For four decades now, I continue to subscribe to the whole idea that the best approach to making every management system successful is through an empowered and engaged workforce. There’s nothing new to it. Many of us studied it in college. I traced the term “Industrial Democracy” when it was coined by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in the 1850s.
The trouble is that industrial democracy often triggers unnecessary anxiety among employers, who are worried about losing control when people ask questions or give ideas. In practice, it merely invites employees to do something radical – think by respecting management.
The anxiety of some employers against industrial democracy is misplaced. I’ve seen many organizations thrive well because they have a successful empowerment program that gives people a powerful voice in problem-solving and decision-making.
Industrial democracy has been around in different sizes and shapes, like the open-door policy, suggestion system, quality circles, self-directed teams, and many more.
This idea is best captured by Steve Jobs who quipped: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” That’s plain and simple common sense.
Hiring geniuses just to micromanage them is like buying a Ferrari and then hiring a professional chauffeur to help you push it down the driveway.
Think about it. Or, better yet, don’t. You literally hired people to do that for you. Go take a nap and let the people with the high IQs figure out how to pay for your next vacation. It’s not just “common sense”—it’s the ultimate executive life hack.
The Thinking People Strategy
In Sept. 5, 2023, I wrote a piece entitled “The Emergence of Thinking People Strategy” (TPS) which was published by The Manila Times. TPS is a derivative of the popular Toyota Production System.
It’s a summation of many practical management philosophies built on a deceptively simple idea. Organizations perform better when people are encouraged and fully equipped to think of many ways to do their job, not just follow instructions.
In essence, TPS pushes back against command-and-control and replaces it with a culture of critical thinking, co-ownership, and continuous improvement. To give you a practical overview, here are the core ideas:
1. Make people better thinkers. Results can be achieved not necessarily by working hard. In doing this, managers should help their workers focus on solving problems faster, prevent errors before they happen, improve processes without being told, and take ownership of results.
2. Ask important questions. Traditional managers give answers. Dynamic managers ask better questions. So, they ask: In your best judgement – what’s causing the delay? What options can we do to avoid delay? What can we do differently next time to avoid recurrence?
3. Encourage constructive dissent. A thinking culture allows people to challenge ideas, even the boss’s ideas. Without it, bad decisions go unchallenged, silent acceptance dominates, and innovation dies quietly. Therefore, make all ideas stress-tested until better solutions emerge.
4. Make problem-solving everyone’s job. Managers don’t have the monopoly of thinking. Besides, frontliners and shopfloor workers often see the problems. That means they can do daily Kaizen problem-solving, solve issues on the spot, and take ownership for its success.
5. Reward thinking, not blind obedience. Managers rewarding blind compliance ultimately stifle the innovation necessary for a company to thrive. There is no better way but to encourage people to take small risks and ask the right questions.
6. Build a safe-to-think culture. A thinking organization provides psychological safety for everyone. This is done by facilitator-managers who listen more than they talk. High-performance environments aren’t built on authority, but on intellectual bravery.
The big payoff
Organizations that apply TPS or its derivative tend to achieve faster decision-making at all levels, less micromanagement, higher engagement, and sustainable productivity gains. There’s no jargon in it. No big words. No MBA required.
When almost everything is grounded on realities, especially in the Philippines where people are dependent on their bosses under a “sunod lang” (just follow) principle, TPS empowers the person closest to the work to pull the plug or pivot the process. No wonder. It could transform a culture of “blind following” into a culture of shared ownership.
Rey Elbo is a quality and productivity activist. Send your comment, idea or story to elbonomics@gmail.com or DM him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or via https://reyelbo.com