Sleeping on the production line floor
Through my career I’ve heard people say “We need to prioritize outcomes over output”. Though I agree with the premise of the statement, the fundamental idea that outcomes and output are mutually exclusive and at odds is flawed.
Balancing output and outcome is one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a leader. There is a tension between the two and trying to balance which one you prioritize for often leads to achieving neither.
A few years ago, Elon Musk became famous for sleeping on the production line floor. He had a clear reason, Tesla needed to improve its output. Tesla’s biggest risk wasn’t how well their cars performed, instead the risk was that they didn’t have the ability to produce enough cars to perform.
Knowing when to sleep on the production line floor, is all about knowing when to build and when to optimize. There are seasons where you and your team need to deliver, and in those seasons output is the priority. There will also be seasons where your team needs to improve outcomes–a season that almost always follows a season of output.
The key to successfully navigating these seasons comes down to three things: 1/ Know when you should sleep on the production line floor. As a leader you can’t live there, it’s not practical and is a massive disruption to your team, chose wisely. 2/ Know how/where to sleep on the production line floor. Most of us don’t have an actual production line, meaning we are interjecting ourselves into a virtual process. How you do that will determine the ability to achieve your outcome. Find a place where you can observe everything without it actually being known. Then take the time to inject small optimizations and solve small problems. 3/ Know the goal, and when it’s accomplished, go home.