Get your C-Suite or anyone else you want, to “lean-in” with this minute long Value Stream Map. OK, so it’s not an entire VSM, but it does yield the gist.

Step 1: Tell the person you want to “entice into seeing the light” to ask every person they meet in the operation, how long it takes to actually do the hands-on work (the real value adding work) – to do whatever it is that’s being provided (be that a physical product or a service). Have them ask what it takes to really do the work to make one single item of what the external customer actually pays for.

Step 2: Have your target ask the talent how long it takes to deliver to the customer (can be internal or external), once an order is placed. Usually, because it’s being batched or shrouded in other types of systemic waste, there will be a big difference between the actual value added time to make the product, and the delivery time.

Step 3: Have your target ask the talent why there is such a large divergence between the two. (Make sure you “pre-plant the seed” that your target ask out of curiosity rather than for punitive reasons). This is the platform for a PDCA mentoring discussion later, but for now, just have the target be curious.

Step 4: Once your target asks this question, even one single time, the seed of lean thinking is planted. The very act of asking this question will etch the “value add vs. time it takes to deliver” into their thought process forever.

Step 5: Be prepared to answer all questions and introduce an immediate plan for moving forward to get the “VA vs. Delivery Time” gap closer to zero than it is today. Much closer. Now, who’s looking good?

You just deployed your first “Complacency Grenade.” Sit back and let the natural results create the momentum you were hoping for, both in the work and your career.

About Jim

I am the founder of the Lean Expert Academy and a previous partner in the Lean Leadership Institute with Jeff Liker (The Toyota Way), Paul Akers (2 Second Lean) and Norm Bodek (Productivity Press Founder). We train Lean consultants to implement the exact same methodology and techniques that you can learn here. I will be releasing my first book, Lean 2.0: How to Dominate Your Industry Using Lea(R)n Thinking very soon.

I believe the days of suboptimal results of command & control management models will be replaced within this decade, and you are a driver in that transition. I believe that we are at the tipping point of a new era, an era where everything that has the name “management” attached to it, will be done with Lean thinking and Lean management.

I know for a fact, after years of being deep in the trenches of making change happen, that implementing Lean is not that hard to do. It’s actually quite easy if you follow the right steps, and my course shows you exactly how to achieve that outcome.

My goal and mission is to produce as many excellent Lean thinking leaders as possible – to arm you with the ability to recreate what I and my team of consultants have been doing consistently for many years. If you are serious about seeing Lean spread more quickly, please join me.