Published October 2018
Psst. Wanna know about a secret project that I’ve been working on?
A year ago I was approached by Productivity Press about authoring a book regarding Lean. For a Lean consultant and a wannabe author who has twice self-published, this was a big deal. Productivity Press is a legitimate publisher with an international footprint. My personal bookcase contains several of their titles that played a major role in my own development over the years.
We discussed a couple of different ideas. I spent time coagulating a concept that had been bouncing around my brain for a couple of years and pitched it to Productivity. They liked it!
The result is titled Working Great! with a subtitle Lean Leadership Lessons for Guiding Your Organization to Excellence. The format is a series of 52 practical lessons with suggested challenges for application. (In case this is your first column, I’m really big on applying knowledge.)
The analogy used throughout the book is that of a leader preparing for and embarking on a Lean “expedition,” which I argue is a more apt term than “journey,” the typical moniker used for a Lean transformation. The demonstrated low success rate for those hoping to establish a truly Lean culture indicates that the experience more closely resembles an unchartered voyage instead of an oft-repeated tour. That’s because, even though others have successfully completed the trip, the uniqueness of each organization’s starting point and definition of the destination ensures a new route.
Because ultimate success on the expedition depends so heavily on transforming how the organization thinks—about customers, each other, and work itself—the majority of the book focuses on leadership behaviors for building and promoting a Lean culture. This is a departure from the majority of literature (and, dare I say, most attempted implementations) which focuses on the use of various Lean tools.
Tools are pretty straightforward. Select, purchase, train, and turn loose. But a ratchet and set of sockets doesn’t make a mechanic; rather someone that can simply loosen and tighten bolts. A great mechanic complements good tools with a thorough understanding of the theory of operation for the machine, terrific problem solving skills and a true sense of enjoyment from helping a customer by fixing their machine.
While no two organizations will follow the same path to success, there are common principles that all successful Lean cultures share. Likewise, there are also common leadership skills and behaviors for nurturing those principles. A few examples include:
Somewhere between the fifth and six cycle of proofreading, I had a revelation. The lessons shared in Working Great! are not unique to Lean! These are things every leader should be doing, regardless of whether the intent is a Lean transformation or not. As I recall my own career, these were the things my good bosses consistently demonstrated and my poor bosses neglected.
Great Lean leadership is simply great leadership. It appeals to the intrinsic human needs that we all share for meaningful work. That’s why, unlike other business fads, Lean principles continue to thrive and permeate almost all industries decades after being introduced.
Unfortunately, great leadership is in short supply. Working Great! aims to address that shortage.
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Link to Working Great! on Amazon
Check out the Working Great! archives for columns on other pertinent business issues
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