“You must turn it over to the people who do the work. Train them
and then let them run. The lean leader’s job is less command-and-control.
Set policy deployment, the targets, and turn it loose. Provide
the resources and — another big part of the job — take away the
obstructions and obstructive people.
The antithesis is when leadership is focused on posturing and
gaining status, engaging in “smart speak,” with executives talking to
one another and never really getting their hands dirty.”
“I believe it takes 30 kaizens to understand, 60 to lead, and 120
to strategically integrate the process from front to back.”
“Being lean is not a competitive advantage. It’s not an end state.
The competitive advantage is lean momentum: Are you moving
faster than your competitor and faster than the market. That’s the
competitive advantage.”