Customer Reviews

Leading the Lean Initiative: Straight Talk on Cultivating Support and Buy-in (Manufacturing/Leadership)

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This book claims it will show you how to effectively lead your organization and how to cultivate a co-operative environment. How to gain the respect and active support of the workforce. Work effectively with unions and customers and diplomatically buck the system. "Throughout the text, Davis weaves the story of Jim Warring, a plant manager who is new to the job, detailing his frustrations, challenges, and accomplishments, and how he handles the daily responsibilities of a plant manager".

While the story of Jim Warring is interesting I do not believe it provides the reader with any particular Lean insights into the general issues of management. This book is really dealing with the issues faced by any new manager and for the most part the book has nothing to do with lean principles or practices. The same issues would arise whatever the change initiative.

I get a sense that Davis many be pretending to be passing on advice to new managers while in fact he is using the book as a cathartic exercise to put the record straight and maybe have a dig at his previous bosses.

Sensitising the organisation for change and gaining support while dealing with the day to day operation is fundamentally the art of management. This book is interesting for the new manager and not a bad read but there are other books that provide better practical advice.

The introduction is very interesting and well written, Davis is succinctly talking about the status of lean as a movement within the context of American industry, I suggest Davis writes more on this subject as he demonstrates great insight on that subject.