Lean for Leaders

This chapter deals with a discussion of entrenched bureaucratic dysfunction. It covers the content of a “Lean for Leaders” workshop for administrators. While focusing on the role of top management, the workshop identifies the responsibilities of staff at all levels in the organization during a Lean initiative. New Hampshire’s Lean practitioners have always faced an uphill battle to remove monuments of bureaucratic red tape. In 2008, the Pew report acknowledged the dynamic tension between control and managerial flexibility, while observing that “New Hampshire is at the extreme of the control spectrum.” Lean activities should be conducted that support the achievement of those goals by improving the priority processes, and by leaning sub-processes so that staff can be redeployed away from low priority tasks. Employees at all ranks should take an introduction to Lean class, preparing them to be active participants in the organization’s Lean initiative. The chapter concludes with strategies needed to launch a sustainable Lean program.