What makes you pessimistic about problem-solving?

One day, a blue bird flies through an open window of your room. Out of confusion, the bird is trapped. There must be something special about this lost bird. So, you kept the bird in a sturdy shoe box and later on in a secured cage. Then, you fed it for the day. The following morning, you were surprised to see the bird, sporting yellow feathers from blue when you first saw it.

Apparently, the lost bird is pleasantly unique from all other birds. You continuously cared for it with a nutritious, premium seed mix.

On the morning of the third day, you were delighted to see the bird change its color from yellow to pure white. On the fourth day, it turned its feather completely black as if it was in mourning. Now, you’re hoping and praying that the bird discontinues its color-changing habit.

If you’re the person in this story, what permanent color do you want for the lost bird? Blue, yellow, white, or black?

This story was adapted from the work of Japanese professors Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito in their bestselling opus Kokology: The Game of Self-Discovery (2000). I’m using it to help people understand their aptitude in kaizen problem-solving. Incidentally, kokology means the study of mind and spirit.

These two important aspects could help us improve our problem-solving skills, like what Aristotle told his constituents: “Knowing oneself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

The activity routine in my kaizen program goes like this. Four volunteers are requested to come forward on stage brandishing different flags representing their favorite color. As soon as they’ve established themselves on stage, all participants are asked to join the group representing their preferred color.

Those who wish to join the blue team must come forward to the flag holder’s side. And so forth, and so on until all participants are divided according to the color of their team.

Interpretation

Professors Nagao and Saito interpreted the colors as follows: The blue color represents optimism. People who choose blue accept the fact that life is a mixture of good and bad. A problem is temporary while being hopeful that life will be better as soon as you do something about it.

Indeed, optimism is a key ingredient in successful kaizen problem-solving.

On the other hand, people who choose the yellow color means they have a fearless personality. They consider every problem as an opportunity to succeed. They do a proactive search for problems and solve them believing that it gives them the chance to create a series of successes in every situation.

Color white characterizes a decisive person unbothered by criticism, defeat and pressure. The last color is black. It represents people with pessimistic personalities. They see almost everything as a failure, if not a recipe for an impending disaster. The only cure they need is rational thinking which is the crux of our kaizen program.

This is the importance of kokology. It’s like the Rorschach test that job applicants must take to define their character and determine their fitness for employment. Instead of inkblots for Rorschach tests, stories are used in kokology.

When I did a kokology exercise for a small company, all participants, including their chief executive officer (CEO) were overly enthusiastic to learn the framework of Nagao and Saito. As soon as they completed their group formation, I showed them the interpretation, one color per slide to slowly build the momentum.

Everyone anticipated the meaning of their colors. It was too late for me to realize the CEO was one of the four persons who had chosen the color black which showed their pessimistic personality. Since then, I made sure that every CEO or any member of a top management team must not actively participate in that activity.

“Not again,” I told myself. It was difficult for me to downplay the situation. I felt that almost everyone thought they were smarter than their CEO. After the workshop, the training manager told me that the check for my professional fee had been canceled. I felt numbness all over my body until I blurted out the question: “Are you serious?”

He was joking. I smiled and told him: “I love the way you dwell on that unfortunate incident. It takes another pessimist to bring it up again.” We both exchanged nervous laughter, except that mine was more pronounced with a bit of an unexplained tension.

Lesson

The moral lesson of the bird story was clear. The CEO and their senior management team must not participate in any activity of my kaizen workshop, other than being observers and as judges tasked to challenge and evaluate the pilot projects of the participants.

More importantly, the CEO and their senior management team may not be allowed to actively participate in group work because of their voluntary or involuntary tendency to create a destructive team process called “groupthink.” Some high-ranking executives may not realize it.

They tend to blurt out killer phrases like “it won’t work” and many more.

If you’re the boss, check your management style. Are you a democratic facilitator or a dictatorial freak? Your direct reports would not give you the answer. Therefore, be observant. Be your own toughest critic. Otherwise, prepare for a rude awakening that you’re a pessimist, except that you don’t know it until it’s too late.

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Rey Elbo is a quality and productivity improvement enthusiast. For free consultations, email your concerns to [email protected] or via https://reyelbo.com. Anonymity is guaranteed.