The engine of Lean
Behind all the dazzling tools and techniques developed in Lean, there is a common basis: the scientific method.
Sorrily, thanks to the entertainment industry, the word 'scientific' evokes the image of a pedantic teenager, with presumable difficulties to get laid, dressed in white coat and doing silly things with baking soda (on that regard, it's curious how many Hollywood productions equate "scientist" to "mad scientist").
But the scientific method, in fact, is the best tool we have for the exploration of reality. To move ahead through reality and reach objectives, we have to do trial and error anyway. That trial an error can be done haphazardly, or, if you want to maximize your results, in an orderly manner. That's what the scientific method provides.
The scientific method works through iterations. The most popular model to describe those iterations is the Shewhart cycle, popularly described as PDCA (Plan Do Check Act). I prefer Shewhart's original formulation as PDSA (Plan Do Study Adjust), although, in the end, it's just a matter of semantics; just go with the words that speak more to you. Here is a basic description of each stage:
Taken to the field of music, here is an example where I think I practiced these steps intuitively, many years before I knew what the PDSA cycle was. In my band in those times, when we rehearsed (Do), I used to record the sessions and later listened to them writing an index card for each song with arrangements and things to improve, lookouts (Study)... that way, in the next rehearsal, we could discuss quickly each song and its 'hot spots' (Plan) before start playing it (Do).
I cannot tell you how great the results were, in terms of both playing quality and also motivation: this kind of cyclical structure got everybody on the same page quickly, and we never had to start a rehearsal 'in cold', out of the blue anymore.
Sorrily, thanks to the entertainment industry, the word 'scientific' evokes the image of a pedantic teenager, with presumable difficulties to get laid, dressed in white coat and doing silly things with baking soda (on that regard, it's curious how many Hollywood productions equate "scientist" to "mad scientist").
But the scientific method, in fact, is the best tool we have for the exploration of reality. To move ahead through reality and reach objectives, we have to do trial and error anyway. That trial an error can be done haphazardly, or, if you want to maximize your results, in an orderly manner. That's what the scientific method provides.
The scientific method works through iterations. The most popular model to describe those iterations is the Shewhart cycle, popularly described as PDCA (Plan Do Check Act). I prefer Shewhart's original formulation as PDSA (Plan Do Study Adjust), although, in the end, it's just a matter of semantics; just go with the words that speak more to you. Here is a basic description of each stage:
- Plan: You envision what you want to do and make the pertinent arrangements (this is the layman definition of a plan), and, here is the kicker, you set a hypothesis of what is going to happen! Every time you design a plan without setting a hypothesis, you are wasting an opportunity to learn something. Ego and guilt, the fear of being wrong, get in the way as nasty habits of the past, but as you practice more and more cycles, you understand that the wronger you were the better, because the more learning you'll get.
- Do: you execute what you planned.
- Study: analyze the results obtained. Was it what you expected? Was the hypothesis confirmed or refuted? Also: what kind of 'lateral learning' we got, the unexpected factors that came our way?
- Adjust: get ready to act in the light of the new discoveries, make modifications based on what you learned, prepare the next cycle to gather additional information... Should we change our approach? Do we need additional experiments to test the hypothesis? Etc...
Taken to the field of music, here is an example where I think I practiced these steps intuitively, many years before I knew what the PDSA cycle was. In my band in those times, when we rehearsed (Do), I used to record the sessions and later listened to them writing an index card for each song with arrangements and things to improve, lookouts (Study)... that way, in the next rehearsal, we could discuss quickly each song and its 'hot spots' (Plan) before start playing it (Do).
I cannot tell you how great the results were, in terms of both playing quality and also motivation: this kind of cyclical structure got everybody on the same page quickly, and we never had to start a rehearsal 'in cold', out of the blue anymore.
