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When writing, there are two important aspects to finding an audience. First plan what you intend to write and write ahead when you can. Second, in planning, be prepared to deviate from the agenda when the opportunity presents itself.

We plan our articles weeks in advance, write them in batches, review and edit them closer to their drop, and allow for the flexibility that opportunity presents. Yesterday that opportunity presented itself, and now we deviate from the plan.

No one can argue the vitriol that exists in the American political environment at present. We’ve also seen this on a global scale as well. But yesterday, I saw something alarming, that both disappointed and saddened me.

After a grueling travel schedule, we are in Hawaii, off the beaten path for a much-needed vacation focused on rest and recuperation. However, I remain focused on the various aspects of LinkedIn, both out of habit and obligation. In my notifications feed yesterday, I saw one notification that violated the unwritten rule about LinkedIn being about business, and not politics or religion. This notification clearly had a political slant. In my curiosity, I opened the notification, to the post, which included an article about an interview with the attorney who successfully challenged the veracity of Trump University in 2011.

Now let me further violate the LinkedIn business only rule and be clear on my politics. I am not registered, nor am I affiliated or aligned with any one political party. I have a tendency to vote on the issues, following the dictates of my own conscience. This sometimes causes me to lean left or right, again, according to the dictates of my own conscience, but I consider myself a centrist. I believe the correct path is always somewhere in the middle. This paragraph is important in establishing my sadness and disappointment in the comments following the post.

These comments were full of labels and political epithets, objectifying those whose views did not align with their own. Terms such as “democrats,” “MAGA,” “dems,” “radicals,” “RINO,” etc., were frequently used. Comments were based on assumptions driven by both sides of the political aisle. Most alarming was that comments in the feed were by mostly highly educated individuals. This is where I was disappointed and saddened.

Respect Every Individual

The first guiding principle of the Shingo Model is to “Respect Every Individual.” The Shingo Institute selected this exact verbiage because there have been instances in our relatively recent global history, where certain and specific groups of people have been excluded from “everyone” or “humanity,” and objectified by their race, ethnicity, disabilities, or gender identity. I speak specifically of the Jews and “undesirables” of WWII, that led to their objectification, making it easier for the ruling class to exterminate them as a solution to problems perceived as being created by them. You cannot remove anyone from “every individual.”

More recently in the ‘90’s, was the Rwandan genocide, enabled by labeling friends, neighbors, and sympathizers of one tribal ethnicity as “cockroaches.” There was a planned radio signal that launched the horror we are now aware of. It is easier to kill a cockroach than it is to kill a friend, a neighbor, or someone that thinks differently than we do. (You can learn more about this by reading the book by Roméo Dallaire, “Shake Hands With The Devil.”

I do not believe there is any intent of the persons commenting on the LinkedIn post, to go out and kill democrats, MAGAs, dems, radicals, or RINOs. But if you look at history, we very well could be a decade or two away from that happening if things remained the same as they are now.

Embrace Scientific Thinking

The fourth guiding principle of the Shingo Model is to “Embrace Scientific Thinking.” This is critical thinking at its best. Critical thinking is lacking in the comments on the post I referenced. Shigeo Shingo once said that if we believed there was only one solution to any problem, the ability to improve is impossible. Thinking there is only one way, and only one person who knows the way, is the opposite of critical thinking and does not embrace scientific thinking. It is actually the path of least resistance.

To embrace scientific thinking, we need to accept that there may be more than one way to do something. When booking our flights to and from Hawaii, we were initially set up with four legs, with three layovers. I later challenged this paradigm and called the airline for assistance. The ticketing agent took the time to look at all the options available and helped us book an itinerary that got us to three legs and 2 layovers, reducing our travel time from 26 to 16 hours. This came from looking at all the options available and proposing the one that best fits our needs.

Focus on Process

The fifth guiding principle of the Shingo Model is “Focus on Process.” This means taking people – and thus emotions – out of the equation and focusing on the problem. The politics of any democracy, with a few historical exceptions, is about collaboration on solving problems that impact society. Today it seems to be a finger-pointing blame game. The problem is that when you point a finger, the tendency is to eliminate the person being pointed at, and the problem still exists. You can go through only so many people before you either look foolish, incompetent or both.

I was once visiting a plant where an operator said they were not following the standard work. The floor manager that was with us, did not ask “why”, to understand, but immediately pulled us to the side and said that the operator would be “written up.” I asked what would happen if the operator was found to exhibit the same behavior again. The response was the same. They would be “written up.” I asked about a third offense and was told that the organization’s three-strike rule would lead to termination of the offender. I then asked who would replace the operator, and what would happen if they exhibited the same behavior. And so, a circular conversation began, with the focus on the person offending and not even considering what in the process created the conditions for it to be acceptable for the operator(s) not to follow the standard work. The root cause.

When we focus on the process, we quit running through the people mill and get to the root of the problem. The only time the root of the problem is not addressed is when leadership, including political leadership, don’t really want us to focus on the process, find the real problem and correct it. When we are encouraged to focus on people and label them as objects, the only rational explanation is that leaders wish to remain or become leaders, for the sake of the power that leadership grants. This is true of politics and business both.

Think Systemically

The eighth guiding principle of the Shingo Model is “Think Systemically.” When we think systemically, we are thinking about how a potential solution to be implemented impacts all within the system, not just those who have an interest in a particular solution. The difficulty is that to think systemically takes time because it requires us to embrace scientific thinking and to focus on the process. This takes time, and in business and politics we crave the short-term fix rather than the long-term discipline it takes to really resolve the issues at play.

A great example of not thinking systemically, is what we did to Iran in the ‘50’s when we installed the Shah over a duly elected government that threatened to nationalize the oil industry within the country. Putting the Shah in power, a very unpopular move within Iran for multiple reasons, was a matter of political expediency, rather than a well thought out decision, including consideration of the broader impact of installing the Shah. We now find ourselves at loggerheads with Iran and have done so since the popular installation of the current political structure that led to the hostage incident at the U.S. Embassy in Iran and all subsequent issues with the country since then.

Conclusion

I realize this is a simplified version of the complexity of current politics and historical incidents, but it is intended to draw attention to how we have come to behave as a people, within the United States and globally. I take full responsibility for any generalizations and inaccuracies as I expressed my thoughts. To better understand how we got here, please read “The Chaos Machine.”

I think about a song released by the funk / rock / soul / Latin band, WAR, in 1975, “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” followed by my favorite question, “Why?”

Finally, a sincere and honest thank you for allowing me this planned departure from our scheduled articles.

I very much appreciate you and the time you have taken to read this article. You can find more articles like this from me at https://www.legup.solutions/blog.

If you have thoughts on this or other topics regarding yours or your organization’s journey of excellence, feel free to continue the conversation on my Secret Sauce slack feed.

Originally published at https://www.legup.solutions on 23 APR 2024