respect for people

What NOT to Learn from the Undercover Boss

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-15-10

I don’t know if the show will last, but the Undercover Boss certainly has an interesting premise. Leaders of organizations go undercover in their own organizations to do front-line jobs, learning what is really going on. This is a great idea, and one consistent with lean where we talk about

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Fail, Learn, Lead

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 01-18-10

  Do you have a lot of room in your organization for people to learn? Or as soon as they step out of their comfort zone, do things get a little scary? What you do as a leader has a huge impact on the behaviors of others in terms of

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Just a spoonful of sugar

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 01-11-10

This post originally appeared on the Lean Career Compass community run by Value Stream Leadership. “Respect for people” – This tenant has been thrown around a lot within the lean community in the past few years. It’s been used to challenge every company that’s ever done a layoff or anyone

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Was Ayn Rand a lean thinker?

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 12-02-09

One of the most important principles in lean is respect for people. It is often glossed over as a nicety, given less rigor than things like just-in-time, and often misunderstood as abdication and softness. But respect for people is about leveraging the full talents of an individual and providing individuals

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Are you stupid or something?

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-13-09

This is the thought process behind the reactions from managers more often than the words are actually spoken. Even if it were true, does that thought process help you improve? Does it help them? No, it just deteriorates the situation. Of course Forrest Gump had the ultimate response: “Stupid is

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