Comments for Lean CEO

Comment on Top 10 Signs Your CEO Doesn’t Get Lean by Lean Manufacturing Blog | News and Reviews on Lean Manufacturing Supplies and Suppliers

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:58:46 +0000

[...] LeanCEO.com, Mike Micklewright explores the Top 10 often hilarious misconceptions that CEOs and other upper management types can sometimes have regarding lean’s role in their [...]

Comment on The Middle Manager Problem by Be Ware

Be Ware — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:57:51 +0000

I’m glad you succinctly put the onus where it should be, on senior management first and foremost. It moves through, or bubbles up, from the rest of the organization from there.

In my opinion this is the single biggest factor making the difference between a company (and leadership team) that gets true lean transformation, and those that only pretend to.

Comment on Are You Humble Enough to be a Lean CEO? by Bill Lysne

Bill Lysne — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:35:44 +0000

The leader sometimes forgets the importance of being a team player instead of being always “ego know it all”. Let each player on your team have the chance to be a leader. Listen to their ideas and implement something from each person suggestion. Maybe tweek their idea but make them feel a part of the project. Soon you will see your team continue being Lean.

Comment on Are You Humble Enough to be a Lean CEO? by Evan Leybourn

Evan Leybourn — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 04:23:50 +0000

I thought this was a very interesting article. If I may add my $0.02.

A few years ago, I put together a corporate scorecard system for a client. Each KPI was scored by section, then aggregated by branch, then group, then division. The outcome was a consolidated score on the performance of the CEO, that was neither as low as the lowest performing team or as high as the highest performing team. In this context, the CEO was humble enough to say; “I am only as good as my teams”.

I put it like this in my book; “While it might be bad for the ego, leaders need to understand that they don’t deliver anything, their teams do.”

Comment on Are You Humble Enough to be a Lean CEO? by Karen Wilhelm

Karen Wilhelm — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:30:24 +0000

Interesting thoughts, Mike. I can think back on so many times that I acted to compete with someone rather than do what was best, just caught up in the traditional organizational culture. Maybe we should use “ego culture” to describe what we’d like leaders to grow out of.

Comment on Are You Humble Enough to be a Lean CEO? by Steven

Steven — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:40:15 +0000

This article is spot on and I really enjoyed reading it. I’m not a CEO nor even close to that level being just a financial/ops person struggling in a company that doesn’t embrace lean. I believe in humility and less on ego and of course I am about learning from others and willing to say “I don’t know the answer, so I will find someone who does and we can learn together.” I work in a “push” environment now whereas in the past I experienced some of that “pull” environement.
Looking at this article and my personality I’ve could have gone the “ego” “push” route, but chose the “humility” route. I run a youth basketball program (help with baseball too) and I always tell people that I don’t know everything but my goal is to help the children learn and in that they “want” to learn. But I get one or two parents with “egos” and it only hurts the program.
I’ve spent years adapting from learning new skills to help fill a void in a job; to learning and accepting the ways of lean in more of the “thinking aspect”. It was an eye opener when I first learned lean accounting, then about the Toyota 14 principles & PDCA. I think I credit a lot to my personality this “learning”. A3 is a tool I want to work more with since I’m visual and a storyteller. I always feel myself as a “novice” even thought I’ve been around it for 10+ years.

Thanks again for an awesome article!!

Steven K.

Comment on Just Observing by Ron Jacques

Ron Jacques — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:49:13 +0000

Kevin:
In all of my 25+ years of performing continuous improvement, “just observing” has made a huge impact not only in the improvement work but even on interviews when doing a gemba walk with an executive and asking them questions as to “why” they do something that just does not seem right. Often, these comments manifest themselves in improvements that the executive mentiones months later. I have even been asked to do Lean audits as part of a job interview. I don’t think that they really needed an audit as much as they wanted to see my observation skills.

To me it is the single most important talent an continuous improvement professional can possess. It takes training, discipline and insight to “see”. Surprisingly, not very many people know how to do this or care enough to want to do it. I think that it sets me apart.

Comment on Just Observing by Greg McDonald

Greg McDonald — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 15:12:53 +0000

This article about The Four Seasons and ‘just observing’ and its potential to be applied in a factory situation is absolutely spot on! I do it as much as I can. I’m a great believer in it and notice managers rarely do it because they’re too drawn in to their daily routine & tasks. I think our shop-floor employees think I am looking to catch them out or trying to spot waste in their process, which of course I am doing all the time, whether ‘just observing’ or walking through the shop floor. But I invariably find something to correct or improve when I am ‘just observing’.

Comment on Top 10 Signs Your CEO Doesn’t Get Lean by Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:55:25 +0000

It’s really sad to realize our CEO, CFO and our VP of Operations have no clue (well…I knew that). The company is heading in the exact opposite direction, with the normal end of the quarter rush, standard costing that tries to capture every little detail of what we do, an army of accountants and financial planning people…waste everywhere, and an accute lack of teamwork. Very frustrating!

Comment on Disruptive Management by Eric Kulikowski

Eric Kulikowski — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 20:37:10 +0000

Spot on with your article and conclusions Bill. The products that are produced and marketed are mere proof that the management philosophies and company culture are pointed in the right direction. For management to occassionally take a look in the mirror, that would be a positive step. Thanks for sharing. Simply amazing!