A is for Awareness

This episode of Space to Grow Together dives into the first phase of the ARCS framework: Awareness and Acknowledgement (the "A"). This step is foundational to successful improvement, aligning with the Visibility (V) step of the host's VCI (Visibility, Consistency, Improvement) framework.

The host emphasizes that the natural human inclination is to "work through" an issue or "brush past" an anomaly, often seen as heroic behavior. To implement ARCS, the organizational culture must shift to view the true heroic behavior as intentionally highlighting a failing—a gap between the expected outcome (mental model/hypothesis) and reality. This intentional stop and acknowledge process is key to learning from anomalies.

The philosophy is echoed in Lean thinking, which views problems as "jewels" and asserts that "no problem is a problem" (i.e., not escalating issues is the real problem). The primary role of management is simply to make problems clearly visible, as humans are inherently hardwired to solve visible problems.

To institutionalize this first step, organizations must build "red flag mechanisms" that make it easy for people to say, "I need your attention." Examples include:

• Andon: A signal (like a light, sound, or physical cord in a factory) that immediately brings attention to a problem.1 The host notes that the act of stopping the process (or "stopping the line") is a powerful mindset shift.

  
  

• Incidents: Logging every customer issue as an incident in customer service work.

• Feedback Systems: Customer and internal surveys, though the host hopes the Andon system catches issues earlier than a formal grievance process.

• Dedicated Ticket Streams: In their system, this is a dedicated "Andon" stream tied to immediate notifications for key personnel (like engineers or line leads).

The host, as a leader, makes it a priority to respond quickly to these signals, getting directly involved to ensure the team has a viable path forward for root cause analysis.

Bringing an out-of-standard condition into the light provides several critical benefits:

1. Shifts Mindset from Dread to Action ("Name It to Tame It"): Issues that live in the "underground" or "subconscious" create dread. Naming and acknowledging them shifts the issue from something to fear into a problem that can be dealt with via a clear course of action.

2. Allows a Change in Success Metrics:

   • The act of signaling an Andon shifts the work from Brown Work (value-adding, efficiency-focused, day-to-day tasks) to Red Work (problem-solving, issue resolution).

   • Success in Brown Work is efficiency; success in Red Work is gaining understanding and improving the system.

   • Acknowledgeing the shift is vital because it stops the clock on efficiency metrics for that task, allowing people to focus on solving the problem without being penalized for taking time to stop and fix the process.

3. Brings Needed Resources: The "red flag" acts like the biological response to seeing blood—it instantly focuses attention and resources on the area of distress (the failing system).

The host stresses that culture is the biggest barrier to implementing this first step. The natural human tendency is to hide or work through issues. Developing a successful "A" step requires:

• Core Values: Reinforcing values like transparency and reflection that value people bringing up issues.

• Moving Beyond "Get 'er Done": The powerful urge to just "pound through" issues has short-term benefits but wears people down and causes long-term issues to be hidden.

• Understanding the Investment: Acknowledging an issue is an investment; it almost never pays off immediately but yields greater long-term efficiency and improvement.

The most crucial element for sustaining the "A" step is the response: The value of the response (the R step) must consistently outweigh the effort or discomfort it takes for people to signal the problem.