Nowadays, when I think about what a successful Lean implementation looks like I havethe face of one person for my eyes. For me this is what success looks like, so, please meet Kurt.
He is a very valued member in one of the plants where we started to introduce Toyota Kata. He has over 30 years of experience in his field and such an intimate knowledge of the workings of the plant and of the customers that no one ever disputes his judgement. Simply put, what he says about his subject matter, stays.
Also, when I first met him, he had an air of continuous frustration about him. He rarely interacted with others, appeared only for a short time at meetings, to explain everybody else, what the problems were, what needed to be done and then disappeared in his department. Obviously, he felt forced to jump in and correct all the mistakes (in his view) that people were committing, but gave up on trying to explain every time, to everyone, what was wrong. There was a time when I started on the path of becoming like him, so I sympathized with him fully.
This is not to say that I was happy to see him in the company. The first day of our Lean implementation in the plant the plant manager told us to avoid him and his department if we wanted to be successful at all. Kurt was very much respected, but nobody liked him and most found it best to avoid him completely unless forced not to. He was seen too much set in his ways and opinions for us to have any chance of making him support our initiative – and obviously, he could have been a formidable opponent if he chose to resist us. So, this is what we did, reduced the interactions with him to a minimum and focused on departments with more and better prospects.
The problem was that this did not really work. Kurt’s position in the plant was too central to make avoiding him a useful strategy. So, we had to involve him, and we even initiated an improvement project where he had a crucial role. He came to our office, to discuss his involvement and to better understand “this Lean thing”. He asked a number of questions, all of which were typical for someone who expects, that this latest folly is just that: a new stupid idea touted by consultants who have zero understanding of the business. We managed to answer all his questions in a way he did not expect – no coercion anywhere, focusing on reaching the target condition and respecting his expertise. He left, if not satisfied, at least willing to give the idea a try.
A quote from Dr. Seuss which we have in our PDCA training explains what happened next: “It’s in the Doing of the Work that we Discover the Work That We Must Do”. Through skillful and sympathetic coaching our Toyota Kata method led to a successful closure of the project. And it also changed the way Kurt was thinking about his way of working. I did not visit the plant for quite some time so I was unaware of the change, until a month later, by my next visit, Kurt turned up in our office proposing two new projects. This might sound unduly positive and like a made – up story, but his attitude was completely changed. He looked happy and enthusiastic about starting new improvement projects with our coaching. “Earlier I would have closed myself for two days in my office, talked to no one and solved the problem. Now I learned that I need to involve and teach my team members how to solve the problem. And this is so much better”. He was a changed man, smiling and enthusiastic. Of course, we provided all the support he needed, a textbook example of coaching success and a win-win situation.
So, what happened? How could a person just a few years before retirement change so dramatically? I believe there were two factors at play. The first one was Kurt’s professionalism and intelligence. It is not easy for someone to admit (even to himself) that he was wrong and there are ways to improve his way of working, even after 30 years of successful professional life. That he could do this is a credit to his professionalism. But the change would not have been possible without the coaching style we promote with Toyota Kata – “we assume that there are no limits to our people’s creativity” – as Taichii Ohno said. We coach by helping and promoting the ideas of the team and we never enforce a solution. We do enforce procedures though – but if the right procedure is followed, and our procedures make sense and are easy to follow – then we are happy to accept whatever the team is proposing. So, instead of finding and opponent in the coach, whom he would have had to fight along the whole way of the project, Kurt found a real coach and helper to empower him to define and implement solutions together with his team. This is what not only convinced him but turned him into an enthusiastic supporter of Toyota Kata.
And this is why, when I think of success his face is the first to turn up in my mind.
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