This is part of a series of blog posts based on Language Action and how it applies to the project environment, and is based on the teachings of Fernando Flores and Chauncey Bell. I have been a student of Fernando Flores in his Dwelling Program for the past year, and have been working and learning […]
Respect for People; a Leadership Concept or Behavior?
One of the two pillars of the Toyota Way and central to lean culture, respect for people is often misunderstood by outsiders. Many think that respect is only about listening to peoples’ ideas, empowering them to have a say in how the work should be done, and creating personal autonomy in the workplace. These concepts […]
Building Fast-Launching Project Teams (Why Dread Pirate Roberts Will Live Forever)
Applying lean thinking to project work offers some challenges that are not faced in steady-state lean operations such as manufacturing. One of those challenges is that our teams are mostly temporary, and we don’t have the luxury of taking a long time to get to a high level of team performance. We need to build […]
Use Social Cues to Improve Team Performance
I was delighted by this sight while walking in my Minneapolis neighborhood the other day. Three dog trainers each with a group of 10-15 dogs marching happily together around the lake. I followed them for a while and was impressed by the coordination within the groups. It looked like a dog parade. The dogs were […]
Two Lean Leadership Lessons on Building Trust and Commitment
Having an opportunity to speak with a few trainers about their work with sea lions I observed some useful parallels between their work with animals and the work leaders in a Lean enterprise must undertake. These observations can be summarized in two lessons. Lesson One: Establish a relationship first. When trainers first begin to work […]