In a recent blog post, "Dr. Emiliani’s No’s for Lean," I challenged people to solve the problem, in the words of Gregg Miner (Vice President Enterprise Excellence at Trane Technologies), of "how to make 100% of CEOs Lean zealots." This is next problem now that the prior problem, why CEO resist or … [Read more...] about Lean Must Learn From Black Lives Matter
What If….?
Some three decades ago when Lean came to the fore, various assumptions were made about business and leadership. What if those assumptions were wrong? For example, what if business is not all about money-making? What if the true nature of executive leadership was misunderstood? If the assumptions … [Read more...] about What If….?
The Case Against Lean
Everyone in the Lean community knows the case for Lean management. Most of my books and research papers strongly support the case for Lean, based on the facts. But, as Art Byrne says: "about 95 percent of all lean conversions fail." Why is that? And why aren't most CEOs interested in Lean? It's … [Read more...] about The Case Against Lean
Management IQ
Anyone who has studied the history of management practice since the late 1800s eventually comes to realize that despite all the effort to advance the practice of management, surprisingly little has come of it. Even if you have no knowledge of the history of management but have worked in … [Read more...] about Management IQ
Lean is an Intangible Asset
For the last 30 years, our eyes have told us this truth: There is a strong consensus of opinion among CEOs that if any of Lean is to be adopted, it is solely its tools. CEOs have expressed little interest in adopting Lean as a comprehensive system of management to replace Classical Management. This … [Read more...] about Lean is an Intangible Asset
Why Do CEOs Hate Operations?
Prior to around 1980, the leaders of large corporations had a strong affection for manufacturing operations -- the part of the business that makes money for the company by producing the goods that people want and pay for. Operations was widely seen as a noble part of the company that employees were … [Read more...] about Why Do CEOs Hate Operations?
Lean People Never Understood CEOs
Gaining the attention and commitment of CEOs for Lean management requires that we understand them. We think we do. In fact, we have long thought that we do. But in truth, Lean promoters, advocates, and practitioners never have. Even accomplished Lean CEOs don't understand their peer CEOs. The many … [Read more...] about Lean People Never Understood CEOs
How Leaders Sabotage Lean
Let's take the word "leader" to mean anyone in an organization who has management responsibility, beginning with supervisors and extending to CEOs. Most leaders have good intentions when it comes to doing their job, satisfying customers, and helping the organization prosper. Yet, even leaders … [Read more...] about How Leaders Sabotage Lean
The Business Philosophy Triangle
As you may know, one of my great interests over the last 20 years has been to understand problems such as these, especially as it pertains to large companies: Why are executives disinterested in Lean? Why do executives resist Lean? Why does Lean fail to take root in organizations? These … [Read more...] about The Business Philosophy Triangle