Who is the Lean Staff's Customer?

© Mike Rother THE LEAN ARMY
Who IS THE
LEAN STAFF’S CUSTOMER?
FOR
DISCUSSION
Mike
Rother

July
2013

Copyright
©
2013

© Mike Rother THE LEAN ARMY 2

Focusing
on
managers
may
be
a
prerequisite
for
ge;ng

con<nuous
improvement,
adapta<on
and
even
innova<on

integrated
into
the
opera<on
of
organiza<ons.

If
the
Lean
Army
doesn't
make
this
shiG
then
either

(1)
organiza<ons
may
con<nue
having
diﬃculty
seeing
that

improvement
is
a
manager's
role,
or
(2)
some
group
other

than
the
Lean
community
may
bring
it
in.

Will
the
Lean
Army
move
beyond
the
“Lean”
space

and
into
general
management?


Over
the
past
15
years,
organizaGons
worldwide
have
built
an
army

of
internal
Lean
staﬀ
persons
to
support
Lean
transformaGon.
This

Lean
army
has
extensive
knowledge
of
Lean
pracGces
and
can
apply

them
to
all
sorts
of
work
processes
and
value
streams.

However,
there’s
also
a
growing
consensus
that
the
Lean

eﬀort
isn’t
working
as
planned.
In
short,
Lean
has
tended

to
remain
a
task-‐force
acGvity
rather
than
being
integrated

into
how
organizaGons
manage
themselves
day-‐to-‐day.

Background


This
may
be
a
good
Gme
for
some
PDCA;
to
reflect

and
adjust.

With
that
in
mind,
this
SlideShare
raises

the
quesGons…

What
role
should
the
Lean
staff
play?

Whom
should
the
Lean
army
be
serving?

It’s
a
good
Gme
for
the
Lean
Community

to
reflect


Lean
Staﬀ
Value-‐Stream

Manager

One
view
is
that
the
Lean
army’s
customer

is
Value-‐Stream
Managers

VS
Map

Unfortunately,
this
would
help
create
a
Lean
organizaGon
only

if
Lean
were
purely
a
technical
implementaGon
issue.
Today
we

know
that
Lean
is
as
much
an
issue
of
mindset
and
culture

change,
which
requires
daily
pracGce
across
the
organizaGon.

A
value-‐stream
manager
can
lead
the
design
of
a
future-‐state

value
stream
and
help
ensure
that
improvement
eﬀorts
align
to

that
challenge,
but
a
value-‐stream
manager
(if
that
posiGon

even
exists)
can’t
coach
and
guide
daily
pracGce
throughout
a

value
stream.

Change
will
not
happen.

Lean
Staff

6

Process

Supervisor

and
Team

External

Customer

Another
view
is
that
the
Lean
army's
customer

is
the
Work
Processes

Here
too,
it’s
a
similar
problem.
The
Lean
staff
cannot
be
at

every
process
every
day.
Furthermore,
the
work
processes

report
to
the
organizaGon’s
managers,
not
the
Lean
staff.

Change
will
not
happen.


Yet
another
view
is
that
we
should
get
Senior

Managers
to
do
more
to
lead
the
Lean
charge

Of
course
senior
leaders
should
iniGate
adopGon
of
Lean,

provide
strategic
direcGon
and
model
the
behaviors.

However,
this
viewpoint
is
a
kind
of
“let’s
not
change
anything”

stance,
i.e.,
the
Lean
army
can
keep
doing
what
it's
doing

and
senior
managers
need
to
get
behind
it
more.

The
idea
seems
to
be
to
use
senior
managers
to
force
change

among
managers
who
should
be
doing
Lean
but
aren't.


Here’s
another
viewpoint:

Maybe
managers
are
thinking
of
Lean
as
an

episodic
side
acGvity
that
isn’t
their
job
because

it's
not
seen
by
them
as
something
that
helps

them
reach
their
goals.

If
we
take
this
viewpoint,
then
an
adjustment
for

the
Lean
army
is
to
reposiGon
itself
as
a
service

and
support
funcGon
to
middle
managers;

to

help
those
managers
be
successful!

ANOTHER
WAY
TO
LOOK
AT
IT


Proposal
for
discussion:

THE
LEAN
ARMY
SHOULD

SERVE
MIDDLE
MANAGERS

Building
on
achievements
of
the
last
15
years,
Lean
staﬀ

departments
should
posiGon
themselves
to
more
directly

help
middle
managers
achieve
goals
and
be
successful.

