stop the line.

Hi all- 

We need to stop the line. 

Maybe you’ve heard of Toyota’s quality control alert they call “stop the line.” It’s a way for supervisors to pull the chord on production, broadcast issues they find, and let the team know there’s a critical matter that needs immediate attention.

Can you remember the last time you paused and reconsidered a decision?

In order to grow and not let your past be an anchor, constantly recalibrating the decisions you made - or didn’t make - is key in your path forward personally or professionally. 

One of the hardest patterns we fall into is not questioning what was regarded in the past as a good choice or diving back into what other options we had because we either: don’t want to admit we were wrong or don’t want to criticize someone who made that choice. 

In a company context, decisions are made and implemented or tossed onto the cutting room floor constantly but it’s not one person’s explicit job to reconsider the ones that stuck or didn’t. 

Where we can learn from Toyota is the importance of halting to re-examine. 

Stopping production allows them to pull back and improve the system in order to prevent future issues. It also builds an awareness around the product which is where bigger, older companies lose perspective: they get comfortable and stop innovating.

The more that happens consistently over time the harder it is to break free of those chains; and we can’t let that become who we are personally or professionally.

Innovation doesn’t only mean coming up with new ideas — it can mean reworking old ones into a current context.