Lean For Everyone

Book Review: The No Asshole Rule- Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton

Everyone has worked with an asshole at one time in their career but wouldn't it be great if you could identify them before they are hired?  How about a survival guide to working with them?

I recognized  past co-workers in this book.

The book contains several real life stories where the names were changed to protect the innocent. 

There were times I thought that the book was written by an insider in one of the companies I had worked at in the past.

 

It's almost like having a therapist  who understands your predicament.

The author makes you realize that you are not alone and that assholes are rampant in many organizations.

He even gives some examples of famous assholes and how they operated. Steve Jobs is probably the most recognizable to some of us.

 

How to Avoid "Asshole Poisoning" was my favorite section.

Being an asshole can be contagious.  Just by being in a room for a short period of time with an asshole can transform the nicest person into a temporary tyrant.

This is why it's important to keep assholes out of the work place.  If you have the flu you shouldn't go to work and infect others so if you have an asshole in your organization show him/her the door ASAP.

Other favorite sections include:

• Calculating a TCA (Total Cost of Assholes to Your Organization)
• Self-test: Are you a certified Asshole (Signs that your inner jerk is rearing its ugly head)
• Tips for Surviving Nasty People in the Workplace
• Why Assholes Fool Themselves

 

This book was recommended to me by Jim Baran a couple of months ago.  Since then I've recommended it to at least 25 others and used it to help a few people through some tough situations.  Give it a read...you won't be disappointed.

Book Review: Chief Culture Officer - How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation by Grant McCracken

The Voice of the Customer (VOC) is the Voice of Culture.  Maybe it's time to create the position of Chief Cultural Officer (CCO).   McCracken talks about innovation and change within our culture and what it would take to be the CCO of any company.

 
McCraken makes the CCO sound like the ideal Jeopardy contestant with exceptional social skills.

This position requires someone who is continually learning about the new changes in our society while being aware of cultural history as well.

The CCO would have recognized the power of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook long before the majority of the public did.

He/she needs to be able to lead people into change, get them to buy-in and then make things happen

"The CCO needs to act like an innovation agent inside the corporation." 

  

 "In good groups, bad ideas go away by themselves"

Brainstorming, branding, design and planning are covered in a How-to section that had several real life examples.

Many of these had a "kaizen feel" to them that I could relate to very well.  He tells a story about one companies unique use of candy as deterrent.

I didn't necessarily agree with pelting people with M&M's during brainstorming sessions but I understood why.

This book is a must read for every C-suite executive and entrepreneur

People purchase and think more with their emotions than with data.  Understanding cultural and identifying the needs and wants of your customers is crucial to any companies success. 

If the VOC is given little attention then the company will eventually be surpassed by a competitor.  Do any of you still have a My Space account?

When I grow-up I want to be a Chief Culture Officer.  As much as I love my SIPOC's, PDCA's and SMART Goals...trying to understand how we as a culture move from "The Andy Griffith Show" to "Family Guy" sounds like a lot more fun.

Book Review: In-N-Out Burger (A behind the counter look.. by Stacy Perman)

If you put your customers first, work closely with your suppliers, offer the best quality and treat your employees well then you will be successful.  That's what IN-N-OUT learned over the past 60+years.

Background:   IN-N-OUT was started by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948. After 62 years it is still a family owned business with over 200 + locations and has an almost cult following on the West Coast.  The menu has remained virtually unchanged after all this time.

 

"QUALITY, CLEANLINESS, AND SERVICE!" Is the foundation for the success of this family business.  In-N-Out has its own butchers, bakes its own buns, uses only the highest quality vegetables and its fries are all made in house from raw potatoes.

 

Only the store managers flip the burgers:  A manger can be paid over 100K and is the only one running the grill.  "It was the altar upon which the whole enterprise rested".  Talk about the Gemba...they live it.

In-N-Out has its own University for training managers.  "Since every burger was made to order- a beef patty didn't go down until an order ticket went up.  It required a tremendous amount of coordination and speed, requiring three to six months just to learn to operate and manage."

It's a combination of standardized work with respect for people.  "While those at the store level were expected to rigidly adhere to procedure, the company had a real "respect for creativity and judgment."  This sounds like a Lean company to me.

The book talks more about the family than the systems: The book chronicles the history of the Snyder's and the growth of In-N-Out.  It's more of a biography of the family:  their successes and failures both in their personal lives and the business.  It begins in 1906 with Harry's father and ends in 2008 with his granddaughter Lynsi (heiress to the burger fortune) giving birth to twins...and the opening of store 215.

I ate my first In-N-Out in 1996 when I moved to California.  The sheer volume they do in a store is mind boggling while still putting out a high quality product.  The employees are happy and the customers don't mind waiting in long lines.

This book talks much about the Snyder family and by understanding them it's obvious to see that great leadership and a respect for people has produced another American icon.

How does a Lean company stack up to "How The Mighty Fall" by Jim Collins?

This is not another review on Jim Collins's book.  This is about how his book relates to Lean companies.

 

If you plan to read the book I highly recommend listening to BusinessWeek's John A. Byrne interviewing Jim Collins on the book (audio mp3).  back in May of 09. 

To be honest, if you listen to the interview you will understand the 5 Stages of decline without even needing to read the book.  He covers the major points in under 30 minutes, however the book really does get your brain thinking so I still recommend it!

