Critical Few

Criticism is negative feedback about something. At work, criticism can be about personal performance or a process.

In a Lean culture, discussing problems is an essential part of making improvements. The key to success at addressing these issues is to make every attempt to separate the failure of a person from the failure of a process.

The first step should always be to examine the process to look for areas of improvement. Only after the process and system are scrutinized should the focus shift to the performance of a person.

When someone repeatedly has trouble meeting an expectation, first look to see if he is following the process correctly.

If everyone else does the process without error, consider if the person is properly trained.

If he is, only at that point should constructive criticism be offered.