Stories from behind the windshields
As a young boy in the mid-1990s, Janne worked summer jobs at a windshield factory. The work site rotated, and the work was introduced in stages. He learned how to do it quickly, but he learned even faster how to only to do.
“I remember three arresting moments,” Janne says:
"If you lift like that, you'll be disabled in 20 years." My first exposure to ergonomics came not from a supervisor, but from a colleague. It stuck with me because it was personal – someone noticed me and wanted me to make it past the end of this shift.
"Glass is glass. Just let it come now." It was meaningful to me that we made the windshield for that one sports car – but you couldn’t say it out loud on the line. The culture didn’t allow for enthusiasm. The meaning remained private, even though it could have been a source of motivation for the entire team.
Cake coffees without a story. We achieved a goal, but no one told us what it was. A celebration without understanding remained a momentary interruption, not a shared success. Fortunately, the cake was delicious.
How do I lead my team?
Production management is more than managing machines, schedules and deliverables. It is also managing people – or at least it should be. In many manufacturing plants, the dominant approach is still to manage primarily by the bottom line and performance metrics, while forgetting what ultimately creates sustainable productivity: people’s skills, understanding and commitment.
That's why we recommend that you, as a leader, stop at this, Do you manage production or a manufacturing facility?
Production is built on daily work, but its future is built on the ability to develop. We would like to draw your attention to our idea of professional development, inspired by Gary Hamel:
Operational work – production, processes and daily performance – is done with obedience, diligence and expertise. Day after day, the same processes run and get done. Often in production management these are enough, because the result is made here and now. But who will ensure that tomorrow we know more, we can do better and we will still exist?
The competitive advantage of individuals and, through them, communities arises from initiative, creativity and passion. These are reflected in the desire to try new things, to develop and advance processes, and in the ability to ask how things could be done even better. These are things that cannot be managed with metrics and processes – they are managed by leading people. By knowing them and their interests, helping them move forward, supporting their motivation and collaboration.
To simplify a bit, we can say that 'management'-type leadership works at the bottom of the pyramid. It ensures that things are done right. 'Leadership'-type management, in turn, ensures the realization of the top of the pyramid – that is, that in the longer term doing the right things.
Both leadership styles are needed, but with different emphases in different situations. Especially when building the future of production, the ability to look beyond the individual task to the entire value chain and the organization's learning ability is needed.
Manage production through people
When you only manage a production facility, you optimize the system. When you manage production through people, you build the future. It's easy to follow a curve that tells you how much of the final product was completed. It's much harder to see who learned something new. Who became interested in the development idea. Who went home proud of their work.
Production management is the ability to see people as part of a whole that makes equipment and processes meaningful. There is a big difference between managing the efficiency of a production facility or the human power of production.
Ultimately, the question is not just how well the production line is running today, but whether something more is created around it – expertise, pride, learning and a sense that one’s work matters. When Janne looks back on his summer work days decades ago, what sticks in his mind is not the production volumes, but the moments when he was noticed as a person. A production facility can be managed with charts and metrics, but production – the work of people together – must be managed with heart, understanding and direction.
The next time you walk through a factory floor or look at a productivity report, ask yourself:
Would I manage this differently if I remembered that future competitiveness starts with someone feeling their work is meaningful today?
