Good Leaders Learn New Habits

Here is how a typical Job Instruction (JI) session goes: everyone doubts it first, they try it, they love it, and then the reality sets in. “This doesn’t stand a chance in our plant! Who is going to support us in this?!” One of the things people like about JI is that it helps a person think through a process, systematically break down habits and then build up an improved method that can be formed into a new habit.

Let’s face it, getting people through JI training is the easy part. The hard part is supporting the effort after the training is over. Who is going to support the people on the floor who want to see best methods in place but can’t seem to break the habits of those that don’t? Who has the time to see the program through. The founders of TWI had a follow-through plan for supervisors fresh from a JI session so that they may continue reinforcing the new habits learned in Job Instruction. See this link.

In JI we dismantle old habits and build up new ones. The new habits must be positively reinforced through the JI follow through plan. Leaders must be the ones to support this follow up. The problem is, if we expect people to develop new habits in best practices, shouldn’t we breakdown our old management methods an build up new and improved habits?