Starting Lean from Scratch : A Senior Leaders Guide to Beginning and Steering an Organizational Culture Change for Continuous Improvement

What if the problem is you? For organizations just preparing to begin a continuous-improvement (CI) journey, the behaviors of the leadership must transform dramatically for the Lean toolkit to succeed. Many organizations invest in training colleagues about the power of the tools but fail to address the behavior and mindset of the leadership. Unfortunately, misaligned leadership behaviors will counteract any culture change that is attempted simply by pushing the use of Lean tools. This book outlines a comprehensive set of leadership principles that must be understood and modelled by the leadership before the CI Journey can effectively begin.

This book organizes these leadership principles into a framework of a conceptual model called the "Three Spaces of Lean Transformation." The model suggests that these spaces of Trust, Change, and Continuous Improvement must be consciously shaped, developed, and maintained by the organizational leadership if a continuous improvement culture change succeeds. This book organizes a set of leadership principles -- that supports the culture change -- into each of these three spaces.

The book is written in the first-person narrative and maintains a mentoring format. This book is for professionals at the very beginning of an intimidating Lean journey and with very little background or formal Lean training.

Although these leadership principles are framed in the approach of being necessary to support an innovation culture change, the principles are, in fact, those necessary to support effective employee engagement. In addition, this set of leadership principles, if modeled consistently by the leaders, will create an organizational culture that will attract and retain great employees.

These principles form the strong leadership foundation that must be established in organizations where, previously, many of the leadership behaviors were contrary to what is required by a "Lean" organization. The proper adoption of these leadership principles by an organization will support the long-term success of the Lean journey, and that this will enable a lasting, not a temporary, change to a continuous improvement culture.

Acknowledgements
Preface

Part 1 : Understanding the Spaces of Lean Transformation
Chapter 1 : Introduction
Chapter 2 : The Three Spaces Model
Chapter 3 : Defining Some Key Terms
Chapter 4 : The Lean Management Team

Part 2 : Understanding the Space of Trust
Chapter 5 : The Space of Trust Explained
Chapter 6 : Trust Principle #1 : Know that Culture Change is the Goal, Not the Implementation of Lean Tools
Chapter 7 : Trust Principle #2 : Trust that Your People are Not the Problem You Are
Chapter 8 : Trust Principle #3 : Believe that Your People Come to Work Every Day Wanting to Do a Good Job
Chapter 9 : Trust Principle #4 : Understand that People Become a Product of Their Environment
Chapter 10 : Trust Principle #5 : Believe that You Can Change
Chapter 11 : Trust Principle #6 : Free Yourself from the Need for External Validation
Chapter 12 : Trust Principle #7 : Trust that Better Client Service Results from Treating Your People Well
Chapter 13 : Trust Principle #8 : Remember that Authority Matters
Chapter 14 : Trust Principle #9 : Delegate Properly
Chapter 15 : Trust Principle #10 : Remember that Management Still Has Rights
Chapter 16 : Trust Principle #11 : Always Act with Respect for People
Chapter 17 : Trust Principle #12 : Correct Workplace Behaviour Problems Quickly
Chapter 18 : Trust Principle #13 : Talk About Problems Openly, But Focus on Solutions
Chapter 19 : Trust Principle #14 : Give Balanced Performance Feedback Regularly
Chapter 20 : Trust Principle #15 : Thank Your Staff Personally When They Do Something Great
Chapter 21 : Trust Principle #16 : Discipline Only the Unwilling, But Know that They are Few
Chapter 22 : Trust Principle #17 : Protect Your People
Chapter 23 : Trust Principle #18 : Show Loyalty to Leadership Above You
Chapter 24 : Trust Principle #19 : Go and See to Truly Understand
Chapter 25 : Trust Principle #20 : Respect the Leadership Chain of Command
Chapter 26 : Trust Principle #21 : Listen Effectively
Chapter 27 : Trust Principle #22 : Understand the True Source of Your Value as a Leader
Chapter 28 : Trust Principle #23 : Be a Coach, Not a Judge
Chapter 29 : Trust Principle #24 : Coach with Questions, Not Answers
Chapter 30 : Trust Principle #25 : Eliminate Competition in Favour of Teamwork
Chapter 31 : Trust Principle #26 : Be Congruent
Chapter 32 : The Space of Trust : Concluding Thoughts

