Wherever You Ask The Question, That’s Where The Answer Should Be | Lean Principles | Ryan Tierney
Welcome to Lean Made Simple, a podcast about transforming your business —and life —one improvement at a time.
In this episode, Ryan Tierney from Seating Matters discusses the powerful lean principle: "Wherever You Ask The Question, That's Where The Answer Should Be!"
Along the way, he and Producer Matt talk about:
How Center Parcs, McDonald's, and Amazon have used this principle to scale
Why reducing the cognitive load of your team turbocharges your business
Practical examples from Ryan's personal and professional life
Analyzing if your organization is doing this well by using the "sentence-stop-test"
What impact this concept has made on Ryan's business, team, and customers
The power of providing answers before questions are even asked
And some improvements from Ryan’s 7-year-old son to inspire you to get started today
Check it out!
P.S. Book a Lean Made Simple Tour at: https://www.leanmadesimple.com/book-a-tour
Welcome to Lean Made Simple: a podcast for people who want to change their business and their lives one step at a time. I’m Ryan Tierney from Seating Matters, a manufacturing company from Limavady, Northern Ireland that employs 60+ people. Almost ten years ago, I came across this thing called “lean” and it transformed my life… now I want to share this message with as many people as possible.
This podcast unpacks our learnings, lessons and principles developed over the last decade in a fun, conversational way that will hopefully empower you on your own business journey — whether you’ve been doing lean for years or are just starting out!
Check it out on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any other podcast platform by searching “lean made simple.”
Thanks and all the best.
— Ryan Tierney
Magic Moment 1: Thinking Of The Next Person
Magic Moment 2: Any Question We Ask Is An Opportunity To Improve
Magic Moment 3: The Simplicity Of Lean
Magic Moment 4: How Lean Frees Up The Mind
Full Transcription of Episode
Ryan (00:00):
We always say any question we ask is an opportunity to improve. You really shouldn't have had to ask that question. The fact that you had to stop and ask that question means that there's an improvement opportunity there.
(00:11):
Welcome to Lean Made Simple, a podcast for people who want to transform their business one step at a time. My name is Ryan Tierney from a company called Seating Matters in Limavady in Northern Ireland. Eight years ago, I came across this thing called Lean and it totally transformed my whole way of thinking, and I am so passionate to share this knowledge and this energy with as many people as possible.
Matt (00:33):
My name is Matthew Thompson. I'm a podcast producer from Belfast. We're joined in the studio today with producer Mark and a very, very special guest, James, Ryan's son, to talk all about this sentence-stopping principle known as "Wherever you ask the question, that's where the answer should be." And we'll explain why it's sentence-stopping as we get into it. But Ryan, fundamental, we're going to go through our three levels like we always do for these Lean principles. First Level is our personal lives, individual lives. Second Level is for our companies and our organizations and our teams. And the Third Level is where we get all philosophical and we talk about the global and societal impact if we were to implement this principle. So let's start off on the first floor, as it were, personal individual lives. Tell me about this concept in a very first-step explanation of it.
Ryan (01:24):
So this concept, "Wherever you ask a question, that's where the answer should be," is such a powerful concept. It really I., and it's something that we talk about over and over and over again at our company. We came across Lean, I came across Lean, eight years ago and it was really a light bulb moment for me. And I thought for me to get Lean to stick in our company, the messaging has to be really clear. It has to be boiled down to a level where every single person can understand it. So we come up with this concept, "Wherever you ask a question, that's what the answer should be," to make that learning or that transition really clear. And it's something that everybody can apply. So a real simple example is, if you're setting in our canteen, our staff canteen at Seating Matters, and you ask, "What is the wifi password?" You just have to look up, and there's where the answer is.
