In this first part of my blog series we discussed the benefits of leadership finding “The Way” through a transformative “Lean Journey” and developing a strategic plan for providing additional value to your customers.

Transforming your company’s culture from the inside-out is the promise and guiding principle behind my 3rd book “Lean Your Way”. As discussed in my book, one of the main areas of opportunity for catalyzing DNA-level transformation throughout your organization, and as you begin to create a vision and set priorities for your strategic kickoff, careful consideration should be given to the following:

Listen to the Voice of the Organization

Talk to your employees and ask them what they value from being on a team.  Spend time with your employees to understand their daily problems so that they can be party to the solutions, leading to greater engagement, acceptance and ownership for everyone.

Build Relationships Based on Your Company’s DNA

Executives must build relationships with their employees so that the entire organization is empowered to find “The Way” to solutions that eliminate waste and materialize business process improvements on a daily basis.

Hidden Truth on Failure

The full scope, and greater promises of a Lean/Continuous Improvement Journey really comes into its own when the focus isn’t on the tools. It’s no secret that the concept of “Lean” encompasses an array of operational concepts, tools, and skills that are essential for making improvements daily. What isn’t as widely recognized is that, in cases where it has shown the most impressive and lasting results, Lean thinking is more important than the tools. Don’t make the mistake of artificially constraining the impact of your Lean efforts with a “program” or “project” approach, which is really a sign of the lack of vision about what “good” looks like, long-term.

Leadership’s Accountability to the Organization

Hold your Leadership accountable for great communication. The number one reason why 96% of companies fail at achieving a sustainable Lean Journey is “Communication.” As it relates to preventing False Starts and Organizational Readiness, the results should be consistently measured to ensure the journey never falters on employee engagement.  Remember, you can’t manage success if you aren’t measuring its sustainability.

Once you’ve started down a Lean journey, your work has just begun. Lean is all about continuous improvement through clear communications as your insurance policy.