It is management’s role to continuously assess the current condition of the Lean implementation and provide appropriate support and motivation to raise the bar. Failure to keep a watchful eye on True North has caused many a Lean effort to fail. Perhaps management has invested in classroom training, but no time for action (and therefore no tacit learning.) In other instances, the effort may be treated as a “crash program” which will indeed end with a crash and gradual return to the status quo aka “business as usual”. In many cases however, companies do achieve early benefits but are challenged to sustain and accelerate their improvements. Assessments can be used on an on-going basis to challenge and re-invigorate your efforts.
 
There are 16 categories for evaluation through direct observation. Each describes a key business function as a work in progress, advancing from traditional practice to Lean thinking. Don’t be discouraged if your initial scores are low. That would be normal.
 
Ultimately every aspect of a business requires reconsideration. The current condition was not built up over night. It represents decades or more of practice and development. Kaizen is the means to re-align resources to TPS philosophy. For employees it represents small changes for the better in their daily work. For management, kaizen is the means to re-think strategy, organization and policy, and to implement incremental changes to the management system.

Here's a brief description of each of the 16 categories:

12. 5S - Is the workplace cluttered or well-organized? Is 5S considered an on-going process? Are all employees engaged?
13. Visual Management & Control -  Are operating conditions clear at a glance? Does management receive and respond to visual communications? Is it frequent and reflective of changing conditions?
14. Information Flow - Are problems hidden from management or “made ugly”? Is management on the floor regularly to “go see”?
15. Favorable Environment - Does the environment encourage employee participation with teams or suggestions? Is there enthusiasm for improvement?
16. Management System - What is the current condition of policies and measures? Is it “status quo”, and contradictory to True North? ​

​For the full description of each of the 16 categories to measure on your journey from “status quo” to “world class”, get your digital copy of the “e2 Continuous Improvement System” here. Includes an example Assessment Matrix and suggestions on how to score each category. 

They are mostly transparent to everyone in the organization – both management and employees – and are taken for granted as givens. The irony is that this strategy and organization has been built to last in order to provide stability and standardization – and it is this very durability that suppresses the potential of Lean. The “status quo” management system by which traditional businesses operate is durable, but most definitely not a given, and it will be management’s responsibility to kaizen this system to create a new business model. Without this critical systemic improvement, any Lean initiative will soon be eclipsed by old ways. Be forewarned, nearly every policy must be reconsidered.

Are you Rowing Upstream? Imagine that you are the change leader for your company given the assignment to transform the thinking and practices of an entire enterprise to Lean. You need to “get everyone into the same boat” and then get everyone to row together – not an easy task.

But suppose that you then discover that the direction you need to row is upstream. Now the task is nearly impossible.

The direction that the river is flowing in this case is a function of management strategy, organization and policy, all built up over years to support a production system that in many ways is fundamentally the opposite of continuous improvement. Without examination and revision of the management system, Lean will never succeed.

What then is Management to do? Kaizen! Specifically, “Management Kaizen, are six essential functions of the management process that reverse the flow of the river to support and accelerate a Lean transformation rather than thwart it.  

1. Volition – Unwavering management commitment to and articulation of the need for Lean in a manner that touches both the intellect and passion of every employee, “their hearts and their minds”.  
2. Policy – How do we do what we do? What are the rules and guidelines? Are these True North, or do they oppose our new direction?
3. Planning & Deployment – Developing, managing and communicating a plan to re-direct the enterprise in a True North direction, balancing improvement time and daily management time. Critical review and revision of virtually every corporate policy and measure to encourage and reinforce the right behaviors both by management and employees.
4. Control and Monitoring – Creation of measurements that accurately align daily management practice and performance with organizational strategy.
5. Satisfaction – Fostering the organization and people development through on-going recognition and celebration of the Lean journey.
6. Ideas Systems – Developing a robust system to stimulate, capture, implement, recognize and share improvement ideas.

Management’s role in transforming the management system is analogous to every employee’s role in Lean: many small improvements that come from the common sense and experience of the people who do the work – in this case the work of top management and managers.

Did you like this article? Read more about the “e2 Continuous Improvement System” here, and learn more about Engaging Hearts & Minds here. And please feel free to share your comments. I love to read them. – Bruce