(02:18):
So you're asking, "What is the wifi password?" There's the answer. If I'm making a cup of tea, I'm thinking, "Where is the tea bags?" There's the tea bags. "Where is the milk?" There's the milk. Wherever you're asking the question is where the answer should be. So another really good example is in our sewing department in the company. So sewing machines and machinery breaks down. That's just part of how things work. But we of the answer for the sewing machine mechanic, right at the sewing machine.
Matt (02:50):
Nice.
Ryan (02:51):
So when you want to phone the sewing machine mechanic to service a machine or to fix something, the answer is right there. So you're asking, "Where is the number for the mechanic?" There's the answer. So that's how we think. And that's how we've created such an efficient and productive workplace by this really simple concept.
Matt (03:10):
So this may be kind of, I don't know if this is right or a good application of this concept, but I was telling you about after meeting you, I'm cutting the grass, my front and back garden, just in our family home, a little bit easier. So I did this thing where we have one of those boxes where we keep the lawnmower. And I had to change the oil, and I was like, "Where on earth, is the oil?" And I was running around hoking through the boxes trying to find the oil. And then I remembered this concept because you told me about it before. So I made a really simple change. I brought the oil, and it now lives inside the box with the lawnmower. So next time I go to change the oil, wherever I'm asking the question, that's where the answer should be. "Where's the oil for the lawnmower?" "Oh, there it is. It's right there."
Ryan (03:48):
Yeah.
Matt (03:49):
Is that an application of that?
Ryan (03:50):
A hundred percent. Exactly, and it's that simple. It really is that simple. Another example we had just this morning before I came up here to do the podcast. We have a server cabinet in the office where all the servers and all that kind of stuff is held. We needed the key for the cabinet. And before I could finish the asking the question, "Where is the server key cabinet?" The key is right there. So the answer is where the question is asked. It's not in somebody's head, it's not on a file, it's not stored on a computer in a separate office. The answer is wherever you're actually asking the question.
Matt (04:23):
I love that. What I like about Lean and a lot of the principles that you teach and apply in your company Seating Matters is there's an element of granny wisdom to it. And so even something simple like having a hook where you hang your car keys when you come into the house, it just solves that for that question that banes human existences, "Where are my car keys?"
Ryan (04:46):
Yeah, exactly.
Matt (04:49):
Do you know what I mean?
Ryan (04:49):
Yeah.
Matt (04:49):
It's class.
Ryan (04:49):
And I noticed another one yesterday in our vans. We have delivery vans. And I don't know we'd done this improvement, but I got onto the van and I noticed a label on the dashboard with the height of the van on the label. Because every time you go to a multi-story car park and it says "maximum height restriction, two point whatever it is," you're always asking "What is the height of this vehicle?" The answer's right there.
Matt (05:12):
Class.
Ryan (05:13):
So you can see that yes, this van will fit through. It's such a simple thing, but think of the time and the energy that that saves, having those answers.
Matt (05:22):
Well, you have 60-plus people at Seating Matters. Is that about right?
Ryan (05:26):
Yeah, around that, yeah.
Matt (05:26):
So you imagine if I was a big data guy, maybe producer Mark, this is more your territory. But if you were to find a way of reducing the amount of questions that you guys ask across your team even by 20% a year, the amount of brain power that you're saving must be massive.
Ryan (05:43):
Exactly. Yeah. We always say any question we ask is an opportunity to improve. Or every time we ask a question is an opportunity to improve, because you really shouldn't have had to ask that question. The fact that you had to stop and ask that question means that there's an improvement opportunity there. So if I'm asking, "Is production on target?" I don't even have to ask that question. I look up and we have a light. Green means we're on target. Red means we're off target. And if I just walk through the factory and see the green light, I know it's all good.
Matt (06:16):
Wow.
Ryan (06:17):
So any question we ask is an opportunity to improve something.
Matt (06:21):
Class.
Ryan (06:21):
Yeah.
Matt (06:22):
So moving into Level Two, then. Into more of that organizational, professional, the workplace implementation of this concept. Talk to me about that.
