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How to Do Lean—Cultural Change Fundamentals 99

as problem solvers. This intuitive skill is not only needed at the observing stage but is
certainly needed in the “creating possible solutions” aspect of problem resolution.
In short, what happens is this. When needed, most businesses hire individuals with
a strong “thinking-sensate” personality type. Since they are strong sensates, they are
usually deficient in intuition—this is natural, predictable, and largely unavoidable.
Unfortunately, when it comes time to solve a serious problem and intuitive skills are
needed, the workforce is, alas, weak in this area. So the company, with the best of inten-
tions tries to teach problem solving. Much of the methodology can be taught, but the
intuitive skills can’t really be acquired in the classroom. So in the end, real problem-
solving skill development proceeds slowly. Since most companies think problem solv-
ing can be taught, they are disappointed and usually shrug their shoulders. In fact, the
truth is that some problem-solving skills can be taught in the classroom, but for those
“thinking-sensates” the intuitive skills of observation and solution conception are
largely taught by life. Sometimes that means just enduring more of life’s experiences to
broaden your personality—or in other words, it’s a part of getting older, and wiser.
Hence, my point is that few people have the total complement of skills to be really
good problem solvers. Some of the skills can be taught in the classroom, but some skills
come to work with the person’s personality and are largely unteachable.
This polarization of skills within an individual has given rise to the concept of group
problem solving. Given a group as small as five or six individuals, frequently we will
have all four of the personality traits present in one or more of the people. What then
happens is that those who are strong “sensates” are very active in the problem defini-
tion stage, but may be less involved in the highly intuitive stage of imagining possible
solutions. On the other hand, a person with a strong intuitive tendency could assist in
the step of creating possible solutions yet be less involved in the problem definition
stage. With a small group, it’s very possible to get all four of the poles adequately rep-
resented. Now, if the group also has the technical knowledge, it is likely a good problem
solving effort will be achieved.
I have taught groups and done controlled experiments with groups and find them to
be very effective in finding superior solutions to many problems. But as with so much of
life, if you get something good, it often comes with some baggage. And the group, when
used for problem solving, does have some baggage—a situation that is threefold, at least.
• First, to be successful the group must be well facilitated; hence, yet another skill
is required, that of facilitation, a scarcity in its own right.
• Second, although the process is thorough, it is not fast. Groups need to form
and develop. Then there is the whole issue of meetings. Solutions tend to be
weeks or even months away. This is anything but JIT problem solving.
• Third, often the issues in Lean implementation have to do with very technical
issues, so the group may not have the requisite technical knowledge. Where
intimate technical knowledge is an issue, one well-informed person working
alone is always more efficient and usually far more effective.
We have a great deal of information on group problem solving, group management,
and group dynamics, and what we find is that these skills are not the most important
ones to work on during the early stages of a Lean initiative. Typical problems are usu-
ally more Lean-specific, and the answers are needed quickly. These characteristics of a
problem generally mean they are better solved by an individual.