In The Powerful Combination of Leadership & Lean Thinking part 2 I outlined the principles of Leanership™ Now is the time to go into more detail
Always Start with the Customer
In order to always start with the customer, by definition you need to identify who the customer is. At a whole systems level this must be considered from both an internal and an external perspective.
During a week of holiday by the sea I’ve been reflecting on what it takes to get individuals and organisations out of their old habits and into a better place.
My brother is considering changing his job and has a great opportunity to do something really rewarding and stretching. He was at the stage where he risked convincing himself that the Status Quo was the better option until, over the course of a bottle of single malt, we fully explored the benefits of change.
Whatever change we might consider there are plenty of roadblocks and diversions. Whether it be giving up smoking, tackling underperforming teams, or transforming a whole organisation.
Here are my thoughts for the steps:
I’ve been reading a book that has been around for some time but I hadn’t got round to reading. ‘Maverick’ by Ricardo Semler describes Semler’s journey from taking over his father’s business in 1980 to turning it into the successful business it is today. The journey has not been an easy one but his determination to run his business in a way that has been way ahead of its time is a refreshing read.
In the world of leadership development, the ideas on how he leads and manages his business are not new. What is unusual and refreshing is the commitment to and tangible evidence of success in a manufacturing business based in South America.