IQL Consulting

Reading about the West’s adoption of lean principles – and specifically the Toyota Production System – leaves you with the distinct impression that there’s something missing in the leadership.

We got the techniques. We got the tools. We heard the words about empowerment and involvement, but we didn’t really get the meaning. Why?

I suspect it’s partly because heirarchical management is so deeply ingrained in our history and culture. Our entire system is based on the premise of authority.

Want something done? Announce a new rule. Laminate it. Frame it and put it on the walls. Reward people for following it. Penalise people for deviating from it.

In an attempt to engage people, we might try conferences, team huddles and suggestion boxes, but it’s all to little effect – because the thinking hasn’t changed.

Protest March by infomatique (cc)

In order to achieve real empowerment and to maximise what lean thinking can do, Western leaders must accept that:

• Front-line workers should make the tactical decisions about work, not managers.
• Those decisions should be based on representative data about work.
• Tacit knowledge plays a huge role in the work – documentation has severe limitations.
• Motivation is intrinsic to well-designed work, not extrinsic.
• The vast majority of people want to do a good job, even without any other incentive.
• Targets and Service Level Agreements make performance worse, not better.