The Gains Achieved from Performance-Improvement Initiatives -- What Prevents Organizations from Sustaining Them?

Just this month, Dr. Mohammad Al-Rifai published a new book entitled Sustaining Business Improvement Gains: A Framework for Embedding Continuous Improvement Into Your Organization’s Culture.  This book tackles a problem that every operations leader knows too well: organizations work hard to achieve improvement -- but far too many struggle to keep it.

When I spoke with Mohammad this past week, I asked him, "What most often prevents organizations from sustaining their gains?" He quickly pointed to a pattern he has seen across industries for more than two decades. Here is his complete answer:

The daily pressure of operations creeps back in… enthusiasm fades… small deviations go unchecked. Before long, the hard‑earned improvements slip away.

The reasons are remarkably consistent.

• Leadership attention drifts. After initial wins, leaders often shift focus to new priorities. Without visible, ongoing commitment, improvement becomes a “project” rather than a way of operating.
• Culture doesn’t evolve. Teams may adopt new processes, but if underlying behaviors and mindsets don’t change, old habits quietly return.
• Communication loses clarity. Messages become inconsistent, progress isn’t visible, and people lose sight of why the change mattered in the first place.
• Silos persist. Improvement requires shared ownership. When functions retreat to their corners, gains stall.
• Capabilities plateau. Teams may know how to execute improvements, but not how to sustain them. Confidence fades, and problem‑solving becomes reactive instead of proactive.
• Operational discipline weakens. Reviews, routines, and metrics are inconsistently followed. Standards drift. Issues go unaddressed until they become crises.
• Knowledge disappears. Lessons learned aren’t captured or shared, forcing teams to relearn the same problems.
• Recognition is sporadic. When people don’t feel their efforts matter, motivation declines -- and so does sustainability.

As Mohammad Al‑Rifai emphasizes, sustaining improvement “is not about luck -- it’s about building a system that embeds continuous improvement into the organization’s everyday rhythm.”

Do leaders and practitioners reading this post see these same barriers in their organizations? If so, what have you done to overcome them?

The Toyota Production System (TPS) -- What Are the Misconceptions?

Earlier this month, Sarah K. Womack published a very interesting new book entitled Toyota's Improvement Thinking from the Inside: From Personal Transformation to Organizational Transformation, which describes how Toyota, through its coaches and leaders, develops its members’ capabilities through a series of continuous improvement (kaizen and problem-solving) activities. For many members of Toyota, this process results in a personal transformation that ultimately leads to organizational transformation.

When I spoke with Sarah this past week, I asked her: "What are the biggest misconceptions about Toyota’s continuous improvement methods and management system?” Here is her complete response:

The biggest misconception I personally had about Toyota’s continuous improvement methods and management system was a degree of personal development and deliberate challenge required to learn how to improve.  It was a journey of mastery of improvement tools, business needs, and how to work with members of your team to accomplish daily objectives.  For most members, that mastery was deeply personal and demanded humility and continuous reflection to transform our mindsets.  And, while there was some talk about Toyota’s philosophy of respect for people, respect is a social construct and difficult to understand from outside of the group.  Once I was inside, I saw how much emphasis there was on reducing team member burden towards the end of reducing waste and creating value for customers. 

More generally speaking of the field, I find many misconceptions about how the entire system works together.  Organizations tend to over-emphasize or de-emphasize the Toyota Production System (TPS) tools for improvement when a successful approach lands at a healthy balance.  The TPS tools are good entry points for people development and continuous improvement.  Value stream mapping, for example, is a tool to chart how material and information flows within a system, show waste, and tell a kaizen story (of waste reduction).  Even if a system is not very complex, learning it through deep study then articulating that learning visually is a special skill set developed over time.  You can feel confident in your skill set when you are able to use such a tool to tell the story of your improvement work.

Finally, I would highlight the misconception around standardization.  Many organizations, within and outside of manufacturing, think it is too rigid to work successfully.  However, Toyota and others have shown that by deeply studying processes and standardizing them, continuous improvements in safety, quality, and other performance outcomes are achievable.

What do you think about Sarah's experience? Has your company implemented a Lean initiative based on the Toyota Production System? Was is transformative?

What are the biggest obstacles to an effective and sustained Lean initiative?

At the beginning of November, Bill Artzberger published a new book entitled Powering the Lean Enterprise: How to Streamline Operations, Improve Quality, and Gain Customer Loyalty, which introduces basic Lean rules and principles in a variety of simulated case studies drawn from the author’s professional experiences as a Lean coach, trainer, and manager. 

