Honda Archives

The Lean System of Motivation

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Feb 23, 2014 | Corporate Culture, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System | 9

One aspect of lean that has not been given enough attention, in my opinion, is how lean is an organization wide system of motivation that creates a high performance culture. Too many lean implementations suffer from a focus on problem solving skills, but a failure to attend to the system or culture of motivation. Too many rely on the “they oughtta wanna” assumption which usually results in disappointment.

A highly motivated work force is not an accident. It is not the result of being in one part of the country or another, have having a union or non-union. It is the result of systematic efforts on the part of management to design and improve a system of motivation. The most effective systems optimize both an ennobling purpose, the social bonds of strong teamwork, and the availability of individual incentives. They all contribute unique elements to a holistic system of motivation.

The Lean Culture Challenge: Can You Graduate from the 5S’s to The 7S’s that Really Matter?

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Jan 8, 2013 | Corporate Culture, Lean Culture, Lean Health Care, Lean Management, Lean Manufacturing, Organization Design and Process Improvement | 5

Doing 5S is easy because it requires nothing of executives and very little if any change in the behavior of managers. It does not disrupt their world. And, that is exactly why it does not address the big issues that drive the culture and competitiveness of any organization. Real competitive advantage is derived from internal strategy, building the capabilities of the organization, and that requires managing the Big Seven S’s of organization culture.

Lean and Meta Principles: The Unity Principle

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Dec 6, 2012 | Corporate Culture, Leadership, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Lean Manufacturing, Managing Change, Organization Design and Process Improvement, Organizational Behavior Management | 3

Some companies have engaged in what they think are “lean implementations” by reducing lean to component parts and experimenting with one component over there, another over here, and a third somewhere else. That is guaranteed to fail. The very idea of reducing lean to its component parts fails to “get it.” I believe that the first principle of meta-lean is what I called in a previous book, The Unity Principle. Honda took this principle to heart and sought to apply it in their U.S. operations.

The Practice of a Lean Management Systems: Achieving Economic Efficiency and Social Intimacy

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Aug 19, 2012 | Corporate Culture, Leadership, Lean Culture, Lean Health Care, Lean Management, Lean Manufacturing, Organizational Behavior Management | 1

Lean Management Systems: The New Modern Management Lean management systems are becoming the twenty-first century standard. Many years ago one of the first books I read on management was Peter Drucker’s The Practice of...

Goldman Sachs and the Money vs. Morality Debate

Posted by Lawrence M. Miller | Mar 14, 2012 | Corporate Culture, Corporate ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Leadership, Lean Culture, Lean Management, Social Capital, The New Capitalism | 12

Yesterday, a young executive at Goldman Sachs, Greg Smith, resigned in a very public way. He wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled “Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs.” In essence he accused the leadership of Goldman Sachs of...

Tag: Honda

The Lean System of Motivation

The Lean Culture Challenge: Can You Graduate from the 5S’s to The 7S’s that Really Matter?

Lean and Meta Principles: The Unity Principle

The Practice of a Lean Management Systems: Achieving Economic Efficiency and Social Intimacy

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