December 13, 2011
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“No matter what kind of work you do, you’re involved in transforming some type of input into a different form of output that a customer wants. That act of transformation makes you, in essence, a factory—and that means that you can benefit from Lean tools and concepts,” writes OPEN Forum contributor Dan Markovitz, in a new book called A Factory of One.
The subtitle of the book is something I know well from my years working with Toyota: "Applying Lean Principles To Banish Waste And Improve Your Personal Performance." The book is true to the subtitle: A Factory of One is a nice, short primer on the basics of lean thinking, with an emphasis on the practical application to personal work habits.
I've also known Dan for nearly a half decade, so he helped answer a few questions for me:
Q: How did you come up with your title, A Factory of One?
A: The title is a metaphor. Obviously a person isn't really a factory. But just as factories transform raw materials into cars, toasters and frozen waffles, you transform ideas, data and information into knowledge, in the form of things like business plans, marketing strategies, legal briefs, research reports, spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks.
Q: Why'd you write the book…what are you trying to achieve?
A: Too many people still think of Lean as a manufacturing thing. I want to help turn that around, because it really has nothing to do with factories, other than the fact that that's where it was born. I'm hoping I help people produce more high-quality work by making better choices in how they use their time and energy. I want to provide folks with a way to approach problems productively, a way to design personal systems that ensure that the right things get done, in a way that systematically incorporates constant improvements into their work.
Q: What's your take on what it means to be Lean?
A: Lean to me is a complete business system that improves quality and boosts output by eliminating waste through a series of methods and tools. It’s an approach that taps human intelligence and creativity. Lean has paid off enormously not just for Toyota but for a growing number of service providers, Web companies and startups.
Q: I happen to think Lean matters more than ever, but I'd like to hear you explain why.
A: I think organizations of all sizes and shapes, and the people who work in them, need a way to manage the increased pressures and challenges of the current environment. There are fewer people to do the work, communication technology has exploded, and organizations are more complex. This situation makes both personal and institutional productivity more challenging. Lean helps you manage all that.
Q: What's different about your ideas?
A: Most Lean initiatives don’t address the individual, only the larger processes. They assume you'll magically apply things you do at a process level to your own personal work. It's not that automatic. If you think about it, time is the only irreplaceable resource you have, and it's the most valuable. Why wouldn't you make the personal application explicit?
Q: How do you respond to an overworked, overcaffienated businessperson who says “I’m in a constant state of fire fighting. There’s no way to make my work 'flow.'"?
A: We drastically underestimate and thus ignore the many repetitive and utterly predictable tasks we perform every day—we don’t even think about them they're so many and prevalent. But they're loaded with waste, and thus opportunity-rich. Making those tasks flow will provide you with more time to do the fun, creative and unpredictable work you love.
Q: How is your book any different from the dozens of other time management books out there?
A: Well, some of the ideas in this book are certainly common to other time management approaches. But in general, those others only tell you what to do, not why to do it. More importantly, the concepts and the language supports and fits seamlessly with the Lean initiatives that many companies are already undertaking.
Q: What's the one thing you want people to take away from A Factory of One?
A: That anyone who is involved in process improvement for systems should also pay attention to the gains to be made by improving individual processes, and you don't need money, new equipment or expensive software to become lean. You don't need to be in a company that is committed to improvement. You don't need anyone's approval. You can work under a bunch of executive troglodytes in the white-collar equivalent of a salt mine and still apply these ideas. You only need your own commitment to improvement.
Q: Last question: how'd you get Jim Collins to say such nice things about the book?
A: Jim Collins was one of my professors at Stanford Business School way back when. I wasn’t a particularly stellar student, but he remembered me because we share Winston Churchill as a hero. We stayed in touch over the years. I even roped him into the decision over the title.
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