When I spoke with Bill this month, I asked him: “What are the biggest obstacles to an effective and sustained Lean initiative?” Here is his response:

While there are many things that can constitute an obstacle, here are three big ones to be wary of:

1. Rules before Tools! 

Lean tools are powerful aids to improvement. However, you must first understand Lean thinking and learn the key Lean principles before using the tools. This is the only way you will be able to select the correct tool (of the hundreds available) for your application and know how to correctly use the tool in your environment. Lean is not a tool or collection of tools, it is not a tactic or simple cost-reduction program; it is a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization. 

You must create an enterprise-wide customer-focused learning organization to be successful in creating a long-term, sustainable Lean organization. You don’t get “Lean” or get “Leaned out.” Lean is not a destination – Lean is a journey. The learning process is the key to process improvement and the key to Lean. This is the one thing you must know to be successful in your Lean journey. If you do not figure out how to do your job better, then your competitors will.

2. Intention/Action Disparity

Key systems or people can sometimes provide roadblocks to the success of the Lean program in an organization. Typically, this boils down to interpersonal issues. 

One example of this would be an organization where a handful of departments have adopted Lean methodology, but other areas have not. This can stymie the progress the Lean-oriented departments are striving towards. Another example of this might be an organization with political or leadership issues. If a leader at an organization acts in opposition to the Lean strategies or behaves in a way that builds roadblocks to the progress of those strategies, the Lean program will fail. 

The key to avoiding this obstacle is to ensure that all members of the organization are invested in the success of the Lean methods being implemented. This includes the organization’s leadership.

3. Sustaining Lean Methodologies

Even when organizations overcome the first two obstacles, it is very difficult to implement and sustain a culture change that spans the entirety of the organization. This obstacle might not be immediately evident, especially because many of the systems and processes might be running well. 

This obstacle most often affects organizations that decide to identify and train a few subject matter experts rather than investing in the whole organization to sustain the Lean culture. When a subject matter expert turns over, Lean systems start to break down. When organization leaders do not take the time to invest in developing the organization’s desire to improve, the Lean journey will start to lose momentum. 

This can be a constant battle for companies who make it to this point. It often leads to ebbs and flows in work management and system sustainability.

The only way to avoid this pitfall is for every member of the organization to feel invested in the Lean journey. This means accepting the fact that the Lean journey is a continuous development and learning process and embracing the work that comes with it. 

How long has your organization been involved in a Lean initiative? Is "Lean thinking" part of your workplace culture? Do you agree with Bill Artzberger's overview of the common barriers to success?

Lean Six Sigma -- Its Evolving Best Practices and Issues

This past December, Terra Vanzant Stern published the third edition of Lean Six Sigma: International Standards and Global Guidelines. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is designed to accommodate global challenges and constraints by capitalizing on Six Sigma and Lean Thinking, and her book assumes that the overall goal of operational excellence is to ensure that organizational tasks and activities are being performed to the best of their process capabilities. It defines continuous improvement as activities that support and empower environments to make flexible decisions that lead to ongoing improvement and effectiveness. It covers new global LSS standards, international implementation of process improvement programs,  new international LSS applications, and international LSS areas of competency.

When I spoke with Terra this month, I asked her: "What important updates are covered in this third edition of your book?” Here is her complete answer:

The updates included in this edition are crucial because I have taken Lean Six Sigma to new heights, incorporating cutting-edge updates and advancements that will leave you captivated. With a focus on enhancing change management and data governance programs, this edition is a game-changer for organizations seeking to optimize their processes and drive sustainable growth.

What sets this edition apart is its ability to seamlessly integrate process improvement methodologies with change management and data governance. We understand that these three pillars are essential for organizations to thrive in the current dynamic business landscape. By leveraging Lean Six Sigma principles, you can streamline your processes, drive efficiency, and achieve remarkable results.

Imagine a world where every process is optimized, every change is seamlessly implemented, and every data point is governed with precision. This vision becomes a reality with the help of the latest edition of this book. I have meticulously crafted a framework that empowers organizations to achieve operational excellence while ensuring compliance and data integrity.

But what truly makes this edition intriguing is the transformative power it holds. By embracing Lean Six Sigma, organizations can unlock their full potential and drive a culture of continuous improvement. From reducing waste and defects to enhancing customer satisfaction, the possibilities are endless.

