Concretitis

Work with Japanese Lean consultants for any length of time, and you will almost certainly hear the term “concrete head”. It is a derogatory term used to indicate people who are generally opposed to not only making changes, but even discussing them.

People who are extremely susceptible to displaying this behavior suffer from the Lean affliction, concretitis.

See Also: Concrete Head

Rather than repeat myself here, I suggest you read the entry on “concrete head” (link above), and then return here to look at some of the treatments available.

The core of the treatment regimen is to get the person wanting to treat the problem himself or herself. For leaders, it is easier. Generally, leaders will have improvement goals for their team. If your organization is making progress in developing a continuous improvement culture and a strong business system, leaders quickly get left behind.

If the person suffering from concretitis is showing a drop in productivity or only a small gain, and the rest of his peers are showing double digit improvement, the person is either going to get on board, or will eventually not be in charge any more if he can’t perform up to standard.

In truth, a person who has recovered from concretitis tends to be an asset to the company. They are often strong advocates of the system and have a good conversion story to relay to other team members.

For frontline employees, though, who are not generally responsible for goals, the recovery path is more challenging. There is never any real incentive to cure the ailment.

Leaders have to be careful. Push too hard, and the disease can become more severe, or even spread as the person complains more. Leave it untreated, though, and there will always be a parachute creating drag and holding back the organization.

The key is slow, steady immersion in the process of change. Many leaders just give up and let the person be. They accept that the person is resistant to change and choose not to face the battle over and over. And it will be a battle early on. Actually, it will be more like a minor skirmish. Concretitis is a chronic condition that generally doesn’t require dramatic action, such as termination or disciplinary action. They will do what they are specifically asked, but nothing more. And they will be vocal about their resistance.

The approach for leaders can be used on team members during projects. Put the afflicted person on a project team with a bunch of people who are supportive of the continuous improvement process. Assign individual tasks to the project team members. Make sure the individual undergoing treatment gets a task of his or her own. They will generally do it because they want to support their team, not because they support the idea.

But over time, they will start to see projects with successful outcomes. And for many people, that will slowly start to cure the concretitis.

Unfortunately, for some, they won’t ever really convert. Within that group, some will self-select and leave. Some will transfer to jobs where the affliction is less of a problem. Some will just ride it out for years. But in a few cases, the resistance will spill over to other actions that are a problem. Leaders will need to deal with that, and that might even possibly mean terminating the employee.