Lean Connections

Jim Womack’s newsletter this month, posted here, very clearly explores one of the underlying reasons that Lean or Operational Excellence initiatives are often difficult to sustain (and sometimes even get off the ground).  Every affected stakeholder -whether the executive leadership team recognize it or not – looks carefully at that proposed improvement effort and asks “what’s in it for me?” and “what happens to me if this moves forward?”  So I ask, what does that individual do if he or she is getting an answer with which they’re not entirely happy?

In his article Jim refers to Pareto’s (Mr. 80/20 rule) second concept of economic optimality, and immediatly reminds me of this phrase in the Hippocratic Corpus: “first do no harm.” Some lean practitioners attempting to drive change unfortunately ignore this admonition at their own peril.

If, in our zeal to improve something, we cannot envision how our ideal future state may negatively impact another part of the organization’s currently “adequate” state, then we are indeed not optimizing the whole. Rather, we fall back on the silo-thinking which created the need for making changes/improvements in the first place.  And that’s where true “Lean Leadership” in the executive ranks shows what it’s made of.  Go forth, ye, and make sustainable Lean happen! 

And that’s the way I see it.  Adam Zak

“The Sustainable Advantage: Who Will Survive and Why”

Developing a strategy that focuses on global sustainability can ensure future productivity and strong consumer confidence – but only if companies do it right. As we move forward into an increasingly interconnected world, companies that have chosen to operate with LEAN & GREEN (sustainable) practices will begin to break ahead of the less innovative. How do you decide where to dedicate your resources to achieve the most return, economically and environmentally, in the future?

The Executives’ Club of Chicago is sponsoring a half-day conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.  The program begins with a 7:30 breakfast and networking session and runs through lunch, and should conclude around 2:00 PM.  The conference focus is sustainability and I expect to hear quite a lot of information about the connections between GREEN and LEAN.   Contact the Executives’ Club directly for registration, or download the program invitation by clicking on the link below.    As a long-time supporter of the Executives’ Club and frequent participant in their outstanding programs, I encourage you to consider attending. 

“Business Sustainability in a World in Crisis”