Sunday 18 January 2015

How to change at the top?

The picture to the left has been doing the rounds on LinkedIn for a little while now, but how relevant is it to any organisation trying to be successful with Lean transformation?
Note that there is only a two letter difference between the two quoted sentences but why such a difference in response?
Many of the organisations I have come across, that are fervently chasing the Lean dream have unfortunately and unwittingly put themselves in the top illustration.
This organisation knows that things are not well, and that things have to change if the situation is to improve, they would be an organisation that is, at the least, struggling or at worst in their final death throws. Who in their right mind wouldn't want things to be different given this circumstance?.
The unfortunate thing though, is that without the people within the organisation changing the way they think, act and behave, Lean will never take hold. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result" which means that, by all accounts, many of today's organisations are being managed and lead, by mad people (I think we can all identify at least one.). Now something else to note is that when I say "the people" need to change, what I mean is, all the people, EVERYONE, not just frontline staff, not just supervision, not just management and not just the c suite, EVERYONE! There has to be a paradigm shift in the culture of the organisation. Achieving this is a very tall order, it takes immense effort ( a few quick wins or the removal of some "low hanging fruit", just won't cut it), time and persistence, both personally and professionally, at all levels of the organisation. This is then, a much more daunting proposition than the first which would always lead to the lack of optimism demonstrated in the lower illustration. However the rewards over the long term are immense.

There is no Comfort Zone in a Lean organisation 

According to Maslow' hierarchy of human needs second only to one's physiological needs, people seek safety. In a world that is ever changing (continuous improvement) it can be extremely difficult to achieve this most basic of human requirements and it requires a different type of Leadership to the traditional transactional style utilised in most organisations, This is why the largest part of any Lean transformation attempt is the demonstration of Respect for people. If respect is demonstrated in the correct way, with no blame being apportioned and problem raising being welcomed with open arms, then those working within the organisation begin to feel safe and secure with change and with challenging the norm. They become engaged and they develop a drive to support and innovate and even create a culture of perpetual improvement.

My questions for the C suite this week are:

  1. How have your past actions and behaviours created an air of uncertainty and insecurity in your people?
  2. In what ways must you alter your behaviours to ensure that your people feel safe and secure in their roles going forwards.
  3. What actions can you take to demonstrate these behaviours? 



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