Over the years it has been repeatedly pointed out that ‘Management” is the act of ‘achieving of results through people.’ And the two competencies that must be present are a) Leadership coupled with b) The strength of administration to establish stable work standards that can hold on to, & sustain, the continuous improvement gains. But what we really need to keep clear are the two competencies that provide true leadership… which is the ability to generate followers. One more time – these competencies are :
1) The ability to vision – to see with crystal clarity a future desired state, and
2) The ability to communicate it in easily understood terms so it can become shared.
Unfortunately, visioning in the minds of many technical folks has degenerated into a ‘damn wordsmithing’ waste of time. This is tragic as the true visioning process is critical to capturing all the minds around a table and getting them focused and aligned in one direction. Getting on the same page – humming the same tune, or, reading from the same hymn book is what it is all about. Successful Lean implementations demand it.
Here are some guidelines from that course for fashioning a simple vision for your team no matter what size it may be: Start the process with a brainstorm that leads to answering
a) What is success for your customers?
b) How can we contribute to their success?
Team brainstorm how the product or service you provide now will delight the customer & contribute to their success
Watch out for your technical folks focusing on the product or service and not the results they provide. Review the team’s list to come up with key points that capture what the team agrees it is creating for its customers & users
Formulate these points in a memorable way: a short sentence or a few bullets… all stated in the simple words you all use that expresses how you would answer a stranger who might ask… ‘And what is the vision of your fine team?’
Test what you have created by asking the team whether they feel a commitment to it
You don’t need to rush – give folks time to think about it… And always remember ”Change does not take place by edicts on the wall… but by conversations between people every day.” Alignment delivers quality, speed & less stress.
WASTE !!
“ 50% of the waste in your organization is there because you live with it every day which makes it become invisible… Making it visible through a value stream map opens minds and
creates opportunities.”
CULTURE SPEED
“Leaders must personally become a role model of what they want the culture to become; set the “tone;”and stay on key.” quoted by Dr. Robert Hall ~ founder AME
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