I recently had some feedback from a reader who offered me three pieces of advice to pass- along to those of you who have senior leaders who are as much a help as they are a hindrance for your Lean work. 1. Help the president understand what Lean is. 2. Have a good foundation. 3. A company has Lean "measures," but they're just wallpaper. I'll go through each of them and add my two cents worth. Help the president understand what Lean is. If the president or members of the senior leadership tea m don't know what Lean is, then I would advise you to keep your description of Lean simple. Take them to the gemba, show them waste, spell out how much that waste is costing you and tell them that successful Lean initiatives can make that waste go away. Tell them about what then-expected roles and responsibilities will be. Again, keep it simple. Let them know that they'll be expected to support the Lean initiatives by showing up at some training sessions, participating in some gemba exercises and so on. Be sure to tell them that Lean will not take up too much of their time. In fact, if participating in Lean takes up more than five to 10 percent of anyone's time, you've got to look at what you're doing!
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