Can We Avoid Politics in Lean Transformation?
Changing to lean is a political process. There, we said it. Everyone knows poli-
tics are bad, right? Politics is what happens in organizations that are not being
run rationally. A good, healthy organization is one in which reason rules and
everyone is aligned toward a common goal. We have described Toyota as a
utopian environment where everyone shares common goals, which start with
the customer. So if you want to learn from Toyota, you should start with the
assumption that everyone is working toward the same goals, right?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Or as a harsh Japanese sensei exclaimed: “Stupid!
Stupid! Stupid!” (As a young, petite woman translated from Japanese to English,
to the horror of an American).
What do we mean by a political process? We mean that in any real-life
organization, even Toyota, there are different people with different interests and
agendas. Those who are passionate about any change in the organization have
a vision. This vision will be embraced by those who see it as supporting their
interests and opposed by those who do not. The degree of support and opposi-
tion will vary depending on a number of factors, such as how strongly it sup-
ports or violates interests, how strongly the interests are held, and the degree to
which the organizational culture supports alignment around common goals.
The political process is how these different interests work themselves out over
time. Those leading the change would like to simply have everything fall into
place like moving pieces on a chessboard. In reality there are always compro-
mises to navigate through the murky waters of other people’s interests. Push
too hard, violate too many interests, and you will create a block of organized
resistance that can stop the change process in its tracks.Leading the Change
Chapter 20
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