“Are we trying to force compliance or develop leaders?” The answer to this question is going to set your direction, and (in my opinion) ultimately your success. It comes down to your strategy for “change.” When people talk about “change” they are usually talking about “changing the culture.” Digging down another level, “changing the culture” [...]
I have posted a few times about the “management by measurement” culture and how destructive it can be. This TED video by Daniel Pink adds some color to the conversation. Simply put, while traditional “incentives” tend to work well when the task is rote and the solution is well understood, applying those same incentives to [...]
Yesterday, Kris left great comment with a compelling link to a TED presentation by Tom Wujec, a fellow at Autodesk. Back in June, I commented on Steve Spear’s article “ Why C-Level Executives Don’t Engage in Lean Initiatives.” In that commentary, Spear contends that business leaders are simply not taught the skills and mindset [...]
Now and then, usually when coaching or teaching someone, I get what I think is a flash of insight. Then I realize that, no, there is nothing new here, it is just a different way to say the same thing. Still, sometimes finding a different way of expressing a concept helps people grasp it, so [...]
Lesley Doherty, the Chief Executive at NHS Bolton in the U.K. was recently interviewed by IQPC as a precursor for her being a keynote speaker at a conference IQPC is sponsoring in December (Zurich). In the spirit of full disclosure, IQPC had invited me to participate in a “blogger’s panel discussion” (along with Karen Wilhelm, [...]
Congratulations on your assumption of leadership at the Lean Enterprise Institute. The Lean Enterprise Institute has a deservedly unique place in the community of people working to learn and apply the Toyota Production System. The LEI, and the precursor work at M.I.T., by Jim Womack and others, has been largely responsible for moving the Toyota [...]
Here is an “ah-ha” or even one of those “oh s#!&” moments I had as Mike Rother was talking about his Toyota Kata research last week. Solution How Solution is Developed Toyota / “Lean” Left Open Very specific – guided and directed. Traditional Management Given / Directed Not specified, left to “empowered” employee. When [...]
Hopefully that title got some attention. In Toyota Kata, Mike Rother frames a PDCA coaching process around five questions. The first three questions are: What is the target condition? What is the current condition? What problems or obstacles are preventing you from reaching the target? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could build a machine [...]
In my review of Toyota Kata by Mike Rother, I suggested that the staff-level practitioners who are embedded in almost every company that is “implementing lean” could put those practices to work immediately, even if it was not an ideal “top down” teaching process. This week I gave that a try. I was coaching a [...]
I have seen this topic come up in forums many times, and seen wide ranging responses. If I were to summarize them all, it would be “ I’ll know it when I see it.” A couple of weeks ago I heard a great quote from a co-worker that puts things into perspective. I’m always ready [...]