The One Reason Lean Fails or Succeeds

There's only one reason that Lean fails or succeeds: LEADERSHIP.

You are a leader if and only if people follow your leadership when they have the freedom not to. ~ Jim Collins

Lean will fail if you have Mr. Magoo running the show. Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader with vision to chart the course.

Lean Principles Are Effective In All Situations

Lean (manufacturing) principles are proven. They always work. When properly applied, Lean principles deliver results at any time in any process. However, what you see working (the practice) in one area may not work in another area. But, the principle that created the desired result will always work.

Many people do not understand or have not considered the difference between principles and practices and run into trouble as a result. A principle can be applied in any situation and will deliver consistent results. A practice can be applied in any situation too, but there is a very big difference. A practice will not produce the desired results in any situation. Practices only produce the desired result in specific situations where certain associated variables are in place. What you see Toyota do may or may not work in your organization. But, the underlying principles Toyota applies to get the results you see will always work.

With principles and practices, if something changes, the practice may no longer work, but a principle always will. We should seek to always identify and understand the principle that creates the desired results.

The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

As John C. Maxwell has said for decades, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."

I absolutely agree with John. After years of leading Lean successfully, I have transitioned from focusing on the "continuous improvement" pillar of Lean to now be primarily focused on the "respect for the people" pillar.

Lean Is Truly About The People

Everyone says Lean is all about the people, but most organization's actions demonstrate to the people that it's all about the process. Their walk doesn't match their talk. Most don't invest in the people unless it's related to the process. If we invest in the true growth and development of the people because we value them and they know and feel it, they are grateful and willing to help improve the processes at the grassroots level. People development, at all levels, is the key to sustaining the gains too!

The Law of the Lid

The Law of the Lid in John C. Maxwell's book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership basically states that the organization can't rise above the lid (leadership ability of the top leader) on the organization.

The top leader is always doing one of 3 things:

1. Making it happen - Creating a culture where character (360° leadership development) and competency (lean & job specific principles) are developed in all team members regardless of position or title.
2. Allowing it to happen - Whether it's good or bad, if the leader is allowing it to happen, the leader is responsible.
3. Preventing it from happening - Depending on the development level of the leader, he/she will either be preventing good things from happening (poorly developed leader) or be preventing bad things from happening (highly developed leader).

Responsibility

A high impact leader looks in the mirror and takes responsibility when things go wrong while a low impact leader looks through the window and blames others for when things go wrong.

Leadership Development

Most organizations want people at all levels to take responsibility and be leaders. However, most offer very little, if any, true leadership development to their associates. This again is determined by the Leadership Lid on the organization.

What does the top level leader value? If there's no formal leadership development program, then no matter what they say, they do not value growing and developing leaders (people). The best organizations have very formal and structured leadership programs. They don't get good and then say, "We no longer need to develop leaders." They apply continuous improvement principles not only to their processes, but also to the development of all the people responsible for those processes.

Typically, when organizations offer leadership development, it's for those upper level leaders that are always wishing and hoping the lower level leaders, that receive little or no leadership development training, would be better leaders.

What's wrong with this picture? We want people that we don't grow and develop as leaders to be leaders and take responsibility as leaders. What????????? I hear and see this thought process far too often.

What's common sense is not always common practice. ~ Stephen R. Covey

Lean organizations that truly develop their people offer leadership development and Lean training to all of their team members from top to bottom. For these organizations, it's not about position and title. It's about people (character) and results (competency). They want everyone to be developed and everyone to deliver results.

Note: My son, Eric, and I are in the video below. We had the privilege of videoing a Minute with Maxwell. In the spirit of Lean, our word for John was "Continuous."

360° Lean Leaders

The best organizations develop everyone because they truly understand: everyone is a leader, and everyone has 360° of influence.

Some of the best leadership development classes I've taught had the President/Owner sitting at a table beside a forklift driver, sitting beside a Director, sitting beside a welder, sitting beside a sales person, sitting beside an inventory control specialist, sitting beside a janitor, sitting beside a Vice President...I'm sure you get the picture.

In these organizations, people grow together with the same expectations of leadership development (not authority) for everyone: to grow and be better tomorrow than they are today. They say with their words and their actions, "We're in this together." It's not something they only say. It's also something they do.

"Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit." ~ John C. Maxwell

FREE downloads available:

Click here to access Chapter 11 “Get Out of the Way and Lead” from my book, Defining Influence.

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of “Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

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Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact !

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Mack’s story is an amazing journey of personal and professional growth. He began his career in manufacturing on the front lines of a machine shop. He grew himself into upper management and found his niche in lean manufacturing and along with it, developed his passion for leadership. He understands that everything rises and falls on leadership.

Mack is the author of Blue-Collar Leadership Series, Defining Influence, & 10 Values of High Impact Leaders. He's an inspiration for people everywhere as an example of achievement, growth, and personal development. His passion inspires people all over the world! Order signed copies here.

Mack’s experience as a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Speaker includes an international training event in Guatemala with John as part of the Cultural Transformation in Guatemala where more than 20,000 Guatemalan leaders were trained.

Contact Mack at 334-728-4143 or [email protected] for Keynote Speaking, Corporate Training, Professional Leadership Development, Cultural Enhancement/Transformation, and Process Improvement.