With this third edition of the book, you surely discover how Lean Six Sigma can revolutionize your organization's process improvement, change management, and data governance programs. Embrace the power of Lean Six Sigma and unlock a world of endless possibilities.

The new edition of this book assists you as you embark on a journey toward operational excellence, enhanced change management, and impeccable data governance. It's time to revolutionize the way you do business.

What are your experiences with Lean Six Sigma initiatives? What issues and aspects do you feel should be incorporated as organizations change and evolve?

Shop Floor Management -- What Are the Future Trends?

Earlier this year, Philip Gisi published a book entitled Fundamentals of Daily Shop Floor Management: A Guide for Manufacturing Optimization and Excellence, which explores the fundamental elements, management practices, improvement methods, and future direction of shop floor management. 

During a conversation with Philip this past month, I asked him: "What has changed regarding shop floor management? What is the current direction?” Here is his complete response:

The discipline of shop floor management has undergone significant changes in recent years due to advancements in technology and changes in industry practices. With the advent of automation and robotics, the shop floor has become more efficient and productive. Robots can perform repetitive tasks with a high degree of accuracy, speed, and reliability, which can help reduce production costs and improve product quality. Automation has also led to the integration of real-time data collection and analysis, enabling better decision-making. As I stated in my book, companies working toward excellence “can’t lose sight of the fundamental activities necessary to preserve what they have already achieved. This is the role of Daily Shop Floor Management (DSFM); to maintain operational performance while realizing and sustaining productivity improvements on the never-ending journey of operational excellence." 

The current direction of daily shop floor management is towards greater efficiency and productivity through the use of technology and data-driven decision-making. One of the key trends in this area is the use of real-time data analytics to monitor and optimize shop floor performance. By collecting data from various sensors and systems on the shop floor, manufacturers can gain insights into how their processes are performing in real time. This allows them to quickly identify and address any issues that may arise, as well as optimize their processes to improve efficiency and quality.

Another trend in daily shop floor management is the use of mobile devices and cloud-based applications to enable better communication and collaboration between shop floor personnel and management. This allows for more effective and timely decision-making, as well as improved coordination between different departments and teams. In essence, the goal of daily shop floor management is to continuously improve operations and drive greater value for customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders. This requires a commitment to ongoing learning, experimentation, and adaptation, as well as sustaining what has already been achieved while embracing new technologies and approaches.

What do you think of Philip Gisi's perspective on the current state of shop floor management? Does it reflect the changes on the shop floor in your company? What trends in shop floor management have you seen?

Can Six Sigma Help Improve HR Processes?

In 2021, prolific author Daniel T. Bloom published the second edition of his book entitled Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma, which describes exactly what excellence in human resources (HR) means and outlines dozens of proven approaches as well as a hierarchy of the exact steps required to achieve it. It illustrates the Six Sigma methodology from the creation of a project to its successful completion. At each stage, it describes the specific tools currently available and provides examples of organizations that have used Six Sigma within HR to improve their organizations. 

When I spoke with Daniel this past month, I asked him: "How does Six Sigma actually help improve HR processes?" Here is his complete answer:

The Human Capital Management field today is faced with a dilemma. It is a dilemma that will determine whether there is a human Capital Management field going forward. 

Too many of my colleagues are stuck in a transactional field which means that they see their role as that of the organizational fireman. There to purely put out fires. However, there is another view that Six Sigma encourages and that is the role of being the organizational thinker.

Consider the reactions from two HR professionals who have seen the Six-Sigma approach and have had phenomenal results. The HR Manager of an electronics organization stated that Six Sigma made her rethink the way she viewed HR -- it empowers you to want to make immediate and sustainable improvements to your organization. Using the strategies discussed in the book, she was able to reduce the average time to fill an open position by 58 percent and the cost of hire by 81 percent. The other view is from the VP of HR for a major trade association who told us that the material in the book (and the accompanying course) inspired her to think about additional training and professional practice of these concepts. She had already put some of the key concepts behind the DMAIC method to work.

The ultimate goal of Six Sigma and its associated tools is to enable you to see and feel the problem through the use of logical thinking processes and then to create a new normal by changing the corporate culture accordingly.

What do you think of Daniel's perspective regarding Six Sigma and the HR department? Have you incorporated Six Sigma techniques in your HR departments? If so, have the results been positive?

The Shingo Model -- Will it Work in Your Organization?