This
has
a
beier
chance
of
integraGng
Lean
into
the
fabric
of

an
organizaGon,
because
middle
managers
may
have
more

inﬂuence
on
an
organizaGon's
capability
than
any
other
group.

Since
managers
are
teachers
every
day,
they
are
the
primary

actors
who
create
and
perpetuate
an
organizaGon's
culture.

Managers
are
also
the
link
between
the
strategic
policy
level
of

senior
leaders
and
execuGon
in
the
rest
of
the
organizaGon.

Managers
drive
what
and
how
the
operaGonal
level
executes.

10

STRUCTURED
PRACTICE
TO
DEVELOP
NEW
HABITS

The
Improvement
Kata
paiern
is
a
fundamental
way
of
working

at
Toyota
and
there
are
several
acGviGes
where
this
paiern
gets

uGlized
and
reinforced.

These
include
daily
management,
daily

problem
solving,
quality
circles,
improvement
events,
standard

work,
‘Toyota
Business
PracGces’
and
A3s.

However,
the
Improvement
Kata
paiern
is
actually
lodged
in

Toyota's
people;
speciﬁcally
in
its
seasoned
coaches
who
guide

learners
in
repeaGng
this
way
of
thinking
and
acGng.

Just
copying

those
visible
Toyota
acGviGes
–
such
as
A3s
–
without
bringing

along
the
underlying
coaching
is
unlikely
to
change
much.

Mindset
change
and
skill
development
come
from
correct
pracGce

of
a
paiern,
not
just
from
parGcipaGng
in
Toyota-‐style
acGviGes.

Teams
and
organizaGons
outside
Toyota
will
require
more

structured
rouGnes
for
beginners
to
pracGce,
and
for
turning
their

middle
managers
into
coaches.


MANAGERS
TEACH
LEAN
HABITS,
OR
NOT


THE
NATURE
OF
WORK
MAY
BE
CHANGING

Many
management
pracGces
of
the
20th
Century
evolved

to
ensure
that
repeGGve
tasks
got
done
eﬃciently
and

equipment
uGlizaGon
was
maximized.

Not
much
creaGvity
is
needed
in
the
organizaGon
in
that
case,

and
our
workplaces
are
full
of
managers
who
have
been

trained
and
are
pracGced
in
a
command-‐and-‐control
model.

Today
many
companies
are
valuing
skills,
mindset
and

organizaGonal
culture
that's
characterized
by
goal-‐oriented

creaBvity
-‐-‐
just
like
the
capability
that's
developed
by

pracGcing
the
Improvement
Kata
-‐-‐
as
they
deal
with

disrupGve
technologies
and
fast-‐moving
compeGGon.


THE
ROLE
OF
MANAGERS
MAY
BE
CHANGING

And
they
can
use
our
help

There
was
a
Gme
when
a
managerʼs

job
was
to
organize
the
work,
assign

the
right
people
to
the
necessary

tasks,
monitor
the
results
and

ensure
the
job
got
done
as
ordered.

A
main
focus
was
task
eﬃciency.

Todayʼs
more
complex
and
dynamic

environment
means
managers
have

to
work
with
their
people
not
just
to

maximize
task
eﬃciency,
but
to

develop
and
apply
skills
for
achieving

new
goals
and
meeGng
challenges

along
unpredictable
paths.


QUESTIONS
FOR
THE
LEAN
ARMY

What
does
it
mean
to
think
of
middle

managers
as
our
customers?

What
is
their
perspecGve?

What
are
their
needs
and
responsibiliGes?

What
is
important
to
them?

What
should
be
the
focus
of
coaching
that

middle
managers
get
from
lean
staﬀ?

Following
are
some
thought
starters…


Let's
start
changing
our
mental
picture

about
the
role
of
Lean
staff
departments

The
Lean
staff’s
role
is
not
to
do
Lean,
but
to
support
the

manager
in
doing
Lean
as
appropriate
for
achieving
the

manager's
and
the
organizaGon's
goals.
Start
thinking
of
the

primary
role
of
Lean
staff
as
guiding
and
coaching
managers.

"We
rise
by
li+ing
others”

~
Robert
Ingersoll

FIRST

An
important
element
of
how
organizaGons
deliver
value

is
through
managers
achieving
the
necessary
performance

in
their
operaGonal
teams.
Excellent
results
are
a
result
of

excellent
management.


