DailyKaizen

It has been striking me lately as I have worked with managers to stabilize their processes that the role of managers is in a LEAN organization is very different then their role would be in a traditional organization.  In organizations that have no process reliability managers spend their time fighting fires, meeting with other managers to try and fix communication breakdowns as work is passed between departments and making decisions for their staff.  In a LEAN organization there are very few fires since we can anticipate the effect of change.  In a LEAN organization the work is organized and managed around processes so there is not nearly as much time spent meeting with other departments to fix problems with handoffs.  In a Lean organization the manager has time to coach and mentor staff members and they don’t make all the decisions for their staff.  In other words, in a LEAN organization there is really no need for the “traditional managers”, there is only a need for leaders.  In the traditional organization managers spend their time trying to make sure that the current state is maintained, because without process discipline there is no time for improvement.  In the LEAN organization, processes are stable and thus the role is not that of a traditional manager but instead a leader, because leadership by its very definition is focused on engaging others to challenge the status quo.