Ryan (06:32):
Well, if you really think about it from you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night, you're asking yourself thousands of questions. You don't even know you're doing it. You're asking, "Where's my clothes? Where's the plate? Where's my breakfast? What am I going to eat for breakfast? What am I wearing today?" All these questions, you're not saying them out loud, but you are still asking yourself these questions. So all we're doing is putting the answers right where you're asking the question, to improve flow. Because we could boil Lean down into one word. It's "flow." That's nearly all you ever need to know. All we're doing is creating flow.
(07:06):
So you're creating flow every time you ask a question, the answer is there. That is flow. That's really all we're trying to do. And every process should flow from start to finish, from the minute the order for the chair comes in to the second that the chair leaves the factory and goes to the customer and gets on package. There should be total flow throughout that entire supply chain. And that's really all we're trying to do. So anytime we don't have the answer to something, we stop and we improve it. And that's kind of the culture that we've created at our company. If the answer is there, we stop. That's a term called judoka. It's a Japanese concept where we stop and fix. So anytime we don't have the answer for something, we say, "Okay, I'm going to stop." And every person has the ability and the authority and the power to stop and put the answer there before they move on.
Matt (08:02):
Wow.
Ryan (08:02):
Yeah.
Matt (08:03):
That's crazy. Something that we noticed, we actually did it in the Lean Factory YouTube video that you and I did together. I love, if you could just tell people even now really quickly about the board with the drivers on it, is a really good example of this.
Ryan (08:18):
It is, yeah. So if you do a factory tour, a Lean Made Simple tour, you'll have seen this. But it's all the pictures of all the delivery drivers' names. Because we feel it's respectful to use a person's name, and we want to make the delivery drivers feel part of our team. So when the delivery drivers come in, you want to say, "Oh yes, Pat," or "Yes, Jim," or "How's it going?" You want to use their name. So we have a visual of all the photographs of the delivery drivers right in the dispatch warehouse where we're asking the question. So that's where you're asking, "What's the name of your man that drives the DPD lorry?" Oh, there's the answer. Yeah.
Matt (08:58):
Brilliant.
Ryan (08:59):
Yeah.
Matt (09:00):
Very cool. So we had one of our previous guests, founder of GembaDocs, Tom. He was big on this and big on having standard operating procedures and things like that. Something I really like about what you guys do in the factory as well is, you have the standard of work in every single department that's right there. And correct me, these details might be a little bit fuzzy, but I'm thinking about Patty, and he's making say, a Sorrento chair. And he's able just to, I think it's quite a recent improvement from him, he's able just to go and pull down the complete standard operating procedure of how to do this. And it's just right there in front of him.
Ryan (09:37):
Yeah, exactly. Again, it's back to that really simple concept of wherever you ask the question, that's where the answer should be. You're asking, "How do I build this chair?" There's the answer. "Where does this bolt go? Is it an M10 or an M12? Does a washer need to go here or not?" All the answers are right where you're building the product. And most organizations, most companies, the answers are in a file in a computer stored away somewhere else. And that information is held somewhere else. But we love having the answer right where you're asking it. If you're asking, "Where is the drill?" Here's the drill. "Where is the screwdriver to screw in?" There's the screwdriver. Before you have the question asked, the answer is right there.
Matt (10:21):
And that's the sentence stopping part of it. Is if you're implementing this properly, then people, they're stopping the sentence midway. They're like, "Does anyone know where the- Never mind. Got it."
Ryan (10:32):
That's right.
Matt (10:32):
Do you know what I mean?
Ryan (10:35):
That's right.
Matt (10:35):
And I see it happen all the time at Seating Matters. And I'm starting to see it happen with us here as well. Stick with Patty, and the benefit of having all of those answers in front of him and in front of his workstation. Walk me through, for example, what happens if Patty goes on holiday or if there's a new employee? How does that play out because of this principle?
