I recently read an article published within the Food Industry titled " Thoughts on Foodtech: Consumer Behaviors, Design, and Sustainability" and then it hit me that as Lean Practitioners this what we are really attempting to accomplish through the implementation of various methodologies.
In the Foodtech article they speak to how the treatment of the design options “introduce a softer nudge to influence behaviors, and steers away from the often offputting warning symbols, sustainability jargon and guilt imposing messaging.” In other words, finesse in design and behavioral science combined to direct our attention to good causes and, more specifically, environmentally friendly food products.
What is behavioral Design?
In words quoted to Stephen Wendel, Head of Behavioral Science at Morningstar, “Behavioral design is not about using psychology to manipulate people. It’s about using psychology to help people achieve their goals.”
Now this makes complete sense to me on various fronts, and here some examples ...
Daily Management, allows your team to celebrate yesterday's victories while seeking resolution to today's concerns. This enhances communications and employee engagement.
5S ... a place for everything and everything in its place. Sounds simple, but it reduces searching and Team Members searching for stuff just places them in a bad attitude. A nice by-product, when you use shadow boards you can quickly and visually confirm that tools are in good condition.
Servant Leadership ... migrating from a "Command and Control" environment to one where Team Leads, Supervisors and Managers act as coaches and mentors makes decision making and problem resolution go faster and typically is much simpler.
Pencil to Paper, indeed this will upset my digital first friends, but there is nothing more rewarding that putting that pencil mark on a graph every hour to show that you met your goal instead of a digital heartless screen telling you the same.
Kanban, so simple yet so sweet. When you reach your trigger point it automatically prompts you to request replenishment or instigates production to produce more components.
Starting as children we have been subjected to Behavioral Design, we have learned to stop at Stop signs and Red Lights. When we park our cars, it should be in between those white lines and the list goes on.
So now when you introduce a new Lean Methodology think about what Behavioral Design you are hoping to accomplish.
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