Number 29 – Participate in the OpEx Journey

Actively support, promote, communicate, or provide resources for employees to participate in the OpEx journey.

Practitioners; Tactical, integrative, and strategic

The three practitioners show up in our OpEx TopEx again.  The tactical practitioner, or project facilitator, can and does support, promote and communicate the importance of participation in the OpEx journey.  Providing resources, however, might be a little more challenging, for a tactical practitioner who may or may not have the authority or responsibility to assign resources to a project or the OpEx program in general. 

The process owner and the sponsor absolutely do, and without their involvement and support, will stall or destroy any attempt at deploying lean.  Actively support, promote, communicate, or provide resources for employees to participate in OpEx is a statement that crosses organizational level and functional boundaries. 

I often raise the most common complaints that I encounter here in these OpEx TopEx.  There is a reason for returning to them.  Those who complain the most have a lot to do with the complaints they make.  Without the appropriate attention and participation, behaviors may seem counter to the statements and claims of the importance of lean or operational excellence.  You say it, but your behavior says something completely different.  Actions speak louder than words. 

Participate in the OpEx Journey

Perhaps the greatest support, promotion, communication and resources to offer is your time and attention as a process owner or a sponsor.  What you pay attention to and participate in becomes the most important process in the organization.  So, participate in the OpEx journey to create a powerful journey for everyone and to build momentum in operational excellence.  It may be your best weapon for success. 

I was taught by my sensei’s that the greatest solutions cost nothing to implement.  Maybe they were trying to help me see this from the very beginning.  I learned this lesson over time, first as a tactical practitioner, then as an integrative practitioner, and finally as a strategic practitioner.  The greatest power and impact I had was at the strategic level, and all it cost me was time and attention.  Talk about an immeasurable ROI!

Questions For Your Consideration

Where do you see power or force present in your organization?

Where are improved relational processes needed to overcome some barrier to better organizational performance?

How does encouragement enable progress?

How do you respond to requests for help in removing barriers?

I hope you find this inaugural idea both familiar and thoughtful.  I hope you find a new way to overcome an old problem.

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