Ryan (10:59):
Yeah. One of the things we talk about is thinking of the next person. That's something that is part of our language. You're not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about the next person that's come along. So if you're off on holidays for a week or two weeks, somebody else should be able to step into your job and carry out those processes. And we're able to do that successfully, because we've put all the answers where you're asking the question. So we're not just there to do the job, we're there to improve the job. So if Patty is asking the question, "Where is the M8 bolts for this particular part?" He knows that if he's off on holiday next week, the next person's going to be asking the exact same question. So he's going to put that answer right there for them. So it builds a culture of respect as well, where you're thinking of the people coming behind you. You're thinking, "If I'm off for a day, somebody else can step in and do this with total flow and serve the customer." And that's ultimately what we're trying to do, is serve the customer.
Matt (11:59):
Yeah. I'll give you maybe a silly example of me being on the receiving end of this principle not being implemented properly. I didn't tell you this, Mark, but I was returning some Amazon stuff. It's the 21st century. This is just the way our lives are. And I went into the shop, it was a wee petrol station, we call it over here, gas station if you're American. And went in, had a handful of stuff, was ready to go. I just have a newborn baby. It's like two weeks old. I was doing a couple of errands. It was kind of going here, going there, going there. And walk up to the counter and they're like, "Okay, yeah, no problem. Oh, does anyone know where the Amazon phone is?" Because they have a wee separate phone that they need to scan all of the QR codes. No one knew where it was.
(12:42):
And then someone finally found it and it was out of charge. And then the next thing was, "Does anyone know where the charger is?" And they're asking this person, they're phoning that person, they're going here, they're going there. And they said, "Sir, we're so sorry. Could you come back in 30 minutes?" And I'm like, now, this is me being petty. But me being the customer, I was like, "This is terrible service. Do you know what I mean? I've just come in here to do a very simple job." And if there had have been that implementation of wherever you ask the question, that's where the answer should be. "Oh, where's the Amazon phone?" "Oh, here it is." In the dedicated Amazon phone holder. "And where's the charger for the Amazon phone?" "Actually, it's right here beside. It's taped in. No one can take it. No one can remove it." I think what happened in the end, and they were really great, they were apologetic when it came back in. They said, "Sorry, one of the office workers forgot their phone charger, and they just quickly borrowed it."
Ryan (13:28):
I see.
Matt (13:28):
But there should be a way that just stays there. You know what I mean? And so those questions, the answers are just right there in front of them. And I think how I felt, the reason why I shared that story in such a way, is because I actually felt disrespected. That's how I felt.
Ryan (13:44):
As a customer.
Matt (13:45):
As a customer. And that's what you were just talking about. And that's what Lean is all about, is it's bringing that level of respect and honor to everyday life, which I think is beautiful.
Ryan (13:54):
It is. And that's why I get so excited about Lean, because it is that simple. It's the phone charger example. It's the wifi password example. If you Google Lean production or Lean manufacturing or Lean thinking, all this reams of information come up on Google. It's really offputting. There's charts, it's graphs, it's value stream mapping. And it's really, it's actually really complicated, a really complicated business philosophy. But what we have done is simplified it right down to the person at the checkout at the Amazon counter can get it. The person working in the Starbucks can get it. Patty who's assembling the wood for the chairs can get it. Every single person gets this information because it's so simple. And it works everywhere. It works in every industry, every company, every organization. Anybody can take this concept right after this podcast and go and do something about it.
Matt (14:50):
Yeah. Brilliant. Talk to me about how you apply this principle in your morning meetings. I think that that's such a small thing. I remember the first time I did a tour. I'm thinking about one slide in particular, and it flashed up on screen, couldn't have been more than five to 10 seconds. And I just went, "Why have I never seen this before in my life?"
Ryan (15:14):
I think another one, you mean.
Matt (15:16):
Go ahead.
Ryan (15:17):
"Who's off today?"
