Below are some further 30-year anniversary reflections of “Sid’s Heroes”! Broadcast back in 1995 on BBC1, this series of six half-hour programmes set out to celebrate the “grass-roots experts” who get mobilized in kaizen events. According to Sid, these “heroes” possess years of intuitive and tacit knowledge, making them the folks who truly know how businesses are run.
However, achieving sustainable improvement means striking a very delicate balance between management and workers. It’s not always plain sailing!
On one hand, Sid marvels that “People just grow in front of your eyes.” On the flip side? It only takes 20 seconds flat for ill-judged, crass comments from an unsupportive management team to completely destroy that growth. Talk about a workplace whiplash!
Inspired by Japanese study trips to powerhouse organizations like Toyota and Nissan, Sid notes that the brightest managers know their primary job is to enable their people to shine. When you combine that brightness, brilliant organizations are created.
Inspired by Japanese study trips and such organisations as Toyota and Nissan Sid says โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ. ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅโ.
๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ: ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ โ โ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐โ. ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ โ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒโ. Built on the premise that, at the time, management was the problem with British Industry. And, moreover, bosses actually hinder their staff from engaging and thereby constraining the real asset of the organisation. Is that still the case today?
๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ: ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐น๐ผ๐๐. Sid comments โ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅโ. Do we still assume that new machines and technology are always better than the old ones? Is it better to organise the flow of value before automating?
๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ: ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. Sid often reinforces the view that you can only really understand something by doing it and thereby changing your reality through experience. In the book he emphasises that often the management are too often disconnected from the work and it is hard for the natural work teams to communicate their ideas, thoughts and solutions. How open is communication in today? Do โmanagementโ understand the reality of the daily work being done?
The Big Takeaways
Here are the standout discussion points from Sid’s timeless insights:
๐ก Summary Standout Box 1: The Management Problem:
Historically, the premise was that the workforce was the solution, and management was actually the problem with British Industry. Bosses were seen as a hindrance, constraining staff and bottling up the organization’s real asset. We have to ask: is that still the case today? * The Technology Trap: Are we making inappropriate investments before understanding flows? Sid lost count of the times companies poured good money into new tech before they figured out how best to organize their production flows. Do we still blindly assume new machines are better than old ones, or is it wiser to organize the flow of value before automating?
๐ ๏ธ Summary Standout Box 2: Get Your Hands Dirty * Learning by Doing:
Sid champions normative intervention, reinforcing that you only truly understand something by doing it and changing your reality through experience. * The Executive Disconnect: Often, management is too disconnected from the actual work. This gap makes it incredibly hard for natural work teams to communicate their thoughts, ideas, and solutions up the ladder. * The Modern Question: Do managers understand the reality of daily work being done, and how open is communication today?
Let’s Chat! ๐ฌ
Have things changed since 1995, or are we still making the same mistakes? I want to hear from you!
Contact me to share your thoughts, stories, and experiences. Let’s discuss whether your current workplace is helping heroes shine, or if dreams are still getting crushed in 20 seconds flat. Drop me a message today!