ABSTRACT
For Kaizen to be effective, the role of first-level supervisors and managers has to change dramatically, as illustrated by a story from the laboratory at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. John Burns, a medical technologist, had worked for Children’s since 1992 and was described by his leaders as, “competent, dependable, technically superb, responsible, and known for helping colleagues,” and from John’s protests about those labels, you could add humble. Many times over the years, John had been offered a shift supervisor role, but he repeatedly declined. Why was that? John equated being a supervisor with “going to the dark side,” because that role represented being “controlling” and “bossy,” and under previous leadership, those traits were rewarded. Being a supervisor was akin to being a “police officer” in that setting.
