Comments on: First, think about the purpose. https://timebackmanagement.com/blog/first-think-about-the-purpose/ Working At The Intersection of Personal Productivity and Lean Manufacturing Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:50:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: dan https://timebackmanagement.com/blog/first-think-about-the-purpose/comment-page-1/#comment-1931 dan Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:50:07 +0000 https://timebackmanagement.com/?p=1954#comment-1931 Mark - Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate knowing that my ideas are actually, you know, helping people. I'm increasingly convinced that the PDCA process is the way to trial all of these innovative ideas. The hard part, I think (especially for the HR department), is that the legal system doesn't much care for PDCA. Anything that might run afoul of employment law (especially here in CA) is seen as too risky to try. Mark – Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate knowing that my ideas are actually, you know, helping people.

I’m increasingly convinced that the PDCA process is the way to trial all of these innovative ideas. The hard part, I think (especially for the HR department), is that the legal system doesn’t much care for PDCA. Anything that might run afoul of employment law (especially here in CA) is seen as too risky to try.

]]> By: Mark Welch https://timebackmanagement.com/blog/first-think-about-the-purpose/comment-page-1/#comment-1929 Mark Welch Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:11:42 +0000 https://timebackmanagement.com/?p=1954#comment-1929 Dan - I've got to chuckle at your response because for a number of years I WAS an HR guy :-) So, I understand from where you speak! Given both my lean and HR backgrounds, I can now see how this could be trialed as part of the PDCA process - wouldn't need to be kept under wraps, necessarily. Best of both worlds. By the way, I like your blog AND your book, "A Factory of One." Keep the good stuff coming. Dan – I’ve got to chuckle at your response because for a number of years I WAS an HR guy :-) So, I understand from where you speak! Given both my lean and HR backgrounds, I can now see how this could be trialed as part of the PDCA process – wouldn’t need to be kept under wraps, necessarily. Best of both worlds.

By the way, I like your blog AND your book, “A Factory of One.” Keep the good stuff coming.

]]> By: Dan https://timebackmanagement.com/blog/first-think-about-the-purpose/comment-page-1/#comment-1924 Dan Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:53:03 +0000 https://timebackmanagement.com/?p=1954#comment-1924 Good point, Mark. However, I think that you can also try this in pockets within the organization. (Shhh...don't tell the HR department!) That's what I did at my old company: I had a clear, but non-public understanding with my team that they could take time off when they needed it, as long as it didn't create huge problems for the rest of the team. The HR department didn't know about it and neither did the executive team, but my group was very, very satisfied. Good point, Mark. However, I think that you can also try this in pockets within the organization. (Shhh…don’t tell the HR department!) That’s what I did at my old company: I had a clear, but non-public understanding with my team that they could take time off when they needed it, as long as it didn’t create huge problems for the rest of the team. The HR department didn’t know about it and neither did the executive team, but my group was very, very satisfied.

]]> By: Mark Welch https://timebackmanagement.com/blog/first-think-about-the-purpose/comment-page-1/#comment-1923 Mark Welch Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:59:05 +0000 https://timebackmanagement.com/?p=1954#comment-1923 The vacation policy is intriguing. I imagine it would take an advanced lean culture with emphasis on respect for people and with a lot of waste already eliminated to make it happen well. Otherwise, I could see some superiors abusing this. For example, if you've got a supervisor with a slaveship mentality, he or she could consistently be telling you, "You work isn't done. Why do you want to go on vacation?" Or, even if it was truly up to you as the employee, you could take vacation and then get hammered (fired, demoted, or worse) by your boss for taking it. I could see it working in the right environment, but I wouldn't implement it lightlly. I'd imagine the culture would need to be built first. The vacation policy is intriguing. I imagine it would take an advanced lean culture with emphasis on respect for people and with a lot of waste already eliminated to make it happen well. Otherwise, I could see some superiors abusing this. For example, if you’ve got a supervisor with a slaveship mentality, he or she could consistently be telling you, “You work isn’t done. Why do you want to go on vacation?” Or, even if it was truly up to you as the employee, you could take vacation and then get hammered (fired, demoted, or worse) by your boss for taking it.

I could see it working in the right environment, but I wouldn’t implement it lightlly. I’d imagine the culture would need to be built first.

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