ABSTRACT
The era of the great leader is over. It was built on a model that is no longer relevant. At one time, great leaders were expected to be the experts, and were entrusted to make nearly all of the decisions. Even early organizational improvement models involved a very few number of technical experts with deep technical knowledge, and then they would proceed to study a problem to death. They were expected to provide only the facts, and perform detailed analyses needed to thoroughly describe the cause-and-effect relationship. Our technical experts would literally collect reams of data, perform carefully designed experiments, display fancy charts with impressive statistics just to prove that change was needed. In some cases it would turn out to be a relatively simple change, one that could have been done weeks earlier. There is nothing wrong with studying problems using statistics, and in some situations, this is the best way to go forward. For the purposes of this book, the focus is on transforming leadership mindsets within the service industry. Therefore, if your organization is operating with the mindset that only a few experts know the answers, then there are a few things that you will need to tweak as you embark on your own Lean journey.