Part 3 : Understanding the Space for Change
Chapter 33 : The Space for Change Explained
Chapter 34 : Change Principle #1 : Recognize that Sometimes Terminology Does Matter
Chapter 35 : Change Principle #2 : Explain WhyMany Times
Chapter 36 : Change Principle #3 : Be Wary of a Goal of Quick Cash Savings
Chapter 37 : Change Principle #4 : Appreciate the Value of Change Management
Chapter 38 : Change Principle #5 : Communicate Everything You Can
Chapter 39 : Change Principle #6 : Find Your Voice
Chapter 40 : Change Principle #7 : Challenge the Status Quo Continuously
Chapter 41 : Change Principle #8 : Respect the Current State of Evolutionary Growth
Chapter 42 : Change Principle #9 : Start with the Willing, Convince the Skeptical, Then Deal with the Resisters
Chapter 43 : Change Principle #10 : Remember that We Learn By Doing
Chapter 44 : Change Principle #11 : Understand that a Presentation Does Not Equal Training
Chapter 45 : Change Principle #12 : Ask Them to Show You, Not Tell You
Chapter 46 : Change Principle #13 : Use Visual Metrics Regularly to Teach and Reveal, Never to Assign Blame
Chapter 47 : Change Principle #14 : Embrace Huddle Board Meetings as a Part of the Culture Change
Chapter 48 : Change Principle #15 : Realize that in an Office, 5s Doesn’t Just Mean Cleaning Off Your Desk
Chapter 49 : Change Principle #16 : Be Ruthless When Setting Strategic Priorities
Chapter 50 : Change Principle #17 : Value How an Objective is Achieved as Much as the Achievement Itself
Chapter 51 : Change Principle #18 : Set Up a Structure of Aligned Metrics to Take You Where You Need to Go
Chapter 52 : Change Principle #19 : Drive Towards Thoughtfully Selected Targets on Your Metrics
Chapter 53 : Change Principle #20 : Say “Yes” More Often Than “No” At First, Then Be Selective
Chapter 54 : Change Principle #21 : Celebrate Team Accomplishments, Large and Small
Chapter 55 : Change Principle #22 : Recognize the Power and Primacy of Intrinsic Motivation
Chapter 56 : Change Principle #23 : Teach Your Leaders to Operate in the Gray
Chapter 57 : Change Principle #24 : Protect the Culture Change
Chapter 58 : The Space for Change : Concluding Thoughts

Part 4 : Understanding the Space for Continuous Improvement
Chapter 59 : The Space for Continuous Improvement Explained
Chapter 60 : CI Principle #1 : Defend Continuous Improvement as an Investment, Not a Cost
Chapter 61 : CI Principle #2 : Study and Adopt Methods of Time Management
Chapter 62 : CI Principle #3 : Let Those Who Do the Job Develop the Improvements
Chapter 63 : CI Principle #4 : Plan for Success Every Time
Chapter 64 : CI Principle #5 : Look for the Barriers in Advance, and Remove Them
Chapter 65 : CI Principle #6 : Choose the Right People for an Event
Chapter 66 : CI Principle #7 : Get the Leadership Out of the Room
Chapter 67 : CI Principle #8 : Scope Your Projects with Care
Chapter 68 : CI Principle #9 : Take Each Project Over the Finish Line
Chapter 69 : CI Principle #10 : Receive with Gratitude and Implement the Efforts of Your People
Chapter 70 : CI Principle #11 : Teach Them About the Types of Wastes
Chapter 71 : CI Principle #12 : Solve the Right Problem
Chapter 72 : CI Principle #13 : Run an Experiment to Improve Something
Chapter 73 : CI Principle #14 : Share Widely Best Practices
Chapter 74 : CI Principle #15 : Adapt and Innovate When You Adopt Best Practices
Chapter 75 : CI Principle #16 : Strike the Balance Between Innovation and Standardization
Chapter 76 : CI Principle #17 : Drive Towards Effective Daily Kaizen
Chapter 77 : CI Principle #18 : Plan for Your Obsolescence
Chapter 78 : CI Principle #19 : Reflect and Improve
Chapter 79 : The Space for Continuous Improvement : Concluding Thoughts

Part 5 : Understanding the New Way
Chapter 80 : Putting the Spaces Together
Chapter 81 : Striving for Congruence
Chapter 82 : Show Them It’s Possible
Chapter 83 : It Feels Different in Here

Notes and References
Index