The Bus Needs a Navigator

“Well, Curmudge, in our last conversation we hired the CEO, and he loaded the bus with the right people. Are we there yet?”

“No Jaded Julie, we’re not there yet. The bus needs a navigator.”

“Why so? The CEO was supposed to know where to go and how to get there. Is she lost already?”

“Julie, the road to a Lean transformation has more potholes than an Appleton street in the springtime. We need a navigator who has been over this route many times. He is a very important person in guiding us to a Lean culture.”

“If he is very important in Lean, he probably has a Japanese name. Okay Curmudge, I’m ready. Lay it on me.”

“The navigator is our sensei. To the Japanese, a sensei is an honored teacher who has mastered his subject. Our sensei teaches our top management all about Lean. He also instructs the people on our staff who will spend full time on our Lean effort. Sometimes the sensei is a full-time employee like John Karras, the COO in Pascal Dennis’s book, Getting the Right Things Done. More often he is a consultant who comes to visit as needed.”

“So what do our full-time staff people do after receiving their Lean instruction?”

“They are called Lean facilitators, and they teach and coach our middle managers. Then they aid the middle managers in teaching their own people about Lean. Quint Studer calls health care transformation zealots who make a difference in the lives of others ‘Fire Starters’. That’s how Lean and Studer’s complement to Lean are spread throughout an organization.”

“Curmudge, are you a sensei or a Lean facilitator or a firebug?”

“Fire Starter, Julie. And I’m none of the above. These people receive lots of training and work very hard. A sensei is pretty expensive. I’m self-taught, a volunteer, and do this for fun.”

“Curmudge, you can be my sensei.”

“Thank you, Julie. That’s very touching. I guess it’s okay for a fictional nurse to have a fictional sensei.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon