My Lean thinking has gradually evolved since my journey began in 2000. I have a real passion for learning and sharing my journey with others. I like to reflect deeply on key learnings to improve my understanding.
Here are some of the lessons I learned:
1. Practice makes permanent. – Tomo Sugiyama
Practice makes perfect. Well, not really. Practice makes you better at something, but perfection is not always attainable. It is better to focus, instead, on the permanence of practice. First, when we practice something regularly it makes a permanent habit. Permanence is about forming habits. Second, a regular practice habit permanently changes the neurological circuits in our brain.
“Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Repeat the same mistakes over and over, and you don't get any closer to Carnegie Hall.” Sarah Kay, No Matter the Wreckage
2. 99% of objection is cautionary. – Shigeo Shingo
When people express objections to an idea, they are often saying they don’t agree yet. They need more information. In other words, if we are to accept a new idea we need to be convinced. It’s a personal thing. Kaizen, as Shingo noted, is more about individual will to improve, and that derives from a “constructive dissatisfaction with the status quo.”
3. Understanding does not necessarily mean taking action. – Shigeo Shingo
People can understand a theory or concept when it is explained to them, but understanding does not in itself guarantee that people will act on it. People take action only after they are persuaded, and persuasion is achieved not by reason, but through emotions.
4. Management must do Kaizen too. – Hajime Oba
Kaizen involves everyone in continuous improvement to find a better way of doing things. Top management has the most important role in implementing kaizen and that is commitment. When management demonstrates a long-term commitment to continuous improvement employees personally develop a kaizen mindset. Managers and executives should be encouraged to find ways to improve their processes as well.
5. Philosophy first, then strategy – Taiichi Ohno
One of great mysteries of the Toyota Production System was discovering that Toyota made people first and then built cars that people wanted. Techniques, tools, and technologies help a lot to implement Lean, but they are not sufficient by themselves. If you want to be successful in the long term, within you organization, you need to have an army of people who believe and live the Lean philosophy.
6. Always have the intention to do Kaizen – Chihiro Nakao
Kaizen is a competitive strategy in which all employees work together to create a strong culture of constant improvement. The core philosophy behind Kaizen is simple: you can always make or do things better, even if they seem to work well in a particular moment.
7. A bad system will beat a good person every time – W. Edwards Deming
If we want to build great companies, we need to create an environment where the people will not be defeated by the system. Everyone has the ability to be great. We need to focus on the system so the people can thrive. It’s our job as leaders to provide the environment where greatness can happen.
8. Kaizen eyes see 1000 things needing improvement – Chihiro Nakao
Kaizen is learning to see. While casual observers simply sit back and watch what unfolds, kaizen observers come up with hypotheses that they can test. The next time you are in your work area, rather than simply watching, bring a bad and pencil, and sketch out what is happening. By sketching, you force your eye to see the details that you might have missed. You force yourself to actually see, and might be surprised when that is different from what you assumed was happening
9. Who is the smartest person in the room? – Alan Watkins
All of us. The collective intelligence of everyone easily surpasses that of any single person. We work in teams, whether that group is our family, our co-workers, or our community. If we want to accomplish anything significant, we can’t do it alone. Therefore, it is important to learn how to work well with others.
10. All of life is education – Abraham Maslow
A constant quest for learning provides the means to always be moving forward, to conquer new frontiers and achieve new and exciting goals. Make a point to learn something new every day. Learning new things brings more exciting experiences your way. It allows you to meet other people who can bring further knowledge or learning opportunities.
The road to success is never easy; however, it is attainable if we follow the right approach and have the right mindset. Adopting the Lean methodology is a proven technique to help you achieve and sustain this great success!
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