Lean management is neither top-down nor bottom-up. Rather, it is a system in which processes are well-defined and individual responsibility is clear and placed at the lowest possible level, where the work is taking place.

As a result, responsibility and power (authority), which are generally assumed to be tightly connected, are revealed as separate and distinct. Thus, lean managers focus on responsibility and ownership, which means keying on "doing the right thing," as opposed to power, which deals with who has the right to make certain decisions.

To make the shift from a power-based to a responsibility-based organization, leadership and the management system must shift the focus from a debate about who owns what to a dialogue around what is the right thing to do. That's why lean managers avoid relying on their power to instruct others. They strive whenever possible to lead by influence and example, as if they have no power.

Resources for Problem Solvers
Books The Lean Manager by Michael Ballé and Freddy Ballé		Articles Gary Convis on the Role of Management in a Lean Manufacturing Environment >> Lean Leadership: a Q&A with Toyota Culture co-author and former Toyota Manager Michael Hoseus. >>		Workshops Sustainable Lean Culture: Connecting the "Product" and the "People" Value Streams >> Managing to Learn: The Use of the A3 Management Process >> Transformational Leadership >>
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