ORG Blog

I wrote a blog for Plant Services, an online magazine, titled “Lean Manufacturing: Can Employee Resistance be Transformed to Buy-In?”

My response to the question was an emphatic “yes!” and the exploration of that topic got me thinking about my experiences with implementing Lean processes in union environments. So, to the obvious follow-up question, “Can lean manufacturing be implemented in a union environment?” my equally emphatic answer is “Yes, of course!”

Let’s start with this simple premise – businesses today talk about the importance of the customer, but in far too many cases make all their important decisions based on short term shareholder behavior.

Part 2 of 3 in an Interest-Based Leadership series

Part 1 of 3 in an Interest-Based Leadership series

Amidst the barrage of sequestration-related negativity confronting the federal sector, there are bright spots that deserve not just notice, but celebration. Take, for example, the Federal Aviation Administration which, as the largest sub-component of the Department of Transportation, helped propel DOT to the top of the list of Most Improved Large Agencies in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings. Of particular note is the fact that the agency made significant progress at a time when a majority saw their employee satisfaction levels decline. As noted on the Best Places website, “Employee satisfaction decreased in 66 percent of agencies. A few agencies, however, defied the government-wide convention, including the Department of Transportation, a large agency which raised its score a full 4.1 points.”

Do you hear that great sigh?  It’s one of relief that this epic presidential campaign is finally behind us.  But that doesn’t mean an end to the power struggles and strife between and among the Executive and Legislative branches.  After such a close and rancorous race, our country is more divided than ever.  This does not bode well for the impending financial crisis that the December 31 “fiscal cliff” and the January 2 sequestration are predicted to ignite.

The following originally appeared in the Boston Globe on August 20, 2012

The battle in Wisconsin over public sector unions has left the state terribly divided. This Washington Post  piece from a couple of days ago quotes a range of people, describing an intensely polarized environment:

How powerful they are. Individual alphabetic letters we put together to form words, some full of promise, others fraught with nuance and innuendo. Simple words when strung together declare war and proclaim peace; foster relationships and tear them apart. Put to paper, they are political manifesto, contracts that bind, poetry and prose. Uttered aloud, they incite riots, inspire greatness, challenge our belief systems in necessary ways. Put to music, they remind us of our allegiances, make our souls sing, our toes tap. We choose them with care and thought, also with reckless disregard.  They are powerful indeed, and often under-estimated.  Here is a case in point.