DailyKaizen

For the last couple of years we have taken the approach of focusing our improvement and Lean consulting resources in a small number of “strategic” areas.  There are many good reasons why we chose to take this approach.  Senior leadership at that time had not “bought into” Lean as business strategy for the organization and it was still considered process improvement thus much of the Lean work was “voluntary.”  As an organization we still believed in a traditional model of leadership that the leader was the boss and not the coach, teacher and facilitator.  The small number of Lean consulting resources had very limited experience and technical skill.  And the list goes on…

As the organization has broadened and deepened its view of Lean I believe that this approach now needs to be changed.  I would be the first to admit that I have been slow to recognize the need that we now need to find a way to fill.  As we push forward with Lean as our enterprise wide business strategy we must supply the means for people to learn.  We can no longer be selective about who gets to participate in “Lean” activities and thinking.  Everyone must do Kaizen, and as a leadership group we need to figure out a way to provide the level of education to advance 10,000 toward greater improvement.  This is the only way we can reach our long-term goals and fulfill our mission. This does not mean that everyone has to learn at the same pace, but I do believe that everyone needs to know enough to improve.   To not do this will result in the “haves” and the “have nots” taking hold, a dangerous problem at this time on our journey. 

My view on this has changed as I have watched the work in the Model Line advance over the last year.  As you will recall we took the time and provided the resources to ensure that everyone had the chance to learn how to put in standard work, level their work, measure the work, make their work visible and PDCA.  Over time I have watched the culture change, much of which was an outcome of this new learning.  Overall, it was not the consultants and trainers that were most taxed for resources by this effort, but instead the management team.  This is exactly why it worked, because they were asked to not only manage in the new world, but also teach and lead improvement.  To teach and lead improvement they needed to know their processes and so on.  While not perfect, kaizen as a way of life has begun to seep into the Model Line workforce. 

I think there will be some that don’t agree with this approach.  For one, everyone will be for training until they realize that leaders will be the delivery method in this new world.  I expect for some this will be excited and for others terrifying.  Others will be overtaxed by resource constraints and the more proactive world of the future will be very hard to see in the present.  Finally, from a Lean consultancy perspective we need to figure out how we will raise a big enough network of support resources to make this possible, and possible quickly.  A good, and hopefully not optional challenge for us all!

Now

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