Executives and managers are bottle-necking Lean growth when they solve problems.
They claim they do not have time to go to Gemba to gain a deep understanding of the problem because they are too busy in problem solving meetings (don’t fool yourself – even decision-making meetings are still about problems). Leadership indirectly demonstrates lack of respect and trust when they do not engage the people doing the work to solve problems (waste of talent). Coaching opportunities are missed when leadership doesn’t equip and support all staff to identify root cause, gain consensus, and experiment with counter-measures (becoming a learning organization).
You will never see the gains you desire with Lean until executives and managers turn over the problem-solving duties to the people doing the work. It wil take coaching and support, but that time is better spent than solving problems in an ivory tower.
What are your thoughts?
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Hi,
This is probably the biggest gap in American Lean systems. This mindset of heroism is perpetuated in our education system, the consulting networks and in lean literature. We hear stories and case studies and attribute the success to a select few leaders and inadvertently mimic this approach by creating specialists. Good post.
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