During my last few days here we've spent a lot of time talking about our long term objectives related to lean and how they fit with an overall plan. A few blogs back I talked about our decision to name the five successive years of this journey and introduced the committment Genoa is making here. Let me tell you that this is a significant step and a very patient vision of the company's long term confidence in the power of lean. For me, this is a WOW!!
Because the 115 year old Stanley Cup was won last night by the Anaheim Ducks I can't help but use a hockey analogy to describe how significant this vision is:...... Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke, and, ironically Brian Murray who is the runner-up Ottawa Senators head coach, put together a plan a number of years ago to draft tough, big, skilled, Canadian hockey players (19 Canadians on their roster). They believed this was the formula to a Stanley Cup. For those readers outside Canada who don't know waht the Stanley Cup is; it's the holy grail of the hockey world. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/silver_vrtro.htm In Canada, hoisting the Stanley Cup is akin to ...well nothing really...but I did watch many men grin uncontrollably, giggle, and cry last night when they lifted it above their heads. For the lesser sports ... please forgive me for that, I'm Canadian... it's golfs Masters (Green Jacket), baseballs World Series (The Commissioners Trophy), footballs Super Bowl (Vince Lombardi Trophy), soccers World Cup (FIFA World Cup), ...you get the picture.
The formula for Burke and his team was a long term, patient approach, that involved many components including, leadership, a system of plays to execute, teamwork, training and development, a long term plan, discipline, and specific goals.
So why is Genoas long term plan a WOW! For me, as a lean professional, this vision is a company that "gets it". Too many companies approach lean with a view to get out cost as the only objective. Lean is not a quick fix, it's a way of running the business.
This past week we discussed value from customers perspective, training and development plans, communication strategy, production rates, human resource strategy, improvement teams, among other topics. Out of this discussion, we have brainstormed a list of the to do's necessary to piece together the five year plan. Incidently, lean is such a broad discipline, there is a lean tool that organizes the approach to all of these topics.
Now we need to meet to categorize this list, break up the to do's in an overall strategy and spread them out over the five year plan.
At the end, will there be a Stanley Cup. I doubt it because nothing fits in that category in terms of accomplishments, but there will be a few Green Jackets and Commisioners Trophies along the way. Please forgive me for that too.
Ken Hogan
Lean Guy at Genoa
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