How do all the WSPro Frameworks fit together?

As you go through Manager Bootcamp, you’ll notice themes begin to repeat themselves in your presentation. Your Rank and Review may have a lot of coaching for specific quality failures, your Gemba walks may reveal a lot of quality mistakes, your TMS may reveal process issues which are leading to quality failures and on and on.

You can think of your 1 idea slide as your thesis and the rest as supporting arguments. Just like in a well-written paper, you summarize the main point up front and then walk your reader through the proof. This is why we suggest you write your 1 idea slide towards the end. Each slide you deliver will provide more clarity and insight on your 1 idea.

Interestingly enough, as you use the WSPro frameworks, you end of proving that an observation is not the core problem more than you use the frameworks to reinforce initial views on a problem. During a Daily CiC you may be introduced to an idea from an IC’s perspective. However, as you enforce the quality bar, conduct deep dives, and do Gemba Walks, you discover that the original idea is totally not the core issues. So in one sense, you’re also looking to disprove your thesis as you execute the frameworks.

Some managers get concerned or frustrated when they see their slides begin to discuss the same problem over and over. However, this is actually a healthy pattern which is expected. Great Manager Bootcamp presentations have had just a few core decisions which were reinforced over and over with the other slides and frameworks.

Think of each framework and slide as a new perspective — a lense — on the same set of core problems. When analyzing your team’s core challenges, you may put on your Rank and Review ‘glasses’ and record your observations. Then you may pick up your Deep Dive ‘glasses’ and see the problem in a new light. You may very well come to the same conclusion after doing Deep Dives and Rank and Review but they will each give you a unique perspective.

You can also think of each framework as a tool in your manager toolbox. Once you’ve identified the right solution for your team, each framework will help you construct it. Consider all the kinds of tools you need when building a house. It’s the same while managing teams here — at times you’ll need to rely heavily on Rank and Review and other times your Gemba walks will deliver exactly what you need.

Examples

This list demonstrates how the frameworks flow, or fit, with each other. The point of Manager RemoteCamp is not to memorize the steps for 15 independent frameworks. The point is to learn a new management paradigm — a paradigm that includes 15 interwoven frameworks which are applied at the right time with discretion. (This list is not exhaustive…..what connections between the frameworks have you seen?)

1. Enforce Quality Bar → R&R → S2G

Once you’ve personally reviewed every unit for quality, you should have a clear view and hard data on which IC has the highest quality, which IC has the lowest quality, and everyone in between. This sets you up perfectly for a Rank and Review. Once you have a clean Rank and Review, you’ve already done the hard work necessary for your S2G decision.

2. Enforce Quality Bar → Deep Dives → Gemba Walk → Daily CiC

As you enforce the quality bar, you’ll certainly uncover units that failed the quality bar. For each one of these units, you should do a deep dive. Once you’ve identified the root cause for these failures, you should do Gemba Walks specifically looking for instances of the root cause. Then, you should drive your Daily CiCs with a question that leads to this root cause. If you’ve found specific examples in your Gemba Walks, your Daily CiCs are a great time to review them with your ICs.

3. 2x productivity → ZBT → Create Calendars

Once you’ve found tools that can 2x your team’s productivity, you are set up to personally produce a unit for your ZBT that will take at least ½ of the time of your TMS. Once you have an aggressive ZBT, you are ready to reevaluate your team’s calendar or establish a new one.

4. Enforce Quality Bar → TMS → Expert

Once you’ve personally reviewed every unit for quality, you may notice your team’s process is missing a key step. This can be confirmed or refined by a fresh TMS. If you find a missing hole, spending the time to deepen your expertise can lead to findings that fix your team’s process.

Warning

After reading this, you may be tempted to take an insight you develop early in the program and ram it through all the frameworks. Don’t do this. Approach each framework as a unique exercise with an open mind. If you attempt to apply a framework looking for a certain outcome, you may miss the deeper learning which will be obvious to your coach. This is a warning against the well-known phenomenon of human confirmation bias.