Matt (15:17):
Yes. That's the exact one. Yeah. Yeah.
Ryan (15:20):
So that's a slide that we've had in our meeting for a couple of years, and we're always asking, who's off? That's the question we ask. Who's off today? Who's in holidays? We have a slate at the start of every meeting. "These are all the people that are off." So there's no point running around the factory or the office looking for them, because they're not here. You know?
(15:37):
So we're putting the answer where you're asking the question. So first thing in the morning, "These are all the people that are off." And it just cuts out so much waste it's unbelievable.
Matt (15:44):
Am I right in saying that there's... I kind of stored it in my head as maybe a grade or there's two parts. It's "Who's off today" and "Who's off tomorrow?"
Ryan (15:53):
Exactly.
Matt (15:54):
That is killer. Again, it just primes. This is actually, even this maybe coming to the Level Three a little bit. But this is like you're providing answers before the questions are even asked.
Ryan (16:05):
Exactly, yeah. If there's somebody off tomorrow and you need to meet them or organize something with them, you know, have to get it done today. Because they're not going to be here tomorrow. So all we're talking, back to flow again. We're just creating flow. That's all we're doing is trying to create flow.
Matt (16:18):
Wow. So before we move into the Level Three, where we're talking about global and society and how this principle could radically change the world. Is there anything else that you think we should cover or any more examples that you think would be great, to nail this principle for the work and professional sphere of our lives? And how you implement that across a team culture?
Ryan (16:40):
Something that comes to mind, we were in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, myself and my wife. We went away for the weekend, and we went into a steakhouse called Kyloe. I think it was Kyloe Steakhouse. Really unbelievable place. But what's the first question you ask when you go into a steakhouse?
Matt (16:54):
Well, I want to know, what do the steaks look like? I want to know what's the difference between a rump and a sirloin and a filet and a blah, blah, blah.
Ryan (17:01):
Exactly. Because they can't assume that you know. I don't know. I'm not clear on all the different types of steak.
Matt (17:07):
Ryan, a country boy like you. Yeah, I thought you would've been butchering your own cows and all.
Ryan (17:13):
But it was unbelievable. Because we sat down and the first thing they waiter done was, they came across was menus and whatever, "Welcome to the restaurant." Then they brought out a big long plate with an example of every kind of steak on it. And they came out to the table and explained all the different types, and there was labels telling you which was which. And it just took so much burden and overthinking, and just created so much flow, to be honest. So we were like, "Ah, that's what a rib eye is, and that's all the different types." So the answer was where you're asking the question. We're asking, "What's all the different types of steak?" There's the answer, really good example.
Matt (17:53):
Very lowbrow example after your steak analogy. But I was just thinking about in McDonald's yesterday. I was dropping my in-laws to Dublin airport and I stopped in and just the fact that the pictures are right there. Oh, what does that new chicken, whatever look like? It's just like, boom. It's just right there. Have you ever been to a Brazilian steakhouse?
Ryan (18:13):
I haven't, no.
Matt (18:14):
So Brazilian steakhouses, they're pretty unbelievable. Because they're all you can eat. So you go in and you pay the hefty fee, and they have these wee, if I remember right, it's been a while, I went to one in New York and I have these wee wooden things on the end of your table. And if you flip it one way, they'll just keep bringing stick. They'll just not stop. And if you want to pause for a sec, you need to take half an hour just to slow down or whatever, you just flip it over. And they'll just stop bringing the stuff to you. When you're ready to go again, you just flip it over. And so it's just really clear. No back and forth, "Sir, do you want some more?" Or "What about this? What about that?" Or you're not asking people. It's just so, so clear. There's all that friction's removed. It's a lovely, lovely dining experience.
Ryan (18:57):
It's really good example. Yeah.
Matt (18:59):
So zoom a night, then. Then we've talked about McDonald's. We've talked about big businesses. How would this principle radically change society, change the world that we live in, change our communities, change our families? If we started to really take hold of it, what would we start to see? Some of the changes that would happen?
