When Transformation Grows Tough

I regularly check in with clients who retain us to kick start a transformation journey, with the intent to fly solo after a very short time together. We do our best to explain that changing mindsets and behaviors takes time, but we also opt to accept these clients versus rejecting them, because we believe we can get them started on a stronger path forward than they may find elsewhere.

I recently checked in with a client who reported that they're completing planned improvement 'projects' (his word, not mine), but expressed concern about whether the org is growing in their Lean thinking and practices. He specifically mentioned the lack of ongoing improvement.

Common theme.

I'll share my tough-love response in the hope that it could help others recognize what transformation truly takes:

"In now three decades of building, managing, and improving operations, the only way I’ve found that transitions a culture from project-based improvement to continuous improvement—and the only way to transition from traditional thinking to Lean thinking—and therefore, the only way to transition from struggling to achieve business goals to more easily achieving them is to focus on building and maintaining robust management systems.

In Lean-speak, this means a strong commitment to management practices that center on:

• Strategy deployment - Including the 'right' goals to begin with
• Daily management systems - Across the entire organization, not just in pockets
• Operational standard work - Including waste-free design to begin with, supported by strong visual management, error proofing, etc.
• Leader standard work - Including strong leadership commitment to all of the above—AND operating with humility, curiosity, and a strong interest in surfacing problems the moment they're discovered. Ultimately every single leader needs to be 'all in' and fully committed to this path. One weak link breaks the entire chain.
• And building deep problem-solving capabilities—and a culture that supports active and robust problem solving.

It isn't easy… but it’s the only thing I’ve that has worked over the long haul."

It's short-sighted to think you can transform a value stream to hit a target and that it will stick—or there will be sufficient organizational learning, appetite, and focus to begin achieving excellence elsewhere.

It's equally short-sighted to believe that one's existing leadership team is necessarily the right team to shepherd organizational transformation...because the mindsets and behaviors that propel a person into a leadership role are often insufficient for a transformation to excellence.

Shifting one's mindsets and behaviors requires:

• Strong intention and desire
• The courage to be uncomfortable
• And coaching—from someone who isn't afraid to tell a leader what may be difficult for him or her to hear

In the absence of these conditions, leadership teams often need to go through transition of their own.

Excellence isn't easy. That's why all athletes aren't Olympians. Why all cellists don't perform at Yo Yo Ma's level. And why very few Navy pilots qualify for the Blue Angels team.

But just because transformation isn't easy doesn't mean you should give up trying and settle for the norm. On the contrary. Build—or rebuild—a fire in your leadership belly and get moving! There are too many customers, internal team members, and other stakeholders who crave excellence to turn your back on that very noble cause.