The Remedy: Bringing Lean Thinking Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization

Chapter 5. Focus and Alignment—When You're a Jet, You're a Jet

Strategy is storytelling. You have to answer two questions simply and clearly:

1. Where are we going?

2. How do we get there?

We're hardwired for storytelling. We engage the head and heart thereby our prehistoric ancestors gathered round the fire at day's end and spun tales. They didn't show PowerPoint slides.

Working with Andy has triggered in me a hunger for learning I thought I'd lost. I've learned that leadership is about language. Through words you create a vision that pulls people into the future. To create such a vision the leader has to be a philosopher. You have to reflect deeply on the following questions:

• Who are we?

• What do we believe in?

If you'd asked Eastman Kodak's people the first question 20 years ago, they might have answered, "We're a film company." If you asked them today, they'd likely answer, "We're an imaging company." Small change in words, vast change in opportunity.

If you ask Taylor Motors' people "who are you?" you'll get an array of answers: "We're a sales, marketing, finance, manufacturing . . . company." The range of answers reflects our misalignment.

The second question is rooted in ethics, the study of right and wrong. Peter Drucker taught us that a leader's job is to:

1. Get business results.

2. Create capability.

3. Reinforce core values.

I've come to understand that (b) and (c) are the means to achieving (a). We get results by growing people. People won't follow swine, at least not for long.

Answering the foundational ...