What’s the #1 frustration most lean and continuous improvement practitioners face?
It's something that I bet you've felt too, no matter how passionate you are about the work, no matter what you call it: lean, agile, continuous improvement, operational excellence, or DevOps...
Too often, we struggle to clearly explain what we actually do as CI change leaders and why it matters. And when you can’t articulate the deeper value of lean or OpEx, it’s hard to get the buy-in needed to lead the organizational transformation you envision.
In this episode, I take you inside a qualitative survey of 100+ change leaders—from internal continuous improvement practitioners and leaders, to external consultants and coaches, executives and operations leaders—on what draws us to this field of organizational improvement, what fuels our passion, and what holds us back from the impact we know is possible.
Before listening to this episode, take a moment to reflect on:
- What lights you up about your work?
- What’s the top challenge you keep running into?
If you love lean and continuous improvement and are ready to overcome the frustrations holding you and your organization back from real transformation, then this episode is for you.
YOU’LL LEARN:
- Three things we love the most about this work as continuous improvement and lean change leaders
- The #1 frustration holding you back (hint: it’s not about the tools or frameworks)
- Why a shift from McGregor’s Theory X (command and control) to Theory Y (empowered problem-solving) management mindset is critical to your impact—and why lean efforts fail without it
- The paradox of trying to influence deeply ingrained management and leadership beliefs and behaviors
- Three practical ways you can start changing both the story and the system
IMPORTANT LINKS:
TIMESTAMPS FOR THIS EPISODE:
03:01 Reflection questions on your own experience as a lean and continuous improvement practitioner
03:53 Top three things that light us up and fuels our passion
03:58 [FIRST] Problem solving that directly impact people’s ability to work meaningfully
04:51 Survey examples of what leaders love about solving problems
06:16 [SECOND] People development and empowerment
07:07 Survey examples of what leaders love about empowering people to solve problems
08:50 [THIRD] Tangible and meaningful impact
09:52 Survey examples of what leaders love about creating meaningful impact for people, organizations, and systems
10:46 Change leader’s frustration: leadership buy-in
12:57 The deeper truth in what’s stopping us from leading real organizational transformation
13:18 Challenges in changing mindsets and shifting behaviors in an organization
13:42 The meaning of Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y and the relationship to lean
16:00 The paradox in changing mindset management and leadership for change leaders
17:12 Three practical tips to shift shift the story and the system
17:18 [FIRST] Acknowledge the size of the challenge
18:07 [SECOND] Speak the language of business
19:07 One of the best examples of how a leader effectively led change through influence
20:54 [THIRD] Pair technical process improvement skills with influence and human-focused skills
22:54 The consistent themes from the survey of loving this work and wanting to make meaningful impact
23:54 Take the next step in expanding your influence skills
Submit your questions to John Shook here:
https://kbjanderson.com/ask/
Chain of Learning: Leadership Strategies for Continuous Improvement and Transformational Change 
