Recently I’ve been encouraged to take the lead in writing a series of Blog Posts about the Lean Journey from the perspective of someone who has not just taught lean, but has gotten their hands dirty leading several lean transformations over my career. This is a collaborative effort from us - and we hope that you will find value in our tales from the trenches. If so, please engage and comment below.
— Dave
Getting Started
During my 30-plus years in Managing Plants and Business Units, I have been confronted with the challenge of using Toyota Production System (TPS) Concepts to make radical change in the trajectory of many organizations. I learned early on that getting acceptance for the need for change by the most important constituency… the people on the floor that were actually making the company’s products and/ or delivering its services, is the most critical first step in getting started.
Putting leaders with colorful slide decks and compelling speeches in front of workers at your next ‘Town Hall Meeting’ doesn’t work: simply telling folks from the floor that the company wants the operation to embrace the ‘new manufacturing paradigm’ as a way of becoming more competitive and improving profitability is a DOA approach.
Operational Excellence and ‘Fake Lean’
In three GM/ UAW represented Plants that I managed, resistance to engaging the workforce in Lean Transformation was brutal. Even though I had gone to the GM/Toyota NUMMI Joint Venture to learn TPS in a UAW Environment, the union was not keen on allowing this experiment to spread to other GM operations.
While we were successful in using many of the lean tools to make improvement at these plants, I knew that the changes had little chance of survival once the leadership of the operation changed. Despite the levels of operational excellence that were achieved, these implementations were truly ‘fake lean’ because they were ‘management only’ driven and no workforce engagement or learning was accomplished.
Incidentally, all three of these plants have sadly since been closed as part of the Delphi Bankruptcy.
Taking a Different Tack
At the last several plants I managed, I was hired to perform financial turnarounds. Each of these businesses was at risk of immediate failure and/or closure.
At each operation I started by having honest and candid communications with the entire team about the state of their business and what my vision for change was, and why change was important. These were two-way communications, and many of the folks I spoke with each time expressed surprise that I had taken time to talk to them one-on-one, to learn what their responsibilities were and what they thought about the business. I would take the time to explain my ideas and get feedback from each person. As you would expect, there was much less resistance presented when the doors of communication were opened and ideas were solicited than when change was presented as a management imperative.
These meetings were not always easy. The floor teams were always very vocal about management’s (and frequently, specific manager’s) failure to take the right actions that they believed could have prevented this current state of the business from happening in the first place. Without fail, they wanted to know if this would be addressed, and whether or not I was committed enough to stick around and help make the right things happen.
My commitment was always the same: if they would follow my lead, volunteer to be part of the solution not part of the problem, I would stay, help resolve the management issues and do everything in my power to save their jobs and the future of the company. I had never ‘closed’ a plant and didn’t come to do that here!
Helping Everyone Understand the TPS/ Lean Approach
Oftentimes, when folks would first hear the word ‘lean’ it struck a chord of fear. It was not unusual to find that prior leaders had attempted cost-cutting measures including the loss of jobs, restructuring and outsourcing in the name of lean. In these cases, it became imperative to first rebuild trust.
I would start by explaining what true lean does by reducing/ eliminating waste and improving flow to make the business more competitive. In order to succeed, each person working in the operation needed to understand and learn to apply the philosophies, problem solving tools and methods of TPS. I explained how they would be taught what they needed to know using kaizen and that they would have many opportunities to put their ideas for making things better into practice.
I would clarify that the goal of true lean was not to cut jobs and downsize but rather, to make the organization financially stable and provide ongoing employment by creating and delivering value to customers by leveraging the skills and creativity of each and every person.
And finally, I would reiterate my commitment to always be honest about where we were and where we were going, and to keep my door open to hear their concerns without judgement. Transparency breeds trust.
Becoming a Team
I invited each person to be prepared to change or feel free to seek opportunities elsewhere. But if they chose to stay, they could feel comfortable that no one would be laid off as a result of the improvement process. We would win together, or we would lose together as a team. And I had every intention of winning.
Then, I would relay a final tenet of my philosophy to my new team:
Players only… no spectators allowed.
Most understood and agreed, but told me they would hold me accountable for my commitments. I told them that I understood, thanked them for listening and told them that I would do the same.
We were ready to begin.
©2020 David R. Moore, ValueFlo Consulting LLC
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Meet the Author
David Moore is an accomplished general manager, strategic planner and manufacturing business consultant with over 40 years of experience elevating company performance through skilled alignment of production facilities with enterprise goals. Dave excels at being a leader with history of success transforming underperforming plants into profit powerhouses, with expertise implementing Lean improvements across multi-plant facilities. He has proven ability to help companies to achieve world-class performance.
