🎼 What if we relearned the industry… the way we learn music?
Oct 17, 2025
🎼 In music, you don’t start by improvising. You start by learning the basics: notes, rhythm, listening… Only then can you play in an orchestra.
In industry, we want to move faster, digitize, automate. But we often forget one essential truth: you don’t improvise a transformation. This is why, at IndustrialOS, we believe in industrial solfège.
We don't improvise a symphony.
Before playing as a group, you have to learn to play alone.
Before improvising, you need to master the basics.
Before conducting an orchestra, you must understand every instrument.
In the industry too, we want to go fast, digitalize, innovate…
But often, we skip the steps.
What if we went back to the basics? Like in a conservatory.
With method, with listening, with progression.
🧱 Step 1: Learn the notes and scales
(The fundamentals of Lean)
Everything starts with scales.
We repeat, anchor good habits, build the right reflexes.
In the industry, that means:
Mastering workstation standards,
Know how to do a 5S, an Ishikawa, a daily routine,...
Understand the basics of Lean, flow, and quality.
🎯 Before transforming a factory, you need to train people on simple, well-executed, well-understood actions.
This is where the Guide IndustrialOS begins: with the foundation.
🥁 Step 2: Learn the rhythm
(The tempo - indicators, takt time, cadence)
Once you know the notes, you have to learn to play them at the right pace.
Not too fast, not too slow.
🎵 The metronome, in the industry, is our indicators:
OTD: deliver on time, together, at the right tempo,
TRS: measure our consistency in playing,
Takt time: align our production with actual demand.
💡 Without shared rhythm, we play well… but not together.
This is the stage where performance begins to be structured.
🎼 Step 3: Read the sheet music
(The standard - the team's shared language)
Before playing in a group, everyone needs to read the same sheet music.
It is what aligns the musicians, even if they play different instruments.
In the industry, the sheet music is the standard:
It provides a common framework,
It structures the gestures, expectations, and rules of the game,
It makes deviations visible and allows for progress.
🧠 Without sheet music, everyone improvises.
With a good one, we allow room for interpretation without losing harmony.
🎻 Step 4: Play together, led by a conductor
(The manager - the industrial orchestra leader)
The conductor doesn’t play the violin.
He doesn’t beat the drums.
But without him, the whole thing sounds off.
In the industry, this is the role of the frontline manager:
Set the tempo,
Align the teams on the score,
Smooth tensions, detect disagreements,
And above all: get others to perform at their best level.
🎯 A good manager doesn't replace anyone.
He brings out the best in everyone.
🎧 Step 5: Listen to ensure everything sounds right
(The field ear - detecting weak signals)
In a good orchestra, we listen to each other.
Not just the conductor, but each other.
In the industry, this means listening to the floor :
The machines that vibrate differently,
The operators who raise a doubt,
The indicators that subtly evolve…
🧠 It's not enough to play. You have to listen to what’s being played.
And be able to retune when something sounds wrong.
🎷 Step 6: Improvise, with control
(Kaizen - creativity on a solid foundation)
When we have all that — the scales, the rhythm, the sheet music, the listening — then we can start to improvise.
But it is no longer chaos.
It’s kaizen: continuous improvement, structured and anchored.
A team that proposes ideas,
That tests, that adjusts,
And improves its collective performance.
🎯 Kaizen is jazz… but with a classical ear.
🎶 So, what about IndustrialOS?
🎓 It is a guide, to learn the basics.
📏 It is a score, to align the teams.
🥁 It is a metronome, to stay in sync.
🎧 It is an ear, to listen to the floor.
🎷 And it is a method, to improvise with purpose.
IndustrialOS supports industrial SMEs that want to progress with method. Step by step, with the right tools, at the right tempo.
📘 Discover our interactive guide 👉 https://leguide.industrialos.io
