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The Ugly Side of Change: Office Politics, Negative PR, and (GASP!) Smear Campaigns

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The Ugly Side of Change: Office Politics, Negative PR, and (GASP!) Smear Campaigns

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?!?”

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What Most Business Leaders Do Not Recognize About the Value of 5S

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What Most Business Leaders Do Not Recognize About the Value of 5S

What Most Leaders Understand About 5S

Most people generally associate 5S with improving workplace housekeeping in the workplace. Some understand that, “Cleaning Equipment for Inspection,” adds another dimension of improving uptime through detection of problems early so that remedial action can be implemented before equipment breaks down or quality defects can occur. And a few may also recognize that 5S implementation of Visual Management and a “Plan for Every Part” allows for the development of Standard Work and the ability of Management to assure pull via kanban (and therefore conformance to the manufacturing plan) is being met.

The New Normal

The New Normal

Leadership During the Unknown

It's been roughly 2.5 months since my last "original" blog post on February 28th. It was one of the few I made since the world was turned upside down.

As we start to emerge from our protective, “Shelter In Place” lives, I have been reflecting on how each of us has reacted in our own way to the changes brought on by Covid-19.

In the early days, my inbox was flooded with, “Our Covid-19 Response,” emails. I opened the first two or three, read them in their entirety, before realizing that everyone was initially responding much the same way - lots of platitudes, little real action, no strong leadership. It seemed that many thought “we” would be different, that this crisis would pass “us” by quickly. Many talked about reopening in “two weeks” (this seemed naive, given that Wuhan had already been locked down for several weeks, but I was hopeful that maybe someone knew more than I did…).

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Tales from the Trenches: Too Much Change Can Be a Bad Thing (Really!)

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Tales from the Trenches: Too Much Change Can Be a Bad Thing (Really!)

A Walk Down Memory Lane…

Many years back, my husband worked at Ford Motor Company. The years were 1999 through 2001, while I was studying to complete my MBA at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Anyone familiar with Ford’s history, will recall that those are the exact years that Jacques Nasser was at the helm of the auto giant as its President and CEO, and more than likely, those years are not remembered kindly.

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Tales from the Trenches: Respect for People

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Tales from the Trenches: Respect for People

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.

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Tales from the Trenches: Is the "Team" Concept a Toyota Discovery?

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Tales from the Trenches: Is the "Team" Concept a Toyota Discovery?

The Importance of Teams

The word ‘team’ is most commonly defined as, ‘a group of players forming one side in a competitive activity.’

For many of us growing up, becoming a part of a team whether informal or formal was a ‘rite of passage’ to becoming accepted by our peers. We practiced together, played together, won or lost together. Joining a team, and participating with one, gave us a crucial separate identity from our family unit, and made us feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Through thick and thin we bonded with our teammates.

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Tales from the Trenches: Making the Case for Change

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Getting Started

During my 30-plus years in Managing Plants and Business Units, I have been confronted with the challenge of using Toyota Production System (TPS) Concepts to make radical change in the trajectory of many organizations. I learned early on that getting acceptance for the need for change by the most important constituency… the people on the floor that were actually making the company’s products and/ or delivering its services, is the most critical first step in getting started.

Putting leaders with colorful slide decks and compelling speeches in front of workers at your next ‘Town Hall Meeting’ doesn’t work: simply telling folks from the floor that the company wants the operation to embrace the ‘new manufacturing paradigm’ as a way of becoming more competitive and improving profitability is a DOA approach.

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Why I care about Culture...

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Why I care about Culture...

As a Manufacturing Engineering and Lean Transformation professional, I divide my time almost equally about technical and cultural topics. To me, it is not at all surprising, but I wonder if it is to others...