In February, Gerhard Plenert published a book entitled Driving the Enterprise to Sustainable Excellence:  A Shingo Process Overview. Essentially, his book presents a big-picture overview of the entire Shingo improvement process. It fully discusses the needs and benefits of the Shingo process, and what is required if you seek to execute the Shingo Model in your enterprise and focuses on creating an enduring organization-wide continuous improvement process. 

When I spoke with Gerhard this month, I asked him: "What does your book provide that readers cannot get from the Shingo-Model course materials?" Here is his complete answer:

Countless organizations have, at one time or another, began a “Lean jour­ney” or they have implemented a continuous improvement initiative of some sort. At the foundation of these initiatives is a plethora of tools that seem to promise exciting new results. While many organizations may initially see significant improvements, far too many of these initiatives meet disap­pointing ends. Leaders quickly find that Lean tools such as Six Sigma, judoka, SMED, 5S, JIT, quality circles, etc. are not independently capable of effecting lasting change. There is an integrated synergy that occurs between these various tools built upon a set of eternal principles, that creates an environment of lasting change. That is the topic of this book -- How to create a sustainable culture of continuous improvement.

Years ago, the Shingo Institute set out on an extended study to deter­mine the difference between short-lived successes and sustainable results. Over time, the Institute noticed a common theme: the difference between successful and unsuccessful effort is centered on the ability of an orga­nization to ingrain into its culture timeless and universal principles rather than rely on the superficial implementation of tools and programs. These findings are confirmed time and again by nearly three decades of assessing organizational culture and performance as part of the Shingo Prize process. Since 1988, Shingo examiners have witnessed first-hand how quickly tool-based organizations decline in their ability to sustain results. On the other hand, organizations that anchor their improvement initiatives to principles experience significantly different results. This is because principles help people understand the “why” behind the “how” and the “what.”

To best illustrate these findings, the Shingo Institute developed the Shingo Model™ (see Chart 0.1), the accompanying Shingo Guiding Principles, and the Three Insights of Enterprise Excellence™. The Shingo Institute offers a series of six workshops designed to help participants understand these principles and insights and to help them strive for excellence within their respective organizations.

My book is not a detailed review or a replacement of any of the Shingo workshops that teach in-depth the Shingo methodology far beyond what this book is capable of doing. This book is an overview of the entire Shingo process, starting with a discussion of the challenges that many of today’s enterprises are experiencing. I, in my role as a Ph.D. in economics, have studied industries and has worked closely with many of them, attempting to understand their weaknesses. I has found that this is the only methodology that encompasses the Toyota Production System (TPS) principles at a depth and level that just studying the TPS tools can never accomplish.

Next, this book builds upon an understanding of these weaknesses. The book discusses how the overall Shingo methodology fits into these organizations and highlights the benefits. The next step is then to discuss what requirements are necessary for an organization to get ready for a Shingo transformation. What are the steps that the organization needs to go through, and when will it know that it is ready to begin?

This book briefly reviews the Shingo Insights and Principles and explains how the Shingo courses should be best utilized to facilitate the desired transformation. It suggests some alternative plans for over-all implementation based on the current state of the enterprise. It explains why there is no “one way” for successful implementation and how the implementation sequence needs to be customized to fit the requirements of each enterprise. It also discusses the length of time needed for success and how this differs depending on the current enterprise environment.

Lastly, the book explains how the implementation of a continuous improvement methodology and Shingo training for any enterprise is never finished. It is an on-going process and success is defined by internal improvements, not by some arbitrary external benchmark.

The book is intended to be educational, thought-provoking, entertaining in its stories and examples, and a guideline towards the development of a plan for continuous improvement. This book is filled with stories and examples, showing successful and not-so-successful implementations. The stories are used to highlight many of the pitfalls that have arisen and may arise for you and which can be avoided if the reader is aware of them and knows how to watch for them.

The Shingo methodology, which is recognized as the world standard for developing enterprise excellence, offers access to a large volume of specialized information on how to achieve a sustainable environment of continuous improvement. However, before this book, there wasn't a high-level overview of the entire Shingo methodology. That is what this book offers. It offers a high-level review of all the elements of the Shingo methodology and is an excellent introduction for anyone looking for an overall vision of what a Shingo implementation means to themselves and to their organization.

This book is filled with ideas intended to help the perspective Shingo implementor achieve success. Let’s make you, the reader, successful.

