The “bidirectional commitment” of a lean project

I wrote this article because I wanted to share what is one of the most crucial success factor in organizational changes, such as lean transformations, that I have learnt through my professional experience.

From what I have seen in recent years there has been a great attention to formalize and standardize the assumptions on change management for organizations.

I recognize that these contributions can be useful: to refer to one or many theoretic models, applicable to different context, to be guided on a “path for changing”, are surely positive things. We cannot say also that all this attention toward change management models is not interesting and stimulating.

However, in some way, few of these different approaches seem to put the attention required on how to involve the human component.

What I have found through my work experience is that you really cannot think of changing anything without the commitment of the people involved.

This assumption can sound trivial but, to me, it is not. In fact, the ability of stimulating the commitment of every person involved is the true key of a successful transformation.

The will of changing should not be only a brief flame that burns in the top management office, but it must radiate in every level of the organization, to assure the fuel of a lasting changing.

This human aspect has to be considered and not underestimated, on the contrary, it must be nurtured for every step of the changing process, from the selection and preparation of the team, to the results monitoring.

The commitment must be structured and channeled at every level. For instance, if we talk about the operative team level, this means to identify and support the changing champions, but also to underline the "easy wins”, and, most of all, to truly make people feel they are part of an improvement project, and to let them see their work from a different and broader point of view.

The Kaizen (kai = change) (zen= good, better) approach, is probably the most widely known philosophy of changing organization, (and not only them), and puts in high regard the importance of "interiorize" the will of improving by all the components of an organization, towards a goal that goes infinitum. In fact, Kaizen is mostly translated with the words: "continuous improvement", and described with a circular dynamic, like the circle of Deming (Plan - do - check - act).

This is what the theory says, but when I operate on the field, I prefer to discriminate, (at least on the early stage), what I call the commitment of the top management, from the one of the operatives.

- The first one represent the basis and the first impulse without whom any kind of transformation could be possible. It is, to me, the starting point, the intention, that follow a decision of setting an improvement target or adjusting something within the organization.

- The second one is more “subtle”, less predictable, and more difficult to evaluate, but represent the hidden engine that can propel and foster the change, and keep it through time.

My experience with lean transformation lead to this statement: the key for the success of a lean project, guided by a kaizen philosophy, is to successfully transfer the approach from the “ideal world” of the top management to the praxis of the operatives. This first step is a transfer of motivation with an inevitable top-down logic, but then, to achieve long-term results, there must a second step: the members of the organization must interiorize this motivation to change. Through time, this "organizational commitment" moves bottom-up, causing not only to enhance the performances but also to improve the general work environment, (for the present and the future employees).

I believe this top-down / bottom-up dynamic can be instrumental in achieving lasting results, and must be first understood, and then fostered, by the consultant that supports the change.

To manage this “bidirectional commitment”, in my opinion, can be really crucial in variable, and non-predictable environments like the administrative offices.