We hit a milestone recently where our company, mostly the folks in manufacturing, made our 5000th lean improvement video in just 3 short years. These simple 1-minute videos show individual improvements to our daily processes that each and every one of discover on our own. By themselves the videos show individual improvements. Combined together they represent dramatic improvements in reducing the time it takes to manufacture our products, in building employee morale and most importantly just growing people. As part of our lean journey we try to recognize waste…. over production, excess inventory, unnecessary motion….. just to name three of the 8 wastes we focus on. One of the wastes, and the one I'm most passionate about, is "Unused Employee Genius". It is this genius that drives the individual improvements that we see on a daily basis and trust me when I say this…..that particular genius is in each and every one of us. You just need an environment where that genius is nurtured and encouraged. When that happens, the results are dramatic.
Tommy's Lean Videos
That's why as the leader of the marketing department I enjoy nurturing, and watching, that genius in the marketing team come to life. My continued growth as a leader has helped me nurture this unused genius in everyone on the MKT team. A year ago, or so, we read the book Change Your Questions, Change Your Life. Before reading that book I thought I had to always have the answer to every question, task, project…you get the idea. But after reading the book I learned that as a leader it isn't my job to have all the answer but instead, listen to my team. Their expertise in their particular area, and oh by the way which is why they are part of the team, makes them more qualified to provide those answers than I am…. that's their unused employee genius. Who knows better about how to accomplish, or improve, a task or project than someone who does that particular task everyday…and that would be each and every one of the members on the MKT team. So now I try and challenge them to tap into that unused employee genius to solve those tasks at hand that are needed to accomplish our strategic goals. I'm no longer the answer man but the guy who removes obstacles so that they can implement their genius which is by far more fulfilling than to always try and have the answer. To learn more about our lean journey search for #leanleadership on facebook. To learn more about Cambridge Engineering visit us at www.cambridge-eng.com.