NO TIME TO WASTE · ISSUE 32
“They Won’t Follow Instructions” — The Question Behind the Question
I was asked a question by a client this week that I couldn’t quite answer on the spot:
“What do you do when a team member won’t follow an instruction?”
When I asked for the detail, the story was this: material shortages had reduced production capacity, and some staff were being reassigned to other duties for a few days. One person pushed back and refused to go.
On the surface, it sounds like a discipline problem. But the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a symptom of something bigger — a break in process somewhere upstream.
THE BIG IDEA
The Five Questions Behind the Question
Before I can answer what to do about one person not following an instruction, I want to understand the situation they were reacting to. Here are the five questions I’d want answered first.
What is communication like in general? Do staff regularly hear why decisions are being made, or do they only hear the decisions themselves?
Is there a precedent for this kind of reassignment? Has it happened before? Did it go well? Did the affected staff feel respected or dumped on?
How were the people chosen? Was it fair and transparent, or did it feel arbitrary? Did it feel like punishment or opportunity?
Were the staff trained for the alternative work? Being asked to do something you’re not prepared for is stressful — and often unsafe.
How was the message delivered? A rushed announcement from a team leader feels very different to a conversation with context and care.
I genuinely don’t have a straight answer to the original question. But I suspect that if the answers to these five questions had been solid, the situation wouldn’t have arisen in the first place.
“We place the highest value on actual implementation and taking action. There are many things one doesn’t understand — we ask why can’t you just go ahead and take action and try.”
— Fujio Cho · Former President, Toyota Motor Corporation
THE LEAN DIFFERENCE
We don’t tend to hear this question in Lean companies. And that’s not because the staff are more compliant or the leaders more forceful. It’s because the culture prevents the situation from arising in the first place.
In a Lean environment, staff understand the bigger picture. They know why material shortages matter, they know what flexibility means for the business, and they know they are part of the solution — not the problem. Mutual trust has been earned between staff levels through consistent behaviour over time. Cross-training and cover are commonplace, so nobody is being thrown into completely unfamiliar work without support.
And it all starts earlier than you might think. Lean starts at the hiring process. Hire for attitude — or you’ll do your existing team a disservice by bringing in someone who undermines the culture they’ve built. Technical skills can be taught. Attitude is much harder to change.
Induction should cover company values — and more importantly, what is said at induction must match what the new employee actually experiences in their first weeks. If the values on the wall don’t match the behaviour on the floor, the new hire learns quickly which one is real.
Train people on standard work that has been developed by the staff doing the job, not written in a vacuum by someone in an office. Make sure they can meet production and quality standards before they’re left to work unsupported.
And when someone struggles, apply the Andon principle. Offer support to any team member in difficulty. Don’t treat the struggle as a failure — treat it as a signal. The process may need to improve. Listen for the improvement ideas that come from the people closest to the work.
TRY THIS WEEK
Three Ways to Build the Culture Before You Need It
Walk through your induction. Does what you say on day one match what a new employee experiences in week two? If there’s a gap, the values haven’t landed — the daily behaviour has.
“The greatest waste in America is failure to use the abilities of people.”
— W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993)
I believe we all want to come to work to do a good job.
Very few people wake up planning to be difficult. When someone doesn’t follow an instruction, it’s rarely because they’ve chosen to be awkward — it’s almost always a reaction to an earlier break in the process.
Fix the process. The behaviour usually follows.
UPCOMING PROGRAMMES & EVENTS
New to Lean? Learn the principles and basic tools on our one day training experience. See how a process can be transformed with the application of Lean Thinking.
Apply Lean thinking in 12 weeks. Start with our Lean Business Simulation training held regularly in Dublin.
A full day of high-quality content, bookended by exclusive Lean Practice Days at Toyota UK’s Burnaston and Deeside plants. Learn and apply the Lean Transformation Framework (LTF) Diagnostic.
At LeanTeams, we help organisations build the culture that prevents these situations — through hiring, induction, standard work, and the daily habits that develop people.