As a lean practitioner, I often get asked…
“How can I get more done?”
My answer sometimes surprises folks who expect me to give a long explanation of how they should incorporate lean tools and techniques into every aspect of their lives complete with their own personal version of the Toyota Production System House.
Let’s talk for a few minutes about the ugly side of change: Office Politics, Negative PR, and in extreme cases, even Smear Campaigns. If you are a #changeagent, in all likelihood you have either been tangled up in some of the aforementioned, or at some point in your career, you will be entangled. It’s the unfortunate reality that if you set about making improvements and doing things differently, at some point you will rock the wrong boat.
If you are like most, you are likely wondering, “What am I doing wrong?!?”
Changing the direction of a company and guiding it through a Lean Transformation process is always contingent upon gaining the support of the people that work there. Telling them the truth, giving them the tools they need to succeed, treating them with respect as adults and holding them accountable are core leadership responsibilities to achieve this.
I was once hired to be the President/COO of a Major U.S. Automotive Class A Metal Stamping Die Manufacturing Company. The company had not been making money for several years and its parent company (and their new owners) wanted it fixed or closed.
“Go and See” and talk with the people on the frontline to understand the non-conforming issues that they are dealing with. We believe that treating people with respect means telling them the truth, helping them where they need help and holding them accountable, and expecting them to do the same of you.
As the saying goes, “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable” is fundamental to my leadership approach. Running a manufacturing facility using only computer data, prepared reports and posted metrics is naïve at best, self-serving at worst. After all, as a manufacturing executive, I know that money is not made/lost in manufacturing on a daily, monthly, yearly basis, but hour by hour.
I’ve seen a lot of kaizen “event” bashing recently. I understand it, I really do. Let’s face it: the problem with the way most organizations “do” kaizen - it is purely event based, often consultant- or specialist-lead, and too few and too far between. And it stays this way, forever.
Lean purists tell everyone, “everyone is responsible for kaizen” and “kaizen happens continuously, on the gemba, don’t wait for an event.”
When I hear this, I envision an ideal state: where we walk to the gemba, and see workers experimenting with their processes, improving them and their products on the spot. Engineering, Quality and Management personnel are there to help remove barriers for the workers to achieve the next level of performance. Everyone knows that it is not just “ok to stop the line” and fix the problem right now... its expected. After all, identifying the root cause of problems, and preventing recurrence, and learning from it to bring more perfect value to our customers is the most important thing to do right now.
