No Time To Waste

by LeanTeams

On Purpose: The importance of “why” in Lean adoption

Lean wins hearts and minds when everyone understands why the work matters.

Put your mission in one clear line, then make it real.

A clear purpose reduces escalation, speeds choices, and sustains improvement because people can judge trade-offs locally (e.g., customer reliability even over utilisation).

If decisions can’t be explained through the “why,” refine the message or the measures.

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it

Simon Sinek, TED Talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action.

Leader’s Task of the Week

Run a “Why → Outcomes → Measures” huddle with your team: Write your one-line purpose. List 3 customer-visible outcomes that prove it. Pick one metric per outcome (owner + weekly cadence). Note one decision you’ll make using the purpose rule (“even-over”) and a check date.

On Process: Root cause analysis using 5 Whys

Re-discover that childlike curiosity within the team:

When a problem appears, ask “Why?” repeatedly to move past symptoms to causes you can control.

5 Whys works best at the Gemba, on one problem at a time, with facts (not blame).

Capture each “why,” confirm with data, and link the root cause to a concrete countermeasure and a date to check.

Ask ‘why’ five times… the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear.

Taiichi Ohno, Toyota Production System

On People: Leading by example: the behaviours that matter

A new team member will usually act in accordance with the behaviours they see around them.

We can have all the policies and posters in the world but teams will follow the behaviour that they observe. A new team member doesn’t want to stand out or show up others. They will mirror what is perceived as expected behaviour.

If we want to stop a process for quality or safety issues, then this is what must be experienced.

The role of the leader is to create the environment to support the desired behaviours, allowing problems to be raised as they occur.

In Lean cultures, the daily habits are the system.

In Toyota all managers are expected to be teachers, developing talent in others.

Jeffrey K. Liker, The Toyota Way

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