A GENEO perspective on capability, learning, and developing people through work

In many organisations, hitozukuri, the development of people, has become synonymous with training. Courses are scheduled, competencies are signed off, and completion rates are tracked with impressive precision. From a distance, it looks like progress.  Yet on the floor, a different reality often exists.

New starters struggle to cope with variation. Experienced operators are relied upon to “keep things running”. Leaders worry about capability gaps but respond by adding more training modules rather than addressing the root cause. Despite good intentions, learning remains fragile and heavily dependent on individuals.  At GENEO, we believe this happens because hitozukuri has been misunderstood. Developing people is not primarily a training problem. It is a standards problem.

Why training alone cannot build capability

Training has an important role in any organisation. People need exposure to concepts, safety requirements, and regulatory expectations. But training, on its own, does not create capability.  Capability is built when people can consistently apply knowledge in real situations, under real conditions, with real consequences. It is developed through repetition, reflection, and improvement, not through completion certificates.

One of the most common failure modes we see is the separation of training from work. People are trained in classrooms or online modules, then expected to apply that learning in complex, variable environments where standards are unclear or inconsistent.  When this happens, people fall back on experience and peer support. Learning becomes informal and uneven. Over time, organisations confuse time-served with competence.  Hitozukuri requires something more robust.

Learning happens where the work happens

Lean thinking has always recognised that people develop through work. Observation, practice, and coaching at the process are what turn knowledge into capability. However, this only works when the work itself is clear.  If standards are vague, outdated, or difficult to use, learning becomes improvisational. People may learn how to cope, but they do not necessarily learn how to improve. Worse, they may learn unsafe or suboptimal habits that are never made visible.

GENEO’s perspective is simple: if you want to develop people, you must first stabilise and clarify the work they are expected to do.  This is where standards become the primary vehicle for hitozukuri.

Standards as a thinking scaffold

At their best, standards do more than describe steps. They support thinking.  When work is defined through clear steps, key points, and explicit reasons why, people are not just told what to do,  they are shown what matters and why it matters. This structure provides a scaffold for learning.  Newer team members can see which steps are critical and which variations are unacceptable. More experienced people can challenge and improve standards based on a shared understanding of intent.  This is fundamentally different from document-based instructions that rely on interpretation. In those systems, thinking is hidden. In element-level standards, thinking is made visible.

GEN-OPS is deliberately designed around this principle. By forcing key points and reasons why to be explicit, it turns standards into a learning tool rather than a compliance artefact.

Why GENEO does not separate standards from capability

In many organisations, standards live in one system and training records live in another. The two are loosely connected at best. A person is marked as “trained” without any clear link to which standard they are capable of executing, or how recently that capability was confirmed.  From a hitozukuri perspective, this separation is damaging. It treats learning as an event rather than a continuous process.  GEN-OPS takes a different approach. Capability is linked directly to standards. When a standard changes, the impact on training and competence is visible. When a person is trained or confirmed, it is clear which elements of work that confirmation applies to.  This creates a living connection between:

• How work is defined
• How people are trained
• How capability is sustained over time.

Learning is no longer abstract as it is anchored in real work backed with process confirmation as coaching, not policing.  One of the most misunderstood practices in Lean is process confirmation. Too often, it is implemented as an audit; a way of checking compliance rather than developing capability.  True process confirmation is about learning where it is seen as an opportunity for leaders to engage with work, understand how standards are being applied, and coach people through gaps in understanding.  This only works when standards are clear and accessible. Leaders need to be able to see not just whether a step was followed, but whether the intent behind that step was understood.

GEN-OPS supports this by making standards visible and current at the point of confirmation. Leaders are not checking against outdated documents. They are engaging with the same standard the operator uses.  In this environment, confirmation becomes a shared learning moment rather than a punitive exercise, making capability visible without creating fear. 

Another challenge in hitozukuri is visibility. Leaders need to understand where capability exists and where it does not, particularly in regulated or high-risk environments. However, poorly designed capability tracking can create fear and disengagement.  GENEO’s view is that capability visibility should support development, not judgement.  By linking competence to specific standards and elements of work, GEN-OPS allows organisations to see capability at a meaningful level. Gaps are visible, but so is progress. Learning becomes something that is actively managed rather than passively assumed.

Because this visibility is grounded in real work, it feels fair, where people can see what is expected of them and how they can develop.  This is hitozukuri in practice: creating conditions where people can succeed.

Ownership as the foundation of development

People learn fastest when they have ownership.  When standards are written by distant experts and handed down to the floor, people may comply, but they rarely engage. Improvement ideas remain unspoken and the learning cycle stalls.  When people are involved in creating and improving standards, something changes. They see their thinking reflected in the system. They take responsibility for quality and safety. Improvement becomes personal.

GEN-OPS is designed to support this ownership. Ideas and concerns are captured in context and linked directly to the work. Improvements follow a governed process, ensuring control without discouraging participation.  Over time, this builds a culture where learning is normal and expected.

Hitozukuri in a world of change

The pace of change in modern operations makes hitozukuri more challenging and more important than ever. New products, new regulations, and new technologies continually reshape the work.  In document-centric systems, change overwhelms people and standards lag reality. Training against standards becomes reactive and we see the capability gaps widen.

In a system built on element-level standards and digital governance, change becomes manageable as the impact of change is visible and the learning requirements are clear. People are supported through transition rather than left to adapt on their own.  This is how hitozukuri scales in a digital world, an opportunity lost in the world of paper.

Technology should amplify learning, not replace it

There is a persistent concern that digital systems will deskill work or reduce learning to checkbox exercises. This concern is justified when systems are designed around control rather than understanding.   GENEO’s philosophy is that technology should amplify learning. It should make thinking visible, support reflection, and preserve knowledge over time.  GEN-OPS does this by embedding learning into everyday work. Standards are not static and evolve with people’s learning. Capability is not assumed. It is confirmed and developed continuously.  In this way, digital systems become allies of hitozukuri rather than threats to it.

Reframing how organisations develop people

Hitozukuri is not achieved by adding more training courses or more sophisticated learning platforms. It is achieved by creating clarity in work, ownership of standards, and meaningful engagement between leaders and teams.  At GENEO, we believe that standards are the most powerful lever for developing people. When standards are clear, current, and owned, learning becomes a natural outcome of work.  GEN-OPS exists to support exactly this outcome.

In the next article in this series, we will explore how standardised work becomes a leadership development system; and why visibility into standards and capability changes the way leaders lead.

Link to Part 5 – The Role of Standardised Work in Hitozukuri

Bob Newton is Customer Services Director at GENEO, supporting organisations to build brilliant standards that develop people, strengthen governance, and enable continuous improvement.