Lean Agility Inc.

Leadership is the antidote to the organization's problems. A hospital CEO sees it this way: leadership is key. His leadership and training have turned the hospital's emergency room wait from the lowest quartile (22 minutes) to the highest (1 hr, 57 minutes). How do we do it? Lean transformations have a leadership tension: While I am involved, it may be interpreted as micromanaging or preventing my staff from doing their jobs. If I don't engage, things can fall apart. While these leadership roles are vital to Lean Transformation, they may be misunderstood. Provide psychological safety and trust for people so that they will not be punished for problems but will instead learn from them. This will make it easier for individuals to solve problems rather than hide them. Visual management is a way of managing your work. Make sure that your core unit processes are visible to everyone. This will let them all learn from each other and adapt as needed. To assure that new habits are formed in your team, develop improvement routines that you can conduct regularly. Have a line of sight that allows you to see how every level is contributing to the organization's goals and priorities. This must be made visible and re-examined regularly. Get out of your office and go see things for yourself rather than relying on hearsay or reports.