Recently, I was asked to visit a manufacturing facility in the Midwest. This was a follow up review as I had engaged this plant in the 4th quarter of 2018. Like many facilities, they were struggling with legacy systems, poor processes, and products with “engineered in” quality problems. Early in their lean journey, the factory was making tremendous progress. Adopting the fundamentals of lean, waste was being eliminated. Productivity was improving with each kaizen yielding an average improvement of 30%. First pass yields were expanding, and scrap was down 20% after 6 months of focused effort. During the question and answer session, I was asked, “We are early in our process. How should the facility and the people be experiencing this lean journey?” My view on this question has been unwavering. After connecting with so many leaders, in many factories around the world, my perspective remains the same today, as it was 30 years ago. The conscious and intentional expression of lean techniques in the workplace is a spiritual process of intentional thoughtfulness, collaboration, and continuous improvement, in full view for all to see. It is experiencing an inner sense of accomplishment. It is the result of being in harmony and alignment with the vision for your company and the principles of lean. There is an unexpected appreciation for the energy and creativity that is unleashed when ordinary people team up, and work together to create extraordinary results. By embracing lean, there is an urgent recognition that no process, system, or person can be taken for granted. Lean methodology implies that waste in all forms must be attacked. The lean experience is established in the rigorous examination of all processes with the idea to engage them with thoughtfulness, while bed-rocked in a scientific approach to problem solving and improvement.
After the successful deployment of lean you feel a sense of gratitude. This underlying culture of gratitude begins to flow across all levels and functions in the business. People like to be successful. This gratitude is an expression of acknowledging the oneness of the universal spirit of working in cooperation with your colleagues. It is the recognition that management is actually assisting the workers in doing their jobs. It is the absence of management versus workers. It is the absence of feeling alienated or separate. It represents management’s full affirmation that the workers are capable of creating significant innovation and value. The nature of this gratitude is evidenced, as management and workers feel good about their collective contribution. A workplace that is filled with gratitude is connected and engaged. It acknowledges that you are the recipient of the cohesive efforts of your colleagues to improve not only your job, but also your work life experience. We begin to experience and understand how connected and interdependent everything is. We “learn by doing,” how we can take control of our workplace, and manifest our individual and shared destinies. We begin to realize the dynamic nature of lean in the workplace, which if reproduced across the company, would transform its future for all constituents and stakeholders. Lean is now meaningful, powerful, and desired. This then, is the true promise of your lean experience.