Ryan (19:21):
Yeah, I think all we're trying to do is free up our mental brain power. That's really all we're trying to do. We shouldn't be hit with all these questions every day and trying to struggle to find the answer. Just imagine for a second, if we were able to free up even 10% or 20% of our brain power. If all the answers to the things in our day-to-day life were there, we'd be so much more freed up to think, to be more creative, to come up with new ideas, to come up with a new direction for the business, a new product, a new... It really frees your mind up for creative thinking when you're not into the nitty-gritty of answering all these small menial questions. So I think with that in mind, I think any organization can embrace this. If you've done nothing, only embraced this one, implemented this one concept into your organization, into your company, you could transform it. And you would transform it the way we have at Seating Matters.
(20:20):
Another real life example that has just came to me is, we recently went to Center Parcs in the south of Ireland. Unbelievable holiday. If anybody hasn't been, that is literally the best example I have ever seen of wherever you ask the question, that's where the answer should be. You drive under the park, you're asking, "What time?" This is the opening times. "What time does the park close?" It's there. "Where is the key to my room?" They hand you the key before you've even got out of your vehicle. You don't even have to get out of your vehicle. "What time does this restaurant... How many restaurants are there?" Every question you're asking, the answer is like, it's right there.
(21:00):
They've carefully planned and thought through the entire process from the customer's perspective. So all we're doing here is trying to serve the customer better. So it's putting yourself in the customer's seat and saying, "Okay, I'm the customer. How am I viewing this business? If I want to purchase a chair from Seating Matters, or go on a holiday at Center Parcs, or have a steak at Kyloe restaurant." Putting yourself in the customer's seat and looking at it through their perspective, is the best way I think, to implement this concept.
Matt (21:35):
And this is where I think I have a lot of issues with public sector and government and healthcare systems and things like that, is because the table is kind of flipped. Where it's not, "How can I think about the person who's receiving this?" It's a, "Oh, no, no, no. You have to jump through my hoops and you have to do things this way." And the burden of everything is put on the individual. Whereas you look at Amazon. Amazon is just, they make everything easy. I'm sure Amazon has got for being such a complex business, one of the smallest amount of customer having to answer questions because it's just so clear. "How do I return this?" "Oh, there it is." It just makes it so simple. And I know where we live anyway, if you're trying to call the GP to book in an appointment to see a doctor, it's like trying to get Taylor Swift tickets.
(22:33):
You know what I mean? And the whole attitude around that. It's not one of service. It's one of, "Oh, well, you need something that I have. You need to come and get it." And if there was a way, and you could apply this to city councils, or the schools that your kids go to, or the healthcare system. If we had that attitude of respect and that attitude of honor and be like, "Actually, we're going to make it really, really easy. The questions that you have of which there are many, we're going to make it so clear to have the answers for you exactly where you need them to be."
Ryan (23:04):
Yeah, powerful.
Matt (23:05):
Mark, who's your boy? Tiago?
Mark (23:08):
Tiago Forte?
Matt (23:09):
Yeah.
Mark (23:10):
The second brain.
Matt (23:14):
Yeah. So talk to us a little bit, and I'll give you the angle that I'm going for here. Ryan talked about earlier about waking up every single day and having all of these questions and all these cognitive tasks that you have to do. What's his philosophy on what the modern brain actually should be used for? And the second brain, and whole "second brain" concept as well?
Mark (23:34):
My understanding of it? So the idea is, the brain is for having ideas, not for storing ideas. So that comes back to, I suppose, what Ryan, you were saying about the creative energy thing. Probably the concept comes to mind for me is more James Clear's Atomic Habits. So he talked about an idea called "decision fatigue," which is like, "That's why last night, I was working all day yesterday making decisions. Came home fully intending to cook. Ended up ordering Domino's Pizza."
