LEAN Thinking – FRAMING, It's all About Framing

I like words. My belief is that words I use say a lot about me, in addition to what I am meaning to say.

One word I have been paying attention to for some time is “framing.” I first became aware of framing in the early 1990s while studying psychology; and then it was “reframing” that caught my attention. I was at a training and talking with other participants, one of whom was offering what I heard as a negative critique of the earlier talk. I had appreciated the talk and made a comment that took the idea being expressed and transformed it into one I felt was more positive. One of the others listening complimented me on a “good reframing” of the other person's point. I had not thought that was what I was doing and filed away what I took as a compliment to think about later. ¹

As my studies progressed in psychology, I learned more about reframing and used it in a more conscious manner. I learned that it is a very powerful method of working with and influencing others. A seemingly simple shift in the context of the item or issue being discussed can change the way it is being perceived. In the field of psychology I've used reframing to clarify the possible intent of a comment heard or action experienced by a client. In business I've used reframing to change or broaden the context of what is being discussed. An example of this would be to take an aspect of business performance that may look like a positive attribute in terms of how it helps a business unit perform within a service line, but when looked at in terms of the customer's needs, may turn into a negative that does not benefit the customer. Here the initial context may be “How does this make my job easier?” and the new context is “How does this benefit the customer?”

The “frame” that most of us utilize in our working lives is “What will do the best job in this case?” And that frame has benefited us. We do want to do the best job and asking that question, in the frame of “my job” and “this case” puts into focus the way we usually think. Lean thinking asks that we look at a new way of “framing” our questions. We put down a personal, team, or company frame and adopt a client frame. The new questions are “Will the client pay for this? Does this add value for the customer?”

And this means that a new frame needs to be used from top to bottom of our organization. To become more effective at what we do, we all need to reframe our conversation, or questions. We will still ask about the top and bottom line, and all the other questions. However, our first questions will be with the customer, about the customer, and from the customer's perspective. 

1From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The term reframing designates a communication technique which has origins in family systems therapy. ... Another meaning or another sense is assigned by reframing a situation or context, thus sees a situation in another frame. A frame can refer to a belief, what limits our view of the world. ... Psychotherapists trained in the reframing by communication attempt to let scenes appear in another point of view (frame) so that someone feels relieved or is able to deal with the situation better.

Four steps to Making a Change - Any Change

Four Steps to Making a Change

I know I want to change… Yet, every time I set a goal and decide to
change, I seem to get sidetracked or lose sight of the end point. 
It neverseems to work out as I planned.

How can you effectively make a change? You know how to set goals. You even have a
framework for this: SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible. So you
set up your goals using this framework. You get specific and say that you want more self
confidence when meting someone new. You set up a measurable outcome by saying that you will
talk with the next person that catches your eye. You see this as attainable; you at least see new
and interesting people all the time. It is a realistic goal and there will be tangible benefits for you
when it happens.

So where is the problem? Why is this the third time you have set this goal? It could be that you
have no plan for accomplishing this change. No idea how to become more effective at meeting
new people. No idea how to become self confident in a different settings. And no ways to
determine if you are even doing the things you are trying to do effectively. So how can you
expect to accomplish this without a new approach? You can’t.

You can’t that is without a plan. Just like you need a plan or framework to be able to set goals,
you need a framework for accomplishing those goals. Just setting a goal never accomplishes
anything. You have to take action. Yet that action needs a direction and its own plan to become
reality.

Making Change Happen: A Plan for Change
The steps are easy.

First you need to discover what you need to know. Do you need a book or a course? Do you need
a life coach? Do you need to talk with friends? Are there tools available that would help? What
ever is needed must be identified and found. In the case above you might need a life coach to
help identify effective ways to interact in new situations and it may be helpful to read about
communication skills. (There may be other things needed depending upon the particular
circumstances, these are offered only as an illustration.)

The second step is to put the information, tools or learning into action. You need to test the new
ideas. This step is all about practice. It is now time to take your new game on the road. In this
case you might practice in a familiar setting with a friend.

The third step is all about feedback. Without feedback you will not know how your performance
went. Feedback is your measurement of results. Part of the feedback will be a self assessment of
the results. You will review the actual result of the practice – the action taken. In this case you
will assess your results in terms how confident you felt, what was comfortable and where did
you have problems. Another part of the feedback can include a discussion with your life coach
that reviews the actions taken and the results obtained.

The fourth step is to use the feedback information to determine if you need to go back to steps
one or two or if the desired results have been obtained and you can check the completed box next
to this goal. If you need more practice, go back to step two and practice until you get the desired
result. If more information or tools are needed, go back to step one and start there again.

The Steps
1) Get the needed information or tools.
2) Put this in to action – Practice the new techniques.
3) Get feedback about results.
4) Make corrections, get new information, practice more, or obtain the desired results and
call the goal complete!

Use these steps for any kind of change. The key to this is to pay attention to what
you are doing and what is happening in the interactions.

So pick a goal and getting going. One, Two, Three, Four – Finished!

© Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2006, 2011