Drop the Debates, Begin the Dialogues

Drop the Debates, Begin the Dialogues

Posted by | Aug 10, 2015 | , | 7

Imagine your CEO, each time he or she was challenged, turning on the person asking the question and proclaiming “you’re loser” or, “that’s because you’re stupid!” My mother, and probably your own, taught me not to call others names. Someone said “turn the other cheek.” Why in politics is this kind of response apparently acceptable to so many people when it should immediately be recognized as uncivil behavior and a disqualification for any public office?

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Donald Trump and the Essential Qualities of Leadership

Posted by | Jul 2, 2015 | , | 4

The purpose of presidential campaigns is to put on display the qualities of leadership of each candidate so we may choose among them. But what are those qualities we seek, why, and do they match the needs of the age in which we live? If we were a corporate search committee we would want to align the strategic challenges of the firm with the competencies of the candidates.

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Coaching and The Caring Continuum

Coaching and The Caring Continuum

Posted by | May 5, 2015 | , , | 0

Coaching is becoming widespread in our organizations with many people claiming to be coaches, but with very different interests and skills. To those implementing lean management it is important to recognize that every manager at Toyota has a coach or mentor. The goals of the coach and the client should be in alignment. There are a number of ways to describe the continuum of relationships between coach and client: from short-term to long-term, from focused on today’s problems to developing strategic systems and culture, from low to high intimacy. For the sake of simplicity I will divide this continuum into three zones: the Blue, Green and Red Zones of Caring.

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Coaching and Culture Change: The Missing Link

Coaching and Culture Change: The Missing Link

Posted by | Apr 18, 2015 | , , , , | 0

If you go through my Team Leadership (Team Kata) course you will quickly be confronted with the strong suggestion that every manager and every team have a coach to lead them through the steps of lean implementation and to provide feedback to the leader and team. But, you ask, where are we going to get all these coaches? Here is a clear answer.

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Toyota Kata, Team Kata, and Levels of Complexity

Toyota Kata, Team Kata, and Levels of Complexity

Posted by | Sep 16, 2014 | , , , , , | 4

Implementing lean management, or any other change in the culture of organizations, requires a zoom lens to see the different levels of complexity required. Toyota Kata, lean tools, and other methods operate at some focal lengths and not at others. The well informed manager will have the ability to understand complexity and to use simple methods when appropriate. If you are photographer with only a 300mm lens you will miss a lot of great photos.

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The Coaching Kata and The Science of Positive Interactions

Posted by | Jun 28, 2014 | , , , | 1

Neuroscience now confirms why both learning and motivation on the part of employees is optimized when the ratio of positive to negative interactions with managers lean toward four positives to one negative. Higher rates of negative interactions reduce learning, increase fear, increase avoidance behavior, rather than problem-solving and experimentation.

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Lean Training: An Efficient Solution

Posted by | May 19, 2014 | , , , | 3

The problem for most organizations developing lean management is two fold: first, how to change the culture in a significant way, in a reasonable period of time; and second, how to provide the needed training to a large number of people in a consistent and quality manner. Team Kata is an effort to solve both of those problems.

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