Why we won’t do 100 kaizens for you
Every day is an adventure. We approach our work with clients with an extreme bias towards flexibility. We do have standard work for activities, but how we might engage a client will be different every time. And that starts with a wide range of requests. But some of them we will just say “no” to.
We get requests such as “do 2 kaizens per month in each of 12 sites for the rest of the year.” We might be requested to put 1 coach in each site full time for six months. These are request that we turn down, as lucrative as they might be. Sometimes our clients are confused by this. We might even lose the client. So why take this approach?
Because we are only as good as our reputation. And our reputation depends on our clients having long-term success. They must own the lean journey. We cannot own it for them.
We are working with one client who has had the same outside resources running kaizen events for them for 15 years. Why? Because it’s easier to let someone else do it. Because it’s easier to pick up the phone and write a check than to take it on yourself. Because it’s easier to let someone else deliver the tough message than to be the bad guy yourself.
But lean journeys are not made a success by taking the easy road. There is a right way, and an easy way. Leadership is knowing the different and making the right choice. And we won’t be an enabler to bad leadership.
Amen. Change and improvement is not a Tom Sawyer job, you have to take this journey yourself. Consultants should only be engaged as experienced and (hopefully) wise guides.
Amen. Change and improvement is not a Tom Sawyer job, you have to take this journey yourself. Consultants should only be engaged as experienced and (hopefully) wise guides.
Amen. Change and improvement is not a Tom Sawyer job, you have to take this journey yourself. Consultants should only be engaged as experienced and (hopefully) wise guides.
I certainly respect your approach to this, Jaime. It takes a lot of integrity & guts to turn down potentially lucrative contracts in order to do the right thing, but better this than to leave a trail of failed lean initiatives in your wake with Kaizen in a Can.
I certainly respect your approach to this, Jaime. It takes a lot of integrity & guts to turn down potentially lucrative contracts in order to do the right thing, but better this than to leave a trail of failed lean initiatives in your wake with Kaizen in a Can.
I certainly respect your approach to this, Jaime. It takes a lot of integrity & guts to turn down potentially lucrative contracts in order to do the right thing, but better this than to leave a trail of failed lean initiatives in your wake with Kaizen in a Can.
First starting out in biz, it’s easy to take on any and every project you can get your hands on just to get on your feet. Successful businesses are those that have enough good work behind them and amassed such a following that they have positioned themselves to take only the choicest jobs, or jobs that can demonstrate their best work. It’s a little harder these days to be hyper picky, but the principle still remains. Turning down a job does seem counter intuitive, but if your values, goals and ethics are firmly in place, it makes the choice easier for sure.
First starting out in biz, it’s easy to take on any and every project you can get your hands on just to get on your feet. Successful businesses are those that have enough good work behind them and amassed such a following that they have positioned themselves to take only the choicest jobs, or jobs that can demonstrate their best work. It’s a little harder these days to be hyper picky, but the principle still remains. Turning down a job does seem counter intuitive, but if your values, goals and ethics are firmly in place, it makes the choice easier for sure.
First starting out in biz, it’s easy to take on any and every project you can get your hands on just to get on your feet. Successful businesses are those that have enough good work behind them and amassed such a following that they have positioned themselves to take only the choicest jobs, or jobs that can demonstrate their best work. It’s a little harder these days to be hyper picky, but the principle still remains. Turning down a job does seem counter intuitive, but if your values, goals and ethics are firmly in place, it makes the choice easier for sure.
Jaime,
Great post and I admire what you do. I ask companies all the time “why are you in business?” If the answer is money then I usually won’t work with them. You should be in business for a purpose and stay true to the purpose and that goes for us consultants as well.
Ankit
Jaime,
Great post and I admire what you do. I ask companies all the time “why are you in business?” If the answer is money then I usually won’t work with them. You should be in business for a purpose and stay true to the purpose and that goes for us consultants as well.
Ankit
Jaime,
Great post and I admire what you do. I ask companies all the time “why are you in business?” If the answer is money then I usually won’t work with them. You should be in business for a purpose and stay true to the purpose and that goes for us consultants as well.
Ankit
Agree with reputation value. Always amazed the customer doesn’t seem to consider this part of the transaction value.
Stretching this a bit, we get “you hire Lean talent, right. I pay you X, we want X+ (walks on water and socks don’t get wet). We’ve grown up playing Lean talent charades.
We’ve long ago stopped taking people at their word when they claim they know how to interview and assess Lean talent. Put six others in the interview mix and it gets complicated – all self proclaimed experts – all with different opinions on “ideal candidateâ€.
When we ask clients “how would you assess this person’s capability to change mindsets and behaviorâ€, our favorite responses since January:
“That’s your jobâ€.
“Our culture is ‘unique’; we’ll know a great fit when we see itâ€
“We want a hard driving, hands-on Lean guy, not a babysitterâ€.
I’m involved; you’re involved; money is money; misery is misery.
Agree with reputation value. Always amazed the customer doesn’t seem to consider this part of the transaction value.
Stretching this a bit, we get “you hire Lean talent, right. I pay you X, we want X+ (walks on water and socks don’t get wet). We’ve grown up playing Lean talent charades.
We’ve long ago stopped taking people at their word when they claim they know how to interview and assess Lean talent. Put six others in the interview mix and it gets complicated – all self proclaimed experts – all with different opinions on “ideal candidateâ€.
When we ask clients “how would you assess this person’s capability to change mindsets and behaviorâ€, our favorite responses since January:
“That’s your jobâ€.
“Our culture is ‘unique’; we’ll know a great fit when we see itâ€
“We want a hard driving, hands-on Lean guy, not a babysitterâ€.
I’m involved; you’re involved; money is money; misery is misery.
Agree with reputation value. Always amazed the customer doesn’t seem to consider this part of the transaction value.
Stretching this a bit, we get “you hire Lean talent, right. I pay you X, we want X+ (walks on water and socks don’t get wet). We’ve grown up playing Lean talent charades.
We’ve long ago stopped taking people at their word when they claim they know how to interview and assess Lean talent. Put six others in the interview mix and it gets complicated – all self proclaimed experts – all with different opinions on “ideal candidateâ€.
When we ask clients “how would you assess this person’s capability to change mindsets and behaviorâ€, our favorite responses since January:
“That’s your jobâ€.
“Our culture is ‘unique’; we’ll know a great fit when we see itâ€
“We want a hard driving, hands-on Lean guy, not a babysitterâ€.
I’m involved; you’re involved; money is money; misery is misery.
Thanks for having that philosophy and for sharing it with us. Thanks for not being a “kaizen kowboy.”
Thanks for having that philosophy and for sharing it with us. Thanks for not being a “kaizen kowboy.”
Thanks for having that philosophy and for sharing it with us. Thanks for not being a “kaizen kowboy.”