Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (0)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          examples of visual management

          Ask Art: Do You Prefer a Handwritten...

          Standard Work for Humble Hubris

          Why Lean Management Requires Humble Hubris

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Training
        • Leadership Coaching and Custom Training
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

            June 20, 2023 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • Key Concepts of Lean Management Remotely 

            June 22, 2023 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • Driving Operational Performance Workshops:
            How to leverage lean principles and practices systematically

            July 11, 2023 | Viwinco, Morgantown, Pennsylvania

          • Building a Lean Operating and Management System 

            July 11, 2023 | Morgantown, Pennsylvania

          • See all Events
  • Co-Learning Partnerships
  • Store
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Learning to See

          Learning to See

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / Jim Womack’s Keynote Address from the 2018 Lean Summit

Jim Womack’s Keynote Address from the 2018 Lean Summit

Executive Leadership

Jim Womack’s Keynote Address from the 2018 Lean Summit

By Lean Leaper

March 26, 2018

Catch the presentation of Jim Womack on the topic of how to develop better employees by becoming a better employer.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

LEI founder Jim Womack shared a powerful kickoff to this year’s transformation summit on the topic of how to be a good and lean employer. He started his talk citing his Southern roots as “Jimmy from Little Rock, Arkansas.”

He then shared the story of a recent gemba walk, where he met a line worker who told him: “I have been here 14 years and have been laid off 14 times.” He continued to describe another recent visit in which he learned that 100 percent of the people on the line have a second job to make ends meet, including the supervisor.

And so he posed the key challenge of becoming a better employer: “You have to figure out how to pay these people. Instead of thinking about how not to pay them.”

Jim Womack’s Keynote Address from the 2018 Lean Summit

This means that CEOs are going to have change their whole attitude about management. They must start to think deeply about how to transform the way they are working to create more value. Quite simply, companies can be better by taking a lean approach: “How can we be better employers? Engage. Work together with mutual respect to create more value with less waste….Good things happen when you engage your employee and support them.

Mentioning the intriguing work that Toyota is doing right now in this area, he highlighted how important it is to improve through the work itself. “You can start a conversation. And it just can’t be nice. Avoid naivete….You can’t just say you are going to be nice and give a hug—you have to create value…You have to be more than nice and you have to be more than nice to work for. You have to create value.”

You can read a fuller elaboration of his argument in this article published today in Planet Lean.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

Written by:

Lean Leaper

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

image showing ownership and responsibility at an organization

Executive Leadership

What Matters When Giving — or Accepting — the Gift of Lean Thinking and Practice

Article by Josh Howell

images of manufacturing from rebuild website

Executive Leadership

Charting a New Course for US Manufacturing

Podcast by Josh Howell and Matthew Savas

Matthew May and

Executive Leadership

How Entrepreneurs Use Lean to Drive Sustainable Growth: A Conversation with Matt May and Pablo Dominguez

Podcast by Tom Ehrenfeld

Related books

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

Related events

July 25, 2023 | Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan

Leading with Respect:
Enabling People to Deliver Better Business Results

Learn more

July 25, 2023 | Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan

Lean Process Design: Getting Started with Process Development Fundamentals 

Learn more

Explore topics

Executive Leadership graphic icon Executive Leadership
Line Management graphic icon Line Management

Learn how Lean Product and Process Development principles are advancing innovation in a variety of industries.

Subscribe to the monthly Design Brief.

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2023 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!