Ryan (24:09):
Love it.
Mark (24:12):
That kind of thing of, the decision fatigue is the idea of, the more and more decisions you make in the day, the more difficult decision making becomes as time goes on. So there's those two elements to it. There's making the right decisions becomes more difficult the more you have to make. So the more of them you can outsource to having the answer in the right place so you don't have to make those decisions, the more likely you are later, to make better decisions later in the day. And then also the creative energy that you were talking about. So that's the Second Brain, Tiago Forte kind of idea of, get all of the storage of information out if your brain, so your brain's freed up to have ideas, apply that to business, and suddenly you've got a whole team of people whose creative thinking has just leveled up completely.
Matt (25:08):
And this is where I have to be honest with you, Ryan. The first time I went to Seating Matters, there was a few things that I got right away. I was like, "This is great. These guys are nuts." These guys are so, what's the point? It's so extra. It's over the top. And one of them was having a place for everything. So having a place for where the milk would go or having a place where this specific tool goes. And I was just like, "What's the point in all that?" And I see now, it's because it frees your brain up. And I'm doing silly things, like I was sharing with you before we started recording, having a dedicated place where my toothbrush goes, having on a dedicated place where my toothpaste goes, having a dedicated place where my razor goes, and my nail clippers and this, and the Chargel. Because it's just one last thing.
(25:50):
And so in my daily life now, if there's things that I find that I'm repeating. As Mark says, "Now I've given myself permission. It's like you can outsource this to a system. You can free your brain up." And I think that's the real exciting part of this principle is that, you're just, as you say, giving people 10% to 20%, to X percent amount of their brains back. And if we as a town and a city and a nation and a world were able to do that, you'd be able to do so much more.
Ryan (26:18):
You would. And that's where people implement Lean in the wrong way. People think Lean is an organizational tool, a systems tool, procedures tool, having a standard for everything. And it is, but the real power of Lean is exactly what you said. To free your mind up to be creative. We don't have 60 people making and assembling and selling chairs. We have 60 people that are problem-solving and creative thinking. Because all the menial stuff is being looked after processes and systems.
Matt (26:53):
Absolutely. And I want to add one more thing on what I said earlier, where I think I used the term like, "so you can do more things." It's not always about more. And so I just, even thinking those are the personal examples I shared of toothpaste, blah, blah, blah, blah. It just means that my brain is free to give that energy to my newborn, or give that energy to my wife, or give that energy to my daughter. Or for your employees, her coming home from a hard day of work at Seating Matters. I'd like to think that they're not coming home with their brain absolutely decision-fatigued, burned out, frayed. Coming home, having to order Domino's Pizza flipstick. But coming home. And they've done a hard day's work, but their brain is still that, it has space to think and be creative and give to other areas. I think that's a really beautiful thing that this principle offers as well.
Ryan (27:45):
Yeah, exactly.
Matt (27:47):
So land on the plane then. How can we get started? What are some of the first few steps we can take? And then the kind of million-dollar question, how do you start to bring this into a team culture?
Ryan (28:01):
Yeah. I think the first thing is the awareness of it, and hopefully this podcast has opened people's eyes to be like, "Whoa, I didn't even know that was a thing. I didn't realize I was asking all these questions." So the awareness is the first thing. I would say, "Listen to this podcast a couple of times. Really internalize what we're saying here."
(28:18):
I've been studying this for almost eight years, and I'm still saying things like, "Oh, I need to put an answer there, and there's another question I need to answer." Every day I'm still answering questions and putting the question where the answer is asked. So there's no end to this. There's no end point. It's a journey, not a destination. So I would say, listen to the podcast a couple of times and then try and be aware of all the questions that you're being asked or that you're asking yourself, and log them. Even make a list and then start and say, "Okay, I'm going to put the answer to this one. Where I'm asked, and I'm going to do this." Just keep doing it, small things every day. And challenge yourself to maybe one thing a day or one thing a week. It's surprising the benefits that you'll see in a few months by just improving these small things every single day.
