It is seen by many as a “panacea”: a professional as minister or executive. The assumption is that if you have worked in healthcare yourself, preferably as a doctor or nurse, then you know the problems and the right solutions. But is that really the case?

What do you think is going on in the workplace?

It’s that time again. I am having a migraine attack. During such a migraine attack, everything is too much for me. I hide in my bedroom, close the curtains and all I do is watch “slow-TV”.

Slow-TV? You may be wondering.

Yes indeed!

“Slow-TV” are television programs where everything takes place in real time. So, no quick fight scenes with flashy karate moves or policemen running through the streets of a dimly lit city, with dozens of sirens in the background. No, just people talking about what they are doing while they are doing it, such as sports games, documentaries or nature programs, for example.

My favorite channels to watch “slow-TV” are RTL Z (Dutch business channel) and Discovery. Not for sports or nature programs, but for “reality TV” about companies.

Yes, I am indeed a bit of a nerd when it comes to my profession. Even when I have migraines, I keep myself busy with change processes in organizations and how to transform people’s mindset and leadership, making them achieve – beforehand deemed impossible – results.

One of those programs is Undercover Boss.

Undercover Boss?

A director, often the founder himself, of a large company dresses up unrecognizable to his employees. Dyed hair, beard and mustache, and so he then goes, usually for the first time, to take a look around the shop floor of his own company.

He introduces himself to the employees on location as an intern or someone who wants to change careers, so there is an excuse to put the cameras on them.

The episode usually begins with the director in question addressing his MT in a large conference room. Usually he (and sometimes she) wonders aloud, often in a stern tone, if things are going well in his company and if people are doing, what he thinks they should be doing.

A recognizable scene. I also see this a lot in management teams of healthcare institutions: confidence about how well they know their organization and open doubts about the motivation and qualities of employees.

There seems to be the idea that if there are problems at all, they will be caused by the employees. After all, yes, these managers themselves have thought very carefully (or rather “premeditated”) how to organize the work as well as possible.

More importantly, many managers think that if there would be any problems, they would know about them. Afterall, “their door is always open”.

At the end of the show, every executive draws roughly the same conclusions. What happens on the shop floor is about 180 degrees the opposite of what they thought beforehand.

It is precisely despite the way work is organized that people perform remarkably. Even, or perhaps especially, the poorly paid employees are extremely motivated to do a good job despite the lack of support and appreciation.

They learn some important management lessons in just one week:

– Recognize that most of your problems are caused by the system you created, not by the people working in it.

– Assume that people want to do a good job, and it’s your job to make sure they can.

– With employees who are “not performing,” ask them, “What is getting in your way?” rather than judging them.

– Challenge employees who do “perform” to develop them further.

How do they actually come to these insights in such a short time?

The Undercover Boss-effect

By putting him to work as an intern or someone making a career switch, you “force” the Undercover Boss to let go of many of his assumptions, about what he is going to find in the workplace. After all, he needs to focus on his new job. Perhaps, you find it remarkable that this is necessary, but that’s just how our brains work.

To have doctors learn about improving health care, I took them on a study tour to manufacturing companies, such as Boeing, for example. Manufacturing an airplane is so different, complex and overwhelming that these physicians could not use their existing frame of reference to make a judgment. As a result, they completely forgot their previous resistance: “Yeah, but hospitals aren’t factories, are they?!”

So it was precisely in the factory that they learned to look at their own work in a different way and how it could be done better. You could call this the “Undercover Boss effect”.

How do you create the Undercover Boss-effect for yourself or your manager?

The Lean leadership process

The Undercover Boss-effect occurs when you follow the process, they also follow in the episodes. And interestingly, it is also the process Lean leaders follow to create a culture of continuous improvement and learning.

You read it right: “Lean leadership is a process, not a function”. Anyone can be a “Lean leader” by taking responsibility for daily problems in the workplace.

The Lean leadership process has four major components:

1. First, you recognize and acknowledge that there is a problem that requires a solution.
2. But, before you start coming up with that solution, start investigating exactly what the problem is. You observe the problem where it is occurring and find out the facts.
3. Then you look for the root cause of the problem by repeatedly asking, “why did that happen?”
4. You go through this Lean leadership process with the persons doing the work and experiencing the problem, with the purpose of developing them.

Like any process, this requires practice …

Tips to maximize your learning:

• Put yourself in learning mode beforehand. This means trying to be aware of your assumptions. Separate facts from opinions.
• Feel free to leave your stick-on mustache at home; you don’t have to play a role. However, you will need to prepare yourself, and the people you will be observing.
• Share your intentions with the people you encounter and answer their questions.
• Get a coach, to train your observation skills.
• Afterwards, share your experiences and feedback openly with everyone involved.
• Decide together what you will do with the results.

What do you think is going on, on your shopfloor? Is that a fact or an assumption?

Arnout

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