What is your experience with the Shingo Model? Have you used it in your organization? Do you feel Gerhard's book is an asset to those organizations seeking to build a sustainable culture of organizational excellence?

Why Do Most Companies Fail When They Strive to Become More Efficient and Resilient?

At the beginning of this month, Brian Strobel published an intriguing new book entitled Pursuing Excellence: A Values-Based, Systems Approach to Help Companies Become More Resilient, which interestingly posits that a company doesn’t implement Operational Excellence as a methodology, model, or tool. Instead, a company realizes Operational Excellence. It does so by integrating effective leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, systems thinking, and continuous improvement. It achieves this by aligning strategies, empowering employees, optimizing business processes, and improving the customer experience.

When I spoke with Brian recently, I asked him: “Why do most companies fail when they strive to become more efficient and resilient?” Here is his full answer:

I think the fact that people are starting to ask questions like this proves there’s a growing recognition our previous ways of doing things aren’t working.

The way that we’ve managed our companies has remained largely unchanged since the 18^th century. Since then, different philosophies have come and gone, but the central ideas for what it takes to manage our companies have remained fairly consistent.

And our approach to achieve continuous improvement must also change.

I believe that our legacy approaches to continuous improvement, to include Lean and Six Sigma, are failing to consider the whole system and account for the leadership principles necessary for success. These previous methods placed too much emphasis on the specific improvement methodology, without proper consideration for the entire system and surrounding culture, systems and structures, values and beliefs, and the particulars of our marketspace..

As I write in my latest book Pursuing Excellence, “our companies are struggling with ways to become more competitive, to reduce costs, and the chase unobtanium in their never-ending pursuit to do more with less. But to survive, this focus on efficiency must not come at the expense of innovation, agility, and moving fast."

The world is now a new place, with new rules. Succeeding will require new ways of looking at our problems. And the lens of operational excellence can help us view these things from a different perspective.

A lens is something that bends and refracts light to alter our vision. It allows us to see things differently. The right kind of lens takes what’s already there, and through convergence and divergence, provides a different perspective to view the subject. It focuses our vision on those things we need to see with more clarity.

These ideas that make up the lens of operational excellence, as shown here, provide us the context for what must be considered as we move towards driving change with a fundamental understanding that we must have everyone aware of why we need to change. In this regard, the lens helps guide the vision for our companies to become more resilient and move closer to achieving excellence.

What do you think of Brian's thoughts? How have continuous-improvement initiatives affected your company? 

Why Must There Be a "New Normal" for Leadership?

John Dyer published a very interesting book in September entitled The Façade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership that challenges most conventional thoughts about leadership and its role within organizations. His book contends that leadership actually has many dimensions and several definitions, and it explores four different styles of leadership: The Crisis Leader, The Idea Gathering Leader, The Team Forming Leader, and The Empowerment Leader.

I spoke with John recently and asked him: “Why must there be a ‘new normal’ for leadership?” Here is his full response:

It has been nearly four decades since the NBC documentary “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We?” was first aired.  This program was a massive wake-up call and prompted the creation of initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Lean, and Six Sigma.  While some progress has been made, most organizations, especially outside of manufacturing, are still using old, outdated management practices such as fear, management by objectives, and hierarchical organizational structures.  

Recently, I asked on social media the question: “If you had one word to describe the main ingredient to sustain and expand an improvement initiative, what would it be?”  A word cloud was created to show the most popular results.

Take notice of the two largest words: Leadership and Commitment.  These were followed by: Culture and Buy-in.  You may also notice words like: Engagement, People, Communication, Trust, and Vision.  These are all words associated with questions such as:  “How do we improve our organization’s culture?  Why won’t my leaders fully and wholeheartedly commit to something that seems so obvious to many of us trying to make a difference?  What will it take to get my boss to fully buy-in to allowing teams of employees the opportunity to improve the way things are done (and at the same time, how do we get the employees to trust us and fully buy-in as well)?”

It is interesting that ‘Leadership’ and ‘Commitment’ had similar results.  This reminds me of the old joke that when making breakfast, the hen is involved but the pig is committed.  Commitment means completely tearing down all of the old ways and defining a new ‘normal’ of how things are done at every level within the organization.  Unfortunately, many managers think that it is sufficient to do the bare minimum and try to fake their way to achieving excellence.  They might allow a couple of teams to be formed (with no real authority to change anything) or spend some money on training (but not attending the classes themselves since they are so busy or it is beneath them) or ask their employees for ideas on how to improve (with little to no resources dedicated to implementing these ideas).  All they are doing is creating a flimsy façade of excellence that crumbles at the first sign of trouble. 