Matt (29:09):
I really like that idea. You've shared it a few times this episode, of how a question should be a trigger for this principle to kick in. So you have a question or a team member has a question, or a customer has a question? That should trigger this principle in your brain and say, "Oh, how can I just get this answer?" And it's really simple. It's just kind of going into my head. It's like, "This is what FAQs are all about." You're on a webpage. It's just like they're putting the information there right where you want it. So for your customers, "Oh, what's the feature of this? Or is this chair suitable for that, or X, Y, and Z?" Just to have that there is really interesting. I'm going to come give you guys all a chance to give a closing example or a closing thought. So I'm preparing you ahead of time if you want to think about things in your head.
(29:53):
And just as we wrap up, we always like to encourage people to come to North Ireland to come and see Seating Matters for themselves. Come and do the early made Simple Factory tour. I know for me, it was the start of my Lean journey. It was to see things physically as a digital business owner was really, really helpful because it allowed just all the wee things in my brain to fire off. And say, "Ah, now that I grasp this concept, because it's so clear and so physical in front of me." Seating Matters is like Disneyland for Lean. It really is. It's the perfect place to come and see it all in action. And so you can do so by clicking the link in the description of wherever you're listening or watching this episode. It'll take you to the website and you can book a tour for yourself and your team. And I couldn't recommend it more. Closing thoughts, producer Mark? Anything?
Mark (30:43):
Nothing more than what you've added.
Matt (30:45):
Respect.
Mark (30:46):
I think we could talk about examples all day, but we've mentioned plenty.
Matt (30:50):
Closing thoughts from you guys? Anything from you?
Ryan (30:52):
I think one thing to make really clear is the simplicity of this. It's so simple. And so practical and so applicable right now. Literally after listening to this podcast, you could make an improvement based on what we've talked about. And that's what I love about this information. It's so practical.
(31:15):
James my son is with us here today. Come on over, James. So James really wanted to see the podcast and how the whole thing was set up. And James actually does Lean improvements at home. Don't you, James?
Matt (31:27):
Can you give us an example of any of the improvements that you've made, James?
James (31:32):
Yeah. So the night before I go to sleep.
Matt (31:36):
Yeah?
James (31:37):
The night before the next day when I wake up, I put all my clothes out. So whenever I wake up, I'm like, "What am I going to wear?" I'm not like, "What am I going to wear?" And then my clothes is right in front of me.
Matt (31:55):
Hey, that's awesome. So you're not having to hook through your big heavy drawers, and "Am I'm going to wear blue? Am I going to wear red?" You've made the decision ahead of time. So when you have that question, "What am I going to wear today?" "Boop, look at me. I'm a genius." Past version of James has already set it out. That's a good example.
Ryan (32:12):
James actually made a really good improvement. There was a competition at school, a mini-garden competition, and James decided that he was going to win the competition.
Matt (32:19):
Oh, good.
Ryan (32:19):
So me and James done the competition and we put the answer where the question was asked because we knew the teacher was going to ask, "How did you do the project?" So we done a video of the whole project and we put a QR code on the side of the wee mini-garden project. And the teacher was able to scan it and see a video of James doing the project.
Matt (32:37):
Brilliant.
Ryan (32:38):
And he ended up winning, didn't you?
Matt (32:40):
Unbelievable, James.
James (32:40):
First place.
Mark (32:40):
Yo!
James (32:43):
First please, yeah.
Matt (32:44):
Love it. James, we're delighted to have you here today. Hope you enjoyed your podcast experience.
James (32:48):
Um-hmm.
Ryan (32:49):
Thank you. Good man.
James (32:50):
Awesome. And thank you. Hope you enjoyed your podcast experience as well. Have a great rest of your day, and we look forward to seeing you again next time.
Ryan (32:59):
Thank you.