How does a company know when it's in trouble?  Profits may be soaring and customers are happy but at some point a company starts the journey towards failure.  The problem is that they might not realize it until it's too late.

The book looks at why companies fail and the 5 stages of decline that they all seem to go through during their demise.

• Stage 1 - Hubris Born of Success
• Stage 2 - Undisciplined Pursuit of More
• Stage 3 - Denial of Risk and Peril
• Stage 4 - Grasping for Salvation
• Stage 5 - Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

What I realized while reading the book is that Lean businesses don't fit the profile of a company that will go through these stages....unless they stop being Lean.

At any of the first 4 stages a company can reverse course and be saved.

"The critical question is, How does its leadership respond?  By lurching for a quick salvation or by getting back to the disciplines that brought about greatness in the first place?  Those who grasp for salvation have fallen into Stage 4."

     How the Mighty Fall - Jim Collins

Toyota teetered on the edge of Stage 4 however when they shifted their focus back to Lean and back to their customers they began to move out of their decline.

Here is the best part.  If your company uses Lean I don't think that these 5 stages will ever apply to you.  For everyone else, I suggest you listen to the interview so you can find out if you're in trouble right now and what you need to do to "reverse course"

Lean Book Review: The Toyota Leaders by Masaaki Sato

The Toyota Leaders "An Executive Guide" by Masaaki Sato is a good read about leaders that built Toyota.

 

While perusing my local library I came across this book and was i happy I did.

Written in 2008 by Masaaki Sato this book delves into the history of the leaders themselves, the decisions they made and some of the reasons why.  The book is not about TPS, JIT or Jidoka but about the leaders that created them

The authors experience in Japan's auto industry dates back to the 1980's  when he worked for Nikkei (the Japanese Wall Street Journal).  The book was originally written in Japanese and then translated to English and it covers everyone from Sakichi Toyoda to Katsuaki Watanabe (1867 - 2008)

The book is well crafted and after a while I began to relate to the executives like they were characters in a novel.  The Toyota Executives became: Eiji, Hiroshi, Shoichiro and Kichiro as opposed to President, SVP, CFO or COO.

The content was great and now I have a better understanding of the executives and what influenced their decision making: Economic climate, international relations, Ford, GM, Nissan, Chrysler and Honda to name a few.

The only negative I would say would be that the chronological order of events seemed to skip around a bit much.  I don't know if this was a matter of the writers style, the translation or just my expectations but it did not deter my reading or my enjoyment of this book.

If you are looking for a book that has more to do with the leadership style that is instilled in every manager, director and executive at Toyota then you should check out my review on How Toyota Became #1 by David Magee

Book Review: How Toyota Became #1 by David Magee

An excellent read for anyone ready to learn what leadership is really about!
 

 This book caught my eye while at the library recently.

Published in 2007 by David Magee, this book is an easy read that gives an overview of the Toyota culture while weaving it into a time line of the companies growth alongside Ford, GM and Chrysler.

The book (only 225 pages) captivated my attention and showed why Toyota has been achieving success since the 1950's.  Here's the secret:  The company engages it's workers to think and solve problems on their own.  It's called empowerment.  It's about being the best not the biggest.

My favorite quote:

        "Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures.  Even last month's manual should be out of date."                                       

        -Taichi Ohno, former Toyota Executive Vice President

I think this book should be on the read list for every manager, director and executive I know because it shows that top down management is not a sustainable model for growth or leadership.

From this book you can extrapolate as to why Toyota is having issues now.  It shifted it's long standing of customer first to money first and worked at becoming the biggest and not the best.

What I know is that Toyota has a history of learning from its mistake.  I feel that the company will make the necessary changes to get back to it's core management philosophy which is codified in the Toyoda Precepts.

The Toyoda Precepts

1. Be contributive to the development and welfare of the country by working together, regardless of position, in faithfully fulfilling your duties.

2. Be ahead of the times through endless creativity, inquisitiveness and pursuit of improvement.

3. Be practical and avoid frivolity.

4. Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm, homelike atmosphere.

5. Be reverent, and show gratitude for things great and small in thought and deed.

If you're starting Lean Six Sigma this is a must read

"The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is probably the best fictional book about process improvement I've ever read.

     
    This weekend  I re-read "The Goal" and thought...this is a timeless classic.  It was originally published in 1982 and the funny part is you would think that the story is about the company your working for right now.

"The Goal" was the 2nd book I had ever read about process improvements and it uses the phrase Theory of Constraints which is very similar to Lean processing. 

The first time I read it I was running a production department and I could see myself as the main character.

Reader's digest version: Our main character is exhausted, always behind on orders, gets complaints from sales constantly and his work flow is consistently derailed by "rush" jobs. (Sound familiar yet!)

He gets introduced to a new way to look at how processing should be done, sees the light and trouble shoots a lot of issues using common sense techniques similar to Lean.  By working with his staff and asking them the right questions, he helps turn his facility around.

Why do I love this book....because I don't see it as fictional I see it as a biography. 

Although I didn't have his martial problems my facility issues were the same.  Then by implementing Lean at my previous company we took a process that was 65 days and changed it to 30 days in just a few months.  Over a period of 2 years it was reduced to a 4 day process.  Sales were up, complaints were down and the sales team loved us.

If you don't want to buy "The Goal" new you can always find one on e-bay for about $6.00 + S & H.  I've actually purchased and given away several copies to others so yes...it makes a great gift.