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Category Archives: Organization Design and Process Improvement
How You Change Is The Change
Today the following article was published in Industry Week’s Continuous Improvement Newsletter. Lean Management is not a change methodology; it is a destination, a desired set of practices and culture. How you get there will determine the outcome. There are … Continue reading
Lean Healthcare
Over the past months I have been working rather intensely with a Canadian healthcare organization, the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). This work has made very clear in my mind two things: first, that healthcare is in need of lean … Continue reading
Lean Culture and Continuous Improvement Require Enabling Structures
Lean management requires a rethinking of the structure of organizations, the formation of teams, and a “whole-system” understanding of the organizational system. Even how we structure the change process may result in a failure to address the root cause of waste and quality problems. Continue reading
To Believe or To Behave: Which Comes First?
Changing the culture requires both behavior and belief. C.S. Lewis said “The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering [determining] whether you [believe you do or must] ‘love’ your neighbour; [simply] act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” Continue reading
When Small Things Make a Big Difference: Motivation by Tipping the Scales
Even in a lean organization or culture there is a need to provide motivation and correct performance problems. Most behavior in the work setting is a result of the balance of consequences acting on that behavior. A slight shift in the balance of consequences can result in a large change in organization performance. Continue reading
Company Wide Lean Implementation
Many senior executives have struggled and failed to gain the advantage of a multi-site or dispersed organization. Instead of capitalizing on the potential value of multiple sites for learning, it seems that too often the same lessons have to be learned over and over again without any shared learning. This is a failure of senior management. In a lean organization, managing learning and improvement is THE primary function of senior managers in addition to deploying capital. Continue reading
Sustaining Lean – The Power of Beliefs
To address the sustainability of the lean process we are looking at this model that defines the different components of a culture. At the core is the system of beliefs among the members of the organization. On the outside is the external environment with changes in technology, economics and other trends to which every company must adapt. The sustainability of any system is based on both its ability to adapt to a changing environment and its ability to stay on the course of its core values. Continue reading
Beyond Tahrir Square: Managing Large Scale Change
In my previous post on this subject I suggested lessons from the Egyptian revolution to the world of corporate leadership. Now I do the reverse.
I would like to address the ruling military officers of Egypt and the other leaders who are now finding themselves in the midst of turmoil in the Middle East. They all are confronted with the problem of “managing large scale change.” This is not a new thing. Many companies and countries have been through this before. So… here is an open letter to the Generals of Egypt, and to all others to whom it may apply. Continue reading
Lean Organization & Whole-System Architecture
The word “organization” is related to “organism” and “organic.” Both of these imply something alive, something into which has been breathed the mysterious spirit of life. And what matters if you want to improve performance is not the organization chart, but that spirit of life. If you improve that, then you have really done something useful. The question you should ask yourself is, “Do we have a group in the organization who understand their job as thinking about, planning, designing and implement the ideal future system?” And, “Do they have a model and process for engaging in that analysis and design?” If not, you are lacking an important element of internal competitive strategy. Continue reading
Lean Culture Implementation Flow
While writing or editing my material for Lean Culture – The Leader’s Guide I realized that it would be helpful to have a one page flow diagram of the process of developing lean culture. After sharing this and getting feedback from a couple of clients who are engaged in the effort, this diagram is the result. Continue reading


