Undercover Bosses & Ohno Circles
- BY Gary Buck
- February 8th, 2010
I watched CBS’s new series “Undercover Boss” after the Super Bowl yesterday and was thoroughly excited to see a reality show that actually tried to bring about a positive outcome rather than focus on the worst of human behavior. In the premiere episode, the president/COO of Waste Management, Larry O’Donnell, sheds his suit and tie, assumes an alias, and applies for various jobs at his own company, only to find that his operations are not quite as healthy as he previously thought.
Naturally, you have to be leery of any “reality” program that obviously has camera crews following the players around their environments. What employee would possibly be able to ignore the cameras enough to display poor judgement or behavior at their place of business? (Apparently in the next episode, a Hooters manager does exactly that.) But then again, that’s not the point of this endeavor. Employees that actually do a great job in spite of various challenges from “corporate” are discovered by Mr. O’Donnell, who realizes quickly that the decisions coming from his office, under the guise of “productivity improvement”, have made these employees’ work lives very difficult.
I’ve seen this exact phenomenon many times over the years, especially when working with large, Fortune 500 companies who are trying to implement intranet portals to improve their productivity and reduce operational costs. Time and time again, after returning from discovery sessions with employees around the world, I’ve presented stories, quotes and images to unbelieving and startled executives. By merely taking the time to ask customers (employees) what they need to do a better job, we end up with revelations and epiphanies that make dramatic advances far beyond any previously expected gains. But how much better would the results be if executives actually made these trips with me?
Since meeting with Tom Young, one of Nike’s “Lean Gurus”, in Bangkok a few months ago, I’ve been exploring the worlds of Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, Design Thinking and other modern-day productivity philosophies and how they mesh (or clash) with the Creative Problem Solving ideology that has guided my career. One of the lessons from Lean Thinking concerns the tool called the “Ohno Circle”, invented by Toyota executive Taiichi Ohno in the 1950s. Ohno would draw a circle on the floor of a manufacturing plant and direct the plant’s president to stand in the circle for eight hours to observe all of the problems and waste occuring right before his eyes. The exercise is almost always a complete shock to the executive, who rarely has even a vague grasp of what’s going on at the ground level of his own company.
In spite of Toyota’s monumental quality and brand problems of the moment, using the Ohno Circle is an incredibly sound methodology that was employed brilliantly in CBS’s “Undercover Boss”. Perhaps the “undercover” aspect made the exercise even more effective as it may have offset the common effect of seeing behavior change solely because it is being observed. In any case, this new reality show starts to scratch the surface of a wide range of problems with American business and how it is currently structured, managed and operated, as well as the broader implications about how employees are motivated, rewarded and punished.
As seems to always happen, experiencing “Undercover Boss” comes at a time when I am simultaneously enjoying a related learning experience. I’ve just completed reading the book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Dan Pink, in which he describes how the business world needs to move towards “Motivation 3.0″ and actually provide employees with reasons for working beyond the traditional “carrot and stick”. In “Undercover Boss”, Waste Management COO O’Donnell discovers that his employees don’t need to be “spied on” or “threatened” for being late, or even offered bonuses for “above and beyond” performance. He finds employees who regularly overachieve without reward, who have a great attitude while cleaning port-a-potties, and who inspire others to work harder even though they endure the hardship of dialysis.
Though it wasn’t stated explicitly in the show, I hope that Mr. O’Donnell continues his practice (though openly, now that his cover is blown) to travel to Waste Management facilities and work with his employees in jobs all across the enterprise. Hopefully, he’ll also make it part of his executive staff’s regular jobs to do the same exercise in their own divisions. And in the end, it will likely result in higher productivity, quality and job satisfaction (retention) across his company. Good work, Mr. O’Donnell and good luck.
As for the rest of us, the challenge is clear. Without the trailing camera crews, visit your far-flung facilities and get your hands dirty at the ground level of your organization. Ask your employees what they want and need with the same fervor that you (hopefully) ask your paying customers what they want and need. In all likelihood, you’ll make people happier, achieve higher productivity, improve retention, safety, morale and in the end, profitability.
And if you find that your intranet is part of the problem, give me a call – I’d love to stand in the Ohno Circle with you and help identify and solve your problems.
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