5X Why most Leaders are not Good Enough

Jeffrey Liker first provided real insight into Lean Leadership in his book, the Toyota Way , in 2003. This followed on from the insights into the Toyota Production System, or Toyota Way, that Womack and Jones had first introduced to us in the 1990s and attempted to provide insight to the requirements of a Leader in a Lean Organisation.

Nevertheless, despite much being written about this subject and many companies deploying Lean, this critical 'Magic Ingredient' of Lean Thinking still evades most organisations.

The question is Why? Or, to use Lean Thinking; 5 times Why?

In his article in the Lean Management Journal (Developing Leaders at Toyota) Liker provides a 5 times Why? assessment of why most Leaders are not Lean Thinkers and comes up with a conclusion:

Why? Because they lack the discipline and focus.

Why? Because they do not see what is in it for them to do this new, extra work.

Why? Because they do not really understand where these specific changes are headed and what they can do for them and the company.

Why? Because they have not learned deeply enough to believe in all this "lean stuff".

Why? Because nobody they respect and trust has been teaching and coaching as they have gone through the change.

The conclusion:

Leadership is weak, uncommitted to Lean Thinking, and lacks skill and deep understanding. A dramatic change must take place to support and sustain a Lean transformation that starts with a diligent and disciplined focus on self development. - Liker

I have observed this phenomenon in a number of Lean Transformations, as Leaders espouse Lean and desire the results that they believe it can bring but are unable (or unwilling) to understand what that means for them and to make the changes necessary in their behaviour to enable the Lean Transformation.

So what is the solution?

Lean Leadership must be central to the business' Lean Transformation and we need to have the courage to stop the transformation if the leadership are not playing their part; actively defining the 'Burning Platform' for change, running Kaizen Events and going to the Gemba to perform Problem Solving, Kamishibai, Coaching and their Leader Standard Work. The model / approach that we use for deployment must include these elements as central and fundamental to success.

Coaching and the development of the Leadership needs to be undertaken by People whom they can trust and respect; not only for their understanding of the Lean Tools but for their Holistic understanding of Lean Thinking and how this interfaces with the Business Strategy. Only when the Leadership can see that Lean Thinking is an integral part of their Business Strategy, and not simply an improvement initiative, will they fully grasp the necessity for change (see my earlier posting).

My advice is to take some Hansei time and reflect on whether your Lean Transformation has this Critical Success Factor embedded and whether you've given yourself the chance to succeed.

Feel free to visit my Website and Blog at: LeadingwithLean and my other LinkedIn posts may be found at this link. 

"Leading with Lean" is now available to buy:

Amazon UK

Amazon Global 

Amazon India

Amazon.de

Amazon.fr

Amazon.nl

Managementboek.nl (English)

Managementboek.nl (Dutch)

Bol.com

To read more, order the book, or download the Introduction, please use this link.

Follow me on Twitter: @LeanMaster1 to find out more.

I am an experienced Senior Operations and Business Transformation Leader with over 15 years experience delivering value and improvements globally and a track record of Lean Transformation within a Global Blue Chip Organisation. I am passionate about delivering Operational Excellence through Lean Leadership and enjoy sharing and discussing my experiences with others.

To hear more about my Book, visit my YouTube video:

#LeadingwithLean #LeanThinking #LeanLeadership #LeadwithLean #Leadership