Redefining Success
Debunking the myth that 'Lean is Dead' in the error of Digital Transformation

With special guest & author John Dyer

• 29.11.2023

Join us on December 11

This month, we are honored to host John Dyer, a distinguished author and former student of the renowned Dr. Edwards Deming, as a featured guest in our upcoming webinar, "Redefining Success: Debunking the Myth that 'Lean is Dead' in the Era of Digital Transformation."

Join us on December 11 as Dyer shares his profound insights into Lean principles and their relevance in the current landscape of digital transformation.

In anticipation of this engaging event, we offer you a glimpse into John Dyer's expertise through an excerpt from his book, "The Façade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership."

In the narrative below, Dyer vividly illustrates the challenges faced by organizations implementing Lean initiatives and sets the stage for our deeper exploration during the webinar. As we delve into the story of Mary, a shop floor worker who is on the verge of being made 'redundant', we not only aim to dissect the pitfalls of misguided leadership decisions but also to emphasize the pivotal role of thoughtful and empathetic leadership in achieving operational excellence.

Exert from The Façade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership.

Tick... Tick... Tick...

Mary kept staring at the clock. She was only two hours into her shift but it felt like she had been sitting here, staring at the clock, for days. She literally had nothing to do but breathe. Time slowed and she started to watch a cockroach crawl down the wall. "Finally, something to do," she thought as the bug made its way closer to the floor. "Maybe I can think of a name to challenge my mind and pass the time."

Mary had nothing to do because her production line was not producing anything. Her overbearing supervisor told her to sit at her workstation so she would be ready to go when the line started producing again. Of course, he had no idea when that might be.

As Mary fought hard to keep from zoning out, she faintly heard the voice of her cruel, spiteful supervisor yell at one of her former team members. "What do you mean you can't put part "A" and "B" together?!? You are holding up the entire production line!!! My employee utilization numbers are going down the drain because of you!!!"

"These parts we got from that new supplier suck," replied the worker. "There is no way they meet the Engineering specifications. You try to put them together!"

"Did a quality inspector check them? Do you have the Engineering drawings?" asked the supervisor.

"The quality folks are working on a multitude of fires and cannot spare anyone. I tried calling Engineering but apparently, their new manager moved them all to an off-site location and told them to only focus on developing new products since that was his new objective. When I tried calling the Engineer who was assigned to this area in the past, he told me that he was sorry but to save his job he had to quit talking to me.... and then he hung up the phone."

"Well, we have got to get this line back up and running... I don't care what it takes. Grab a freaking hammer and bang the parts together! Force them to fit so we can get something out the door today. Do I make myself clear?!?"

As Mary listened to this exchange, a wave of emotions hit her like a sledgehammer. First, she felt pity for her former teammate and for the supervisor. This quickly turned to resentment and a scowl began to form on her face. Then, she realized there was absolutely nothing she could do and a feeling of apathy and defeat swept over her and she let out a long sigh. "I can't take this much longer," she thought.

"Mary! Get Back to Work!" shouted her supervisor.

"I don't have anything to work on," replied Mary. Her supervisor walked over and looked at her empty work station.

"Well, at least look like you are busy."

Mary tried to adapt to this new management style. She kept trying to tell herself that this new way of doing things was not so different than what she experienced before Jim Brown had shown up and implemented his team based structure. She shook her head as she tried to unsuccessfully remove the memories of all of the good times she experienced over the past two years. "Dang it Jim Brown," she muttered to herself. "Why did you have to show up here? Why did you show us all a new way to work together and get us to a point where we were all feeling so good about our progress and future, only to have it all ripped away?"

She let out a long sigh and stared at her empty work station. It had been over an hour since any product had shown up for her to work on. All of the scoreboards that showed the real time data about how things were running had been turned off. "I bet management turned off those signs since all of the metrics have tanked over the past couple of weeks and they are embarrassed." Mary continued to sit and stare. There wasn't much else she could do. The days grew long and quiet. None of her old team members were allowed to talk with each other. Her new supervisor told her to shut up when she tried to discuss an improvement idea. He said that the company paid her to work, not to think or talk and that he was in control and would make all of the decisions. "How do you expect me to get a promotion if you workers do any of the thinking?" he told them.

Mary once again glanced at the clock on the wall. Tick, Tick, Tick. This was her new reality; sitting here staring at the clock waiting for this disaster of a day, week, month, career to be over.

She blinked and felt a tear roll down her cheek as she closed her eyes and sighed.

Author's foreword

I have spoken to several employees over the years who were part of a successful Lean effort that ultimately fizzled out or hit an abrupt end. I have heard this said many times: "I wish we had not experienced the good of team based improvement (such as Lean and Six Sigma) and then have it all come crashing down. At least then we would not have known how good things could be and then felt the pain of going back to the old ways of doing things." We need to fundamentally change everything associated with leadership (who is hired, promotion criteria, values, objectives) in order to make sure this does not continue to happen.

About the author