Category: Organization Design and Process Improvement

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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Team Leadership Curriculum & Certificaton

Essential Skills for the New Manager

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