Discover Improvement Potential
Step 3: Generate Original Ideas
6.2 Key Concepts Regarding Idea Generation
6.2.1 Common Roadblocks to Creativity
regarding teams and creativity, and discuss some methods for helping to spur original ideas.
6.2.1 Common Roadblocks to Creativity
Before discussing how to help stimulate and spur creative thinking in individuals and groups, it is worth first reviewing common roadblocks to creativity and improvement.
Awareness of these common pitfalls can help you avoid wasting time in many cases and help others when they get stuck in terms of idea generation. Specifically, we outline five typical roadblocks that are common to most environments.
There are, of course, other impediments, but these are the most common ones from our experience. We then provide general points of advice for helping to foster creativity in
teams and present some specific techniques that you may find useful.
6.2.1.1 Force of Habit
One of the first and most common problems in dealing with idea generation is overcoming the force of habit. Humans are fundamentally creatures of habit. We are most comfortable when we are repeating familiar patterns in our lives and daily work routines. Kaizen fundamentally means “change for the better.” The act of change involves some degree of both courage and creativity to alter the status quo. The definition of insanity as Albert Einstein once remarked is to repeat the same process over and over and expect different results.
When practicing Kaizen either for individual skills development or for producing results, remember to challenge the status quo. Altering the process in some way is required to create “change” and drive “improvement” (i.e., Kaizen).
6.2.1.2 Preconceptions
Preconceptions about the process or end result are also a related form of blockage when driving improvement activities. Often, we have filed away mental notes or statistics that we have heard in the past and assumed to be true. Maybe those bits of information were true in the past regarding a process, the customer, the design, or the supplier. Over time, however, situations change and open up opportunities for improvement. In Kaizen, you must be willing to suspend previous judgments or opinions and test them again from scratch.
6.2.1.3 Common Sense
As strange as it may sound, common sense can also be a powerful blocking force in terms of improvement. For example, it was “common sense” that making more parts always leads to greater efficiencies and cost improvement. It is only when you put on the “uncommon lens” of avoiding overproduction that various wastes of overproduction start to become clear to observers.
A similar example in the history of Toyota pertains to setup reduction efforts and changeover work. In manufacturing in the 1950s, it was normal for changeover work on stamping machines to take anywhere from one to four hours depending on the size of the machine. Given this assumption, it is normal to want to avoid changing stamping dies due to the loss of run time incurred on the press. However, the assumption is flawed in this case. Changeover time is not fixed and can be shortened with work. Change time was shortened inside Toyota from the levels discussed to a companywide average of 15 minutes in 1962. By 1973, that average was down to less than 3 minutes per machine.1When this short time is possible, it makes great sense to change over stamping dies frequently to meet changes in customer demand and to reduce inventory levels. Challenging assumptions and common sense is often a big part of Kaizen.
6.2.1.4 Not Invented Here Syndrome
Sometimes companies are proud of their history and traditions: “We did not invent that method here, so we don’t
want to do that type of thing.” Some degree of pride is healthy and normal. Excessive pride, however, is arrogance and one of the seven deadly sins in many different cultures.
The ancient Greeks, for example, considered “hubris” or excessive pride as a dangerous sin that, when left unchecked, led to the downfall of even the most powerful individuals.
When you stop and review the concepts presented here, not much was truly “invented” by Toyota. In the arena of Kaizen, time study, motion study, and work analysis are all items developed chiefly in the United States and other countries in the early 1900s. Takt time is a concept Toyota borrowed from German aircraft manufacturing. Pull systems replenishment methods have parallels in U.S. supermarkets. The list is long.
If Toyota had not been open to other ideas from outside the company, it never would have reached the heights that it has achieved in its respective industry.
6.2.1.5 Emotion
The last powerful blinding force that we mention is that of sentiment or emotion. The human brain uses both logic and emotion to form opinions and then action. Often, emotion is a far more powerful and dominating effect when it comes to challenging current methods or the status quo. Fear is a specific type of emotion that often comes into play. This sort of impediment has to be identified and dealt with at various times in working with individuals and work teams.
Emotion has its role in driving improvements; however, it needs to be channeled and harnessed in a proper way. For example, it is acceptable to be excited and passionate about
wanting to change things for the better. Sakichi Toyoda was motivated to develop a better loom to ease the burden on his mother, who operated manual looms. The search for a better way to improve our situation or the situation of a group of employees is a powerful way to harness emotion.
Conversely, we must strive to avoid negative defeatist thinking. Negative emotional thinking can stop improvement work dead in its tracks. Negative thinking can form an invisible web that robs teams of power and stifles creative thinking. The key in Kaizen is to follow the six-step process outlined in this workbook and to apply the outlined thinking patterns. Inside Toyota, managers often talk about the need for developing the “3 Cs” in employees and leaders at all levels. The Cs refer to challenge, creativity, and courage.
Challenge means being willing to question the status quo and look for better ways. Creativity refers to the process of thinking differently and not merely clinging to the ways of the past. Courage means the willingness to test your ideas and learn from trial and error. We suggest that you strive to model the 3 Cs when you implement Kaizen.