Recently, seven members of the Maryland World Class Consortia attended a 3.5 day “Leading the Toyota Way” workshop in Columbus, Indiana.  This post is courtesy of Samuel Glewwe from Intralox.

Last week’s workshop in Columbus, Indiana was an incredible opportunity to deepen our understanding of Lean Leadership. Sam McPherson gave an experienced and knowledgeable explanation of the required role Leaders play in sustained Lean transformations.

Tours of the Toyota Material Handling (TMH) and AISIN plants drove lessons home with first-hand observations of high level execution of Lean Leadership. A good leader leads with respect and by example. The workshop detailed how that is put into practice by defining the standard work for leaders in a Lean organization. We learned that just as good standard work helps train a cross-functional and valuable frontline workforce, Leader Standard Work is key to developing longevity into Lean success. The leader development cycle is even tied to the cadence of car model updates! It was made clear that without Lean principles in leadership, the utilization of Lean tools could only take you so far.

The factory tours were truly eye-opening and made lessons really “click.” True to stories, there were Andon songs playing almost the entire time while walking the TMH production lines. Almost easy to miss without it being called out, Team Leads and Group Leads were immediately responding to the operator or machine in need and resolving to maintain flow. It was clear that it was part of the standard flow of work every day and leaders had everything in place, where it was needed, to document and track both issues and proactive activities. While utilizing a more digital medium, the AISIN plant also demonstrated the strong foundation of Lean Management required of a Toyota supplier. There may have been more tablets, screens, and automation, but the standards of how their leaders develop their workforce are the same.

Each day, active discussion and questions guided our focus throughout the workshop, ensuring that everyone in attendance saw what they needed. Days ended with a “Hansei” Circle for reflections and focus on introspective takeaways. In all, this was a great experience that truly deepened my understanding of leading Lean.