Reflections on 5S and 5R

I've been reflecting further on the 5R Protocol for a Listening Workplace. I'm not attached to the speculation of a protocol. I am confident that something is at work on lean production initiatives that isn't in place for lean projects.

The lean production or lean thinking approach rests on what many people call pillars. Some of those pillars are autonomation (self-adjusting automation with a human touch), kaizen, the visual workplace (5S), non-stock production, single-minute change-over, productive maintenance, and zero quality control. Some folks may argue to add to or delete from the list, but it generally covers the territory of value-enhancing and waste-eliminating practices.

Projects are not principally production-oriented. In fact, many projects have nothing at all to do with materiel (material, tools, equipment). What makes a project a project is its one-of-a-kind, discrete, creation activities providing something unique for a customer requiring 2 or more people acting cooperatively over a period of time. We could give our attention to any part of that description. I continue to ponder what it would take to produce a clearing for ongoing value-enhancement and waste-reduction?

I'm using this strange word clearing. It is a metaphor. In a forest a clearing is an open space where the sun shines through to the forest floor. You'll notice different patterns of action from wildlife in clearings from their actions in the forest. When standing in the clearing you can also see things about the forest that you can't see standing among the trees.

Adopting a 5S approach in a factory creates a clearing both metaphorically and physically. Sorting what's used from what is not used creates more space. Placing the remaining materiel appropriate for its use makes it ready-to-hand. Cleaning as you work improves quality and safety. Combined the three groups of actions allow you to see something about the productive space that wasn't apparent in the cluttered state. You can see the production flows. You can see what adds value and what is just waste. You can see what is out of place. You can see what is breaking down. You can see each other. That is how 5S became known as the visual workplace.

Companies that adopt the visual workplace as a first lean action get off to a very good start. The clearing makes visible opportunities for people to participate in improvement and to maintain the improvements adopted. The other pillars of lean fall into place.

I've set out to create the same kind of clearing for the project setting, a setting that often is absent all materiel. The clearing needed is for making visible the space of cooperation. That space happens in the language of action: declarations, assessments, requests, promises, and assertions. While better speaking may improve the space of cooperation, there must be a listening for the speaking for it to be effective. The clearing I am after is one for listening.

Take another look at the 5R Protocol for a Listening Workplace. See if it produces that clearing. If not, then what do you speculate could produce a clearing?

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