Art Byrne’s wonderful book ‘The Lean Turnaround’ is a Lean classic and a book that delivers more and more wisdom on every reading.
Whether you are many years into your Lean journey or just starting out, this is a book for you.
In 2013 I attended the Lean Enterprise Academy Summit and knew I was in for something special as Art took to the stage for his keynote speech.
I had always known that Lean enabled a better, more efficient, more inclusive way of working, yet even after practicing Lean for a few years, I still couldn’t quite connect the dots and knew I was missing a piece of the puzzle.
Oprah calls it an ‘Aha’ moment, the moment when something falls into place, when a lightbulb goes off in your brain and you understand something with an immense clarity that you previously didn’t have.
My ‘Aha’ moment arrived roughly four minutes into Art’s keynote speech, listening to Art’s simple explanation of Lean, the power of this methodology was finally clear to me, I had found the missing piece of the puzzle – Lean is all about people and the culture within which people work.
Art simply told us,
❤️ Lean is not a bunch of tools.
❤️ Lean is not a collection of projects.
❤️ Lean is not a collection of coloured belts.
Art, in his humorous honesty, makes it clear that in running a business you are not running a karate class 🤣
❤️ Lean is a growth strategy not a cost cutting strategy.
❤️ Lean is ‘the biggest strategic business weapon you can ever have’ – this is one of my favourite Lean quotes. Art continued ‘a business being a collection of people and processes trying to deliver value to a set of customers and always the best team wins’.
Art explained the key elements required to be successful at Lean are,
✅ 1. Having Lean and Operational Excellence as your core strategy.
✅ 2. Lean is led from the top.
✅ 3. That people are transformed.
Without these elements, Art explains very honestly, failure will be the outcome!
As Art spoke about transforming people, he explained that people are the only asset a business has that appreciates and you want them to keep appreciating, you need to respect your people because the best improvement ideas come from the people doing the work.
❤️ To do this you need to create a learning environment where people are learning every day and are excited to come to work.
❤️ This then becomes your culture, the way things are done around here, this is Lean.
❤️ Art summed up all of the above by simply saying ‘Lean is a people thing’.
I met Art at one of the break out sessions, he was gracious, humble and generous with his time. I spoke with him around the challenges I had in my role as I didn’t have the influence of a CEO for Lean to ‘come from the top’.
Art smiled and simply said ‘be the CEO in your area’.
This was to be the most impactful advice I ever received and rings true for anyone trying to make things better when it’s not coming from the top!
🇮🇪 Art signed my copy of his book ‘The Lean Turnaround’ by using a popular phrase synonymous with Guinness, it was Art’s way of saying how much he loved Ireland and how much he respects Kaizen.
And yes, I totally agree with him, Kaizen (like Guinness) is good for you!
I left the 2013 Lean Enterprise Academy Summit energetic and looking forward to the next steps on my Lean journey.
As I moved through roles and companies in the corporate world, Art’s advice became more and more essential to my Lean practice. I practiced being the CEO in my own area by implementing Lean wherever I could and however I could. I prioritised my growth and the growth of those who were passionate about Lean. I worried less about what was coming from the top and focused on the value we created and the waste we removed from where we were.
Art’s advice transformed my Lean landscape, making me a better Lean practitioner and a better person.
Until one day Art’s advice didn’t work for me anymore.
Not because Art’s advice was incorrect, it was still spot on and exactly what I needed, the problem was I had outgrown my roles in the corporate world.
Resistance is a natural part of practicing Lean yet when resistance outweighs the ability to improve, the 8th Lean waste of under ‘utilised talent’ slowly creeps in. Over a long period of time, the consequences of ‘under-utilised talent’ literally demolishes people from the inside out.
When I found myself confronted with the 8th Lean waste, I made a decision to take Art’s advice to the next level, which meant leaving the corporate world and focusing on being the CEO of my own business.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for as long as I have worked in the corporate world which is just over 25 years. One of my biggest dreams was to leave the corporate world and becoming a full time entrepreneur yet was always afraid I’d actually do it someday!
Reaching the limits of what I could do with Lean in the corporate world and trying to work within the constraints of the 8th Lean waste was the push I needed to exit the corporate world for good. In October 2021, it was time for me to spread my wings and see where the next chapter of my Lean journey could go.
Over the past 4+ years I have been implementing Lean in my life and entrepreneur world. After many ups and downs I’m finally ready to share this journey, as a Lean Entrepreneur.
I will always be grateful to Art Byrne for his time and the wise advice he gave me all those years ago. ‘Be the CEO in your area’ is advice I have since lived by and now it guides me on my next Lean adventure.
You can watch Art’s keynote speech below, 13 years later I still watch it and refer to Art’s wisdom on a regular basis. That’s the thing with true Lean wisdom, it stands the test of time. Lean isn’t a passing trend that’s popular one day and not the next. Lean is a proven methodology to grow business through the growth of people, that concept is enduring no matter what trends come and go.
What Does it Take to Lead a Lean Turnaround keynote speech by Art Byrne
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Thanks for reading,
Siobhain
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