Executive Leadership

Job 1?

May 18, 2017

Ford CEO Mark Fields just decided he needed to cut costs. Then he suddenly realized he had 1400 people he didn't need so decided to eliminate their jobs. Did he need those people two weeks ago? Will he need them two weeks from now?

Ford CEO Mark Fields just decided he needed to cut costs. Then he suddenly realized he had 1400 people he didn’t need so decided to eliminate their jobs. Did he need those people two weeks ago? Will he need them two weeks from now?

Who knows? I certainly don’t. I don’t think Mark knows either. Do you?

Written by:

John Shook

About John Shook

John Shook learned about lean management while working for Toyota for 11 years in Japan and the U.S., helping it transfer production, engineering, and management systems from Japan to NUMMI and other operations around the world. While at Toyota’s headquarters, he became the company’s first American kacho (manager) in Japan.…