An Overview of the Lean Journey
All lean journeys start pretty much the same way, whether on a burning platform for change, or with a directive or desire to cut costs and lead times, or some other motivation to make organizations more competitive... or when organization 'reboot' failed or stalled lean implementation.
Attend training, read, learn all about the tools, study: most of us will think we really 'get it'. We are confident, even overconfident at the start. We question, 'How can we fail? This is easy, it is just common sense!'
The journey begins by learning lean principles and lean tools.
As we practice implementing lean tools, and participating on Kaizen events and projects, sometimes everything goes smoothly, and other times we struggle. At first, we do not understand: we have found our new religion, if you will, and wonder why do others not see what we see?
Some new lean leaders push harder, even becoming dogmatic in their adherence to lean principles. Eventually, though, through these ups and downs most become aware that no matter how hard we push the tools alone, success hinges on changing the way people think, behave and act.
We learn we cannot 'just' implement tools according to what we think Toyota is doing, or what the latest corporate Operational Excellence model, consultant or business book tells us to do. Rigid adherence to principles and tools is not enough.
We learn that people are the key to success.
We start focusing on respect for people, listening to their ideas, understanding how they best learn, and improving training methods to develop their skills. We invest in developing their abilities in leadership and problem solving, to ensure that they have interesting and meaningful work. It is no longer about 'involving' people in the process as we come to understand that they are responsible for driving change, making improvements, solving problems and leveraging opportunities.
The work of management transitions from firefighting to providing the right environment for change and improvement to take place: people, place, materials, information, and culture. Strategizing, and removing barriers and impediments to change are top priorities.
At some point, our focus shifts from others onto ourselves.
As we watch others learn and grow, there is no avoiding the fact that we will start learning about ourselves. We start to think about our our own beliefs, and our behaviors that contribute to success or failure of change. We wonder, how do our educational and experiential biases influence us?
Although most of us started off seeing the lean journey as something others go through or that the organization is going through, over time, we realize it is not their journey but ours.
We start looking back at our experiences, and wonder: how did we get on the road, what forks have we chosen, which were chosen for us, where are we now and how far is there left to go? What could we have done differently, what would we do differently if given the chance, how will we do it next time?
The journey belongs to us, it is personal. It is about our own self-development and growth: how do we need to change ourselves to better serve the needs of others and the organizations we work with?
Eventually, we come full-circle to understand why we learned the tools and principles in the first place.
As we come back to the tools and principles, we can approach their application with more maturity and deeper understanding, knowledge and wisdom. Our ability to lead and explore as we implement solutions grows throughout our lean journey. We begin to use the principles to guide us as we guide others. The tools become a way of teaching, as much or more than a way of getting results.
We have seen enough experiments to know there are some approaches that might have a greater chance of success than others. Still, we do not know the outcome of each new experiment with certainty, so we learn to learn: more, better, and faster, and to help others do the same.
Our coaching changes, we know now to ask questions instead of giving answers.
Those who are self-aware know that we are all just students, even the most experienced of all the lean practitioners is not truly an expert on everything. The road belongs to us all: no matter how far we have come, we still have so much left to learn, so far left to travel.
Enjoy the journey.
©2018 Dawn A. Armfield
