Choosing the right tool - for the right job!

When not just any tool will do…..

One of the "core tenants" of Lean that resonates so strongly for me is the concept of eliminating waste, while driving up customer value.  And while that seems as intuitive as breathing in and out, it can sometimes be challenging.  In particular when you are considering the 8^th waste, “skills”.  It is widely held and understood that our “human capital” is the most valuable capital we have, but far too often, it is misused – or “wasted”.   

But I only had a screw driver! 

There are times when you may be tempted to try and fix or do something, when in fact, you are ill prepared or ill equipped for the job.  For example, when you are assembling that new piece of Scandinavian furniture you just bought, but all you have is a screw driver. Or when you go to take that locking-nut off the wheel on your car because you have a flat tire, but can't find that special socket made to fit that locking nut. 

Does that look right? 

Or when you need to tighten that little tiny screw that holds the arm of your sunglasses to the frame, and you just don't have a screw driver small enough. 

There are so many examples of where you just need the right tool for the job. The tool that is designed and proven for the task at hand. The tool that was made to do what you need.  Where coming at your sunglasses with a hammer (either because that’s all you have, or it’s the first thing you pick up because you have lots of hammers!) is just not a good idea.   

That’s not to say a hammer is not a good tool.  In fact, it’s a great tool - as long as you are driving in a nail (or pulling one out). But it really isn’t terribly useful for fixing your sunglasses, or a lot of other jobs. 

But it kinda looked like a nail! 

So why do we tend to often default to the same tool or method to fix problems when they arise? In other words, why do we reach for a hammer so often when we are faced with a new problem?  Well – it could be because we have a really great hammer, and since it has done such a great job driving nails, it just makes sense that it has to be as good at driving in screws for example.  We “see” the hammer in the light of what it does so very well for us, and through transference, assume it will be as good at everything else.  

And I am sure to no one’s surprise, this is true of  people as well  – or more precisely, people’s skills. 

For a moment, think about your mechanic or dentist or hairdresser.  They are all people with very specific skills and talents.  People that you trust to perform a service or deliver a product for you.  But now consider this; you wake up one morning with a sharp pain in your lower abdomen.  It hurts to sit up straight, never mind stand up.  The area is hyper sensitive to pressure. You have a low grade fever. Nothing seems to give you any relief. You quickly realize you need medical attention, so you head to the hospital to go to the emergency ward.  And when you get there, the triage nurse quickly determines you have an acute case of appendicitis.  A fairly routine ailment in the medical field.  But for you, this means you are about to face surgery.  

Sponge...forceps....catalytic converter.....

You are about to entrust someone to literally slice you open and take out your appendix.  And after prepping you for surgery, and getting you on the gurney and rolling you into the operating room, you look up and see your mechanic.

Are you worried?  Are you concerned?  You know this mechanic well, and you know he can do magic when working on a combustion engine.  But you are being asked to entrust him with your life!  You are starting to think that this isn’t such a great idea after all. 

Admittedly, that is an extreme example – we all hope!  But the same thing happens all the time in our day to day lives.  Whether at home, or out enjoying some sport or outdoor activity, or at work.  There is a natural tendency to reach for familiar tools when you start a new job.  The tools that we have had success with before, even though it may have been in a completely different context. 

Maybe it's not the hammer! 

The point is, we should make a conscious effort to use the right tool (person/skill combination) for the job.  This requires of course the ability to adequately and accurately assess a situation to truly understand what skills and other attributes contribute to the activities’ success.  And that's not always easy. We don’t always have all of the information we need before making that choice.

Have you ever heard the expression “the reward for good work is more work!”?  Well it’s true.  If faced with a critical, highly visible project that has a tight timeline, are you going to approach someone that you are unsure of in terms of completing on time and with quality outcomes, or are you going to go back to that same person or persons that you have relied on successfully before?  I think we all know the answer to that.  But far too often we are reaching for the “success” attribute rather than the “contextual” or “skill” attribute that is needed for this particular activity.

One tool to rule them all!

Regardless, we need to avoid the pitfall of the "everyone-is-good-at-everything" syndrome. People are not completely interchangeable, particularly in our more and more specialized business settings.  The days of having a "generalist" that can address any area of the business is pretty much gone.  We can't think of our team members as Swiss Army Knives, with all of the tools you could need for every possible situation or problem.  

Instead, we should be borrowing from some of the Lean tools and methods we have learned over the past years.  In this case, it may be best to think of our team members as items on a "shadow board". They have a very specific use, for a very specific job.  And they don't belong in situations that they are not properly or fully skilled at. 

Chose the correct tool (person) for the job! 

A common example of this is when someone with deep technical skills gets promoted to be the Manager of their area when they really don't have the skills to succeed.  This is sometimes referred to as the Peter Principle. But in fact it is often less structural than that.  This can (and often does) happen when a Manager position becomes available or vacant for a technical team, and there is a member of the team who has been with the organization for a long time.  The temptation to promote someone into Management because "they have a lot of experience with the technical skills the team employs", or "they have been here a long time and really know the organization" can be overwhelming.  But wait - maybe that individual has NO management skills! And worse, they really didn't want to be a manager in the first place.  That isn't setting up our teams to be successful.  That isn't respecting that person, nor the team they are about to manage.  In fact it is the exact opposite.  We waste that person's deep technical skills by having them focus on their management duties.  And sadly, many organizations do this without ever providing the new Manager with the skills and training necessary to be successful. This happens more than you may think. 

And finally, there is one more adverse impact of this kind of waste.  It is to your "brand". Your customers, at least the loyal repeat customers, have come to know and trust you because of the strength of your teams, and the proper application of their skills to drive up customer value for them. 

Years to build, seconds to destroy

Using a person to deliver a service or produce a product that doesn't have the right skills, expected experience, and background your customers have come to expect can cause a loss in trust, diminishing the value for the customer rather than driving it up.  Your intention was good.  You wanted to have someone to take on a particular task or project.  But choosing someone that is highly skilled, at the wrong thing, will inevitably be seen by the customer.  Trust and loyalty takes years and tons of effort to build, but it is very fragile.  It takes only minutes to compromise and destroy.  

Choose your team wisely from the shadow board. Use them to their strengths. They will be successful, you will be rewarded, and most of all, your customers will see and receive the value that they are expecting.  Ask yourself - what can I do to "wow" my customers?  Let's start by making sure we have the right people on the bus in the right seats from the get-go. (Jim Collins - "From Good to Great")