"Doing" lean for a living sounds simple in theory. On paper and on Power Points, everything seems so logical and clear cut. I remember after being certified as a lean champion shortly after 9/11, I was so excited to try out my shiny new tools. To my horror, not everyone seemed quite as excited as I was!
Lean is 95% people and 5% tools. When Toyota says "first we build leaders then we build cars", they weren't kidding. Geez I wish they said something during my certification process about that little tidbit. Most of a continuous improvement leader's time is spent working with people, coaching, developing, teaching, convincing, celebrating, cursing.
It helps to hear how others that are actually in the trenches day-to-day approach this mission. First, it helps to know we're all in the same boat. Second, we can get ideas we can incorporate into our own game plans.
Lean Champions need to be fearless, fierce, have thick skin and the ability to dig through rock. Very similar to Honey Badgers.
Pictured above is one of my favorites, Lexie Baerny, Six Sigma Black Belt at Dymax Corporation (Torrington, CT). The top picture was taken after she came to speak to my Lean Operations Management class at CCSU. Please do not let her understated stature fool you. She is driven, tenacious, persistent, selfless, an incredible listener, results-oriented, and un-like the honey badger, really nice.
This is the first of a monthly series meeting Without further adieu, here's Lexie Baerny
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