Hope

Several times in recent days I've found myself wanting to jump up and run screaming out of a meeting. Fortunately, my military training kicks in and prevents me from making a scene (actually that's probably unfortunate - one of these days, I should probably do it).

What stimulates such a response? Rampant cynicism, explicit statements of a preference for process over talent, descriptions of the workforce as "elementary schoolers," disparraging comments about the value of consensus and praise for top-down dictation of mandatory actions, enthusiastic condemnations of situations where people have been "given too much flexibility, and scoffing at the idea of hope. It's the sort of thing the villian would say in a movie or a book... except this is real life.

That last one really got me. I'd heard people say "Hope is not a strategy" before, but never with such venom.

Personally, I think hope is essential. Hope is a discipline. Hope is good. We should combine hope with planning, talent and thought, to be sure. But there is something foolish about throwing hope out the window and stomping on it with such enthusiasm.

And so, I persist in my hope that things will change. I hope I will be able to make a difference. I hope I'll succeed in nudging things in a good direction, a more human direction, where people are led and not pushed around... where people are treated as professionals, are trusted.

I've got a strategy to make this happen. I've got a plan. And hope is at the heart of it.

Is Lean FISTy?

I've mentioned Lean and Six-Sigma in several previous posts, and wanted to spend a little time exploring one question in particular: Is "Lean" FISTy?

If you read yesterday's post, you probably know the answer is "It depends." There are certainly some areas of overlap between the two approaches, and some common underlying values. But they're not exactly the same thing. Let's take a look at some of the attributes of these two approaches. Please understand that although I'm taking a somewhat binary approach below, the comparison isn't strictly an either/or in every case.

Lean is a process-oriented methodology.

FIST is a person-centered value set.

Lean is about value-chain efficiency and manufacturing. It values repeatability and focuses on program commonalities.

FIST is about effectiveness and creation. It values originality and emphasizes program uniqueness.

Lean strikes me as potentially introverted, focused on removing waste from processes in order to maximize value for the customer.

FIST is emphatically extroverted, focused on ensuring the capability is "affordable, available and effective." It has a higher tolerance for "waste."

Despite protests to the contrary, Lean strikes me as somewhat myopic - not in theory, but in practice. Lean is supposed to be strategic, but when it's actually implemented, human nature tends to devolve it to narrow applications (i.e. implement a change that saves my unit $10 even though the change costs the overall organization $20).

FIST, on the other hand, is systemic, and takes into consideration the human element of decision making and problem solving.

Lean's focus on removing waste is probably good. Lean's over-definition of waste might also be good. It focuses on optimization

FIST has a tolerance for what Lean calls waste, and maybe even an affection for waste. FIST is not particularly interested in optimization (which it views as impossible anyway). Instead, FIST is about near-term sufficency as a strategic objective. The ability to rapidly deliver a capability for a short/near-term need is itself a strategic capability.

OK, this is just a quick sketch of some differences. Lean and FIST do indeed have some things in common. And Lean has much to commend it, particularly in areas where the work is well-bounded, repeatable, etc. It makes sense to apply Lean to situations like invoicing, manufacturing, maintenance, etc. But in other areas, where the work is not repeatable or well-bounded, the FIST approach can still serve to guide decision making and problem solving.

Dan's FIST

Returning the favor, here's a shot of Dan prepping for the brief at DAU last week.

The Answer

One of the truisms of program management is that the answer to just about any question is "It depends." So I had to chuckle as I was leaving one of the buildings on the Defense Acquisition University campus and this little marble pillar caught my eye.

There it was, engraved for all time, the answer to every program management question.

Class dismissed.

Gabe, with magnets

I whipped out my handy-dandy camera phone and snapped this picture of Gabe last week, at our FIST presentation. The whiteboard behind him is covered in little FIST magnets. I still have a hundred of those things - send me your mailing address if you want some, and I'd be glad to send you a handful.

FIST Presentation

Gabe and I recently had an opportunity to do our FIST (Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, Tiny) presentation for the Defense Acquisition University. It was a fun time and a great audience. They even let us take home some of the cool posters they made to advertise the show.

The more time I spend in DC, the more convinced I am that this message needs to get out there. There is such an infatuation with complexity among military technologists, and there's a widespread belief that things would be better if we just had more money, more time, and bigger teams. And don't get me started on the preference for formal processes, control and mandatory activities.

While the FIST ideas generally get a good reception and seem to resonate with our audiences, I'm coming to see exactly how counter-cultural these ideas are. We've got quite a fight ahead of us if we're going to try to get wider acceptance of the FIST approach. Wish us luck!

Cards @ Zazzle

I just got a set of skinny business cards from the nice people at Zazzle.com. I love how they came out, and I love the unique dimensions. I also love the custome service.

See, the first set I ordered had a problem with the printing. It was actually sorta my fault - I forgot to delete one of the default lines (it said "quotation/headline"). That line printed on top of my email address and made it hard to read. But Zazzle let me return the cards and sent me a new set, no problem at all.

Anyway, aren't they cool? You know you want some too...