A new definition of leadership is required at all levels, from the Board of Directors to Executives to Supervisors.  My book builds the case for change and presents a step-by-step roadmap that leads to collaboration that will put your organization on the path toward achieving excellence.

What do you think of John's perspective? Do the management problems John details here exist in your organization?

Reactive Improvement and Effective Daily Management

In December, Ross Kennedy published a book entitled Understanding, Measuring, and Improving Daily Management: How to Use Effective Daily Management to Drive Significant Process Improvement . This book explains the critical parts of a continuous improvement strategy to achieve operational excellence and where reactive improvement through effective daily management fits in.

During a recent conversation with Ross, I asked him: “What is reactive improvement and why aren’t more companies embracing it?” Here is his complete answer:

To achieve operational excellence, organizations need a continuous-improvement strategy that includes reactive improvement to ensure you have effective daily management, stable production, or work plan to minimize fire-fighting caused by unplanned changes and proactive Improvement to take you to your improvement vision of world-class performance. Unfortunately, many organizations get so focused on proactive improvement through capital projects or operational excellence initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, or Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), that they lose sight of the importance of reactive improvement and having a stable production or work plan.

Reactive improvement develops the capability and discipline within the organization to be able to rapidly recover from an event or incident that stops you from achieving your expected or target performance for the day, shift, or hour and most importantly, your ability to capture the learning and initiate corrective actions so that the event or incident will not re-occur anywhere across the organization.

As such, reactive improvement focuses on improving daily management through your daily review meetings, your information centers supporting the daily review meetings, and your problem-solving root cause analysis capability at all levels, especially at the frontline.There are seven key elements of reactive improvement that must work in concert for effective daily management: 

1. A supportive organization structure to support development of your frontline people so they have ownership and accountability for the performance of their area of responsibility. 
2. Effective frontline leaders to ensure everyone else in the leadership structure are not working down a level. 
3. Appropriate measures with expected targets that are linked to the site’s key success factors for operations to ensure goal alignment and are relevant for the focused areas. 
4. Structured daily review meetings to identify opportunities (problems/incidents) and monitor progress of their solution so they don’t happen again. 
5. Visual information centers that visually display daily and trending performance along with monitoring of actions to address problems/issues raised.
6. Frontline problem-solving root cause analysis capability across the site. 
7. Rapid sharing of learning capability across shifts, departments and the organization. 

What do think of Ross's overview of reactive improvement? Do you practice this technique in your company?

Creating an Organizational Culture Beyond Lean Sigma Tools

Robert Baird just published an interesting new book this month titled The Four Components of a Fast-Paced Organization: Going Beyond Lean Sigma Tools, and I had the opportunity to speak with him about some of the topics presented in the book. One of the questions I asked was: "How do you create a culture of continuous improvement beyond Lean Sigma tools?" Here is his complete response: 

If you look at the characteristics of a successful organization, you will find speed as one of them. Staying ahead and achieving business results at a pace faster than competitors is a distinct advantage. Within Lean, we have some focus on just-in-time, lead time, and on-time delivery, but what are we doing about it? Are organizations focused on improving their organizational speed? We found when there is a focus on speed then industry-leading improvements come with it and people are motivated to keep going, momentum is created, and all employees are engaged to execute the strategy. These are the outputs or effect on an organization when implementing all four of the components -- leadership and mentoring, process design and visual value streams, organization structure for sustainment, and fast knowledge sharing -- of a fast-paced organization. Implementing one, two, or three of the components will certainly achieve results but not the sustained world-class results we are looking for. 

We all want a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and customer orientation and this is what the four components were designed for. Following the implementation steps will inherently develop all of these organizational characteristics. It starts with the Leadership and Mentoring component. The Leaders must be on board first and then each of the other three components are to follow. The Leadership and Mentoring component provides the base which sustains the momentum and starts the culture. Leaders take responsibility for developing people who are trained, motivated, and supported to identify, solve and fix problems. Leaders must empower people to be capable of process ownership. Leaders must guide and support a production system of continuous flow and quality products and service. Finally, leaders must build a learning organization. They are responsible for operational excellence. 

What do you think of Robert's response? Do the leaders in your organization drive the culture? Are there both leaders and mentors in your company?