The Sensei Way At Work, The Five Keys to a Lean Business Transformation, by Dan Prock, Routledge/Productivity Press 2021

If it were possible to explain why we still see too many failed lean business transformations, we might start by reviewing a few examples of the good ones.  And that's what we learn from author Dan Prock's The Sensei Way At Work, with two good detailed North American case studies, one of which can be found in his Epilogue, showing us how his five keys to a lean transformation work - and the good, the bad and the ugly in humans as well as systems, along the way.

What Prock offers us in his examples - now part of our own manufacturing history -  is a different approach to restructuring a business so that it more closely follows lean expectations that were realized even before Jim Womack's Lean Thinking appeared some 20 years ago. There were precedents to Womack's book  - the pioneering work of Dorian Shainin and other American consultants who voyaged over to Japan when their stateside appeals and efforts were largely ignored -  or they were too early - here in the US. Post- WWII Japan had to rebuild its industries while the US had nowhere to go but up - rapid expansion of markets and production rates with plentiful workers, an oversupply of engineers, and limited "grand-scheme" monster computers that did not integrate well to daily production and supply chain ops.  That era was a tremendous opportunity time because with change and chaos comes opportunity.  But for the U.S., it just couldn't last.  

So although the US was well suited to "try new methods," to offer production schemes beyond high volume, decidedly manual approaches, somehow we persisted in the "old ways."  It took a big challenge from the Far East to shake up business as usual.  And those challenges - in automotive, electronics, steel - made for uncomfortable times in American industry.  But we needed it.  We needed change and we needed wisdom and experience.  And we needed new systems, new ways of looking at an integrated production process, from supply to production, warehousing and logistics.  

When Doc Hall and Tony Laraia and I wrote Kaizen Blitz (Wiley, 1999), we were highlighting an entirely new approach to production in the US, one that still needed to be tailored for American workers, and that took some time and trials.  What Japanese execs could do with their workforce did not translate seamlessly to American employees, despite good intentions.   At one factory consulting engagement  I learned how challenging transplanting Japanese management styles could be in the US as some Japanese consultants made the mistake of slapping workers. Fortunately, the consultants learned quickly that they would need to take a more measured, thoughtful approach in the US.  And by the time Laraia coined the term Kaizen Blitz, US companies like Danaher had figured out a solid workable approach to Japanese methods.  But it took time, and some failures.

In the US manufacturing world, people - workers at the machines, on the plant floor, and especially within Honda and its suppliers (see Powered by Honda, Nelson, Moody and Mayo, Wiley, 1998) - the procurement and supply management offices became very important.  But outside of a few leaders like Honda of America, integrated IT was slowly beginning to show its face in this new, new approach to production.  There were still barriers, divisions between functions, and philosophical splits among execs.  What we were waiting for was a smooth union - the integration of lean thinking with people and IT and leadership.

Enter lean thinkers like Dan Prock in his The Sensei Way At Work, a refreshing look at this uniquely American solution to what was missing in US manufacturing.  Beyond Industrial Engineering principles well-studied in our plants, techniques like kaizen opened up new areas of off-the-charts improvement derived from human creativity and positive leadership.  These are not easily adopted approaches when introduced in traditional organizational hierarchies where teams and trust are challenges.   

Story #1 in The Sensei Way At Work takes place in a Tennessee plant whose workforce, says Prock, was "privately derided as a bunch of shade-tree mechanics," but which saw huge shifts as it moved through a number of key transitions.  The results were stunning:

*  quality parts per million defects dropped from 1500 to 5

*  scrap reduced from $3M per year to $400,000

*  overall equipment up-time rose to 92%

*  one typical part's price dropped from $3.83 to $1.20 over five years.

Story #2 comes from a shorter consulting engagement at an aerospace factory filled with employee stress and aggressive command-and-control management; one of the constant challenges, managing engineering change orders, manufacturing readers will recognize as a stressor.  Yet Prock shares with us his mental preparation for working in this environment.  Despite his daily mindfulness meditation, Prock was feeling the pressure of his upcoming future-state Engineering Change Management presentation outlining a big change and a new value stream map.  He was going to also deliver a list of specific improvements that he recommended at a meeting with Jim, the powerful plant manager.  Driving to the plant only made his anxiety worse as he describes himself as "a nervous wreck."  This is where the mindfulness practice kicks in as Prock recognized his state and pulled back.  Deep breaths, focused awareness of the surroundings, a practiced rhythm - "I noticed tender, lime green spring leaves on the trees near the freeway.  I sensed my bottom on the soft fabric of the seat, the fabric warmed by my body heat.  I detected the imperfections in the road through the subtle vibrations of the steering wheel.  I saw a flock of crows take flight from the field next to the highway."  With clarity came a thought he asked himself, "What am I actually afraid of?"  And that did it - he was nearly ready for this end-of-engagement meeting.  

In both company examples the author approached manufacturing management from new points, each of which can generate immediate pushback.  He warns us to be ready to deal with reactions from management as well as the shop floor, and he wisely offers detailed help through each of his Five Keys to transformation.  

The Five Keys to a Lean Transformation - :

1. The Kaizen Mind

2  Lean thinking

3. Lean Coaching

4. Change Leadership

5. The Sensei Way

As a former baseball pitcher, Prock knows the value of practice, practice, practice.  No matter how many times we go to the plate, we can never quite predict what we are getting, but with practice and clear vision, we are, as the author says, more able to adjust and react to a very dynamic and fast changing environment.  

Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert

A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers,  patriciaemoody@gmail.com