact me and share your toughest challenges.