Lean
shouldn’t
be
a
separate
acGvity

Vice

President

COACH

to
D

COACH

to
C

COACH

to
B

COACH

to
A

LEARNER

to
E

LEARNER

to
D

LEARNER

to
C

Value-‐Stream

Manager

Department

Manager

Process

Supervisor

Process

Operator

LEARNER

to
B

ConGnuous
improvement
is
a
manager's
job.
Each
manager

is
responsible
for
gepng
the
process
to
the
next
required

level
of
performance,
and
there
is
a
business
imperaGve

underlying
the
eﬀort.*

*Text
paraphrased
from
a
blog
post

by
Mark
Rosenthal
(The
Lean
Thinker)


In
addiGon
to
its
Lean
experGse,
the
Lean
army

should
acquire
coaching-‐level
proficiency

in
an
Improvement
Kata
and
Coaching
Kata

In
order
to
effecGvely
coach
middle
managers
the
Lean
army

needs
more
than
technical
Lean
experGse.

We
also
need
to
be

able
to
coach
managers
on
how
to
guide
their
teams
through
a

systemaGc,
scienGfic
process
for
achieving
challenging
goals,

which
in
turn
makes
the
manager
successful.

SECOND


It's
Coaching
the
Coach

Once
a
Lean
Staﬀ
Person
develops
enough
skill
themselves
with

the
Improvement
Kata
and
Coaching
Kata,
they
observe
coaching

cycles
between
a
manager
and
learner
and
help
the
manager

develop
their
coaching
skill.
This
role
is
called
the
“Second
Coach.”


Let’s
adjust
our
terminology
to
beier
align

with
the
language
of
managers.

Some
examples:

"Developing

People"

This
doesn’t
excite
managers

because
there’s
no

connec<on
to
tangible

results.
Since
employees

easily
move
to
other

companies
it
also
means
we

may
be
training
and

beneﬁ;ng
our
compe<tors.

Don’t
Say
This
Why

"Make
teams
bePer

at
achieving
goals

and
meeBng

challenges"

Say
This
Instead

"PDCA”

"ExperimenBng”

"Be
more

accepBng
of

failures"

These
phrases
sound
bad

to
managers
because
it

seems
like
their
teams

will
never
reach
the
goal.

"Iterate
rapidly

toward
a

measureable
goal

with
an
achieve-‐by

date"

THIRD


This
is
a
change
in
semanGcs,
not
intent,

that
can
help
to
evolve
the
Lean
Army's
thinking

The
idea
is
to
adjust
how
we
express
and
label
the
thinking

to
be]er
suit
the
mindset
and
experience
of
our
customer.

We're
s<ll
talking
about
developing
the
capabili<es
of

people
(through
coaching
at
all
levels)
but
doing
so
by

saying
that
using
a
good
process
of
coaching
has
the

inten<on
of
making
a
team
be]er
at
something
the

manager
cares
about:

Achieving
goals.


CONCLUSION

The
Lean
staﬀ
should
operate
on

and
through
middle
managers,

not
apply
Lean
to
processes

separately
from
them.


Managers

Staff
leads
Lean
ac<vi<es

through
applying
Lean

tools
and
techniques
in

periodic
workshops,

projects
and
training.

Managers
verbally

support
Lean,
but
keep

managing
as
usual.

Staff
develops
and
supports
middle

managers
through
coaching:

-‐

Teach
middle
managers
the

Improvement
Kata
and
Coaching

Kata
pa]erns
through
prac<ce.

-‐

Provide
Lean
tools
exper<se
as

needed
to
reach
manager’s
goals.

Current
Roles
Target
Roles

Proposed
emphasis

Managers
coach
their
teams
daily
in

prac<cing
an
Improvement
Kata
and

using
Lean
techniques
to
achieve

goals
and
meet
challenges.

Current
emphasis

in
Lean

The
Lean

Staff

A
SHIFT
IN
FOCUS


Shiqing
focus
to
coaching
managers

is
a
great
opportunity
and
role

for
the
well-‐trained
Lean
army
to
play!

We
in
the
Lean
army
tell
our
students
that
PDCA
and

Change
are
diﬃcult
but
necessary.

It
will
be
interesGng
to

see
how
we
apply
that
kind
of
PDCA
to
our
own
eﬀorts.

Imagine
the
potenGal
for
Lean
transformaGon
if
the

Lean
army
reposiGons
to
coach
middle
managers.

Who is the Lean Staff's Customer?

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