Category: Quotes

Into the Darkness We Walk, Together, Side by Side

A leader can be defined by what he or she does for the company in terms of results and development but another perspective is what they do for the people in their charge. As a leader you have a responsibility to take care of the people serving under you. If you do this you will have a loyal team that do their best to not let you or the company down.

Part of this is to challenge them to grow and develop. To challenge someone you need to make them move out of their comfort zone. You can push them but in my experience it is far more effective to go with them. If they feel you got their back they will surely have yours when the time comes.

A quotation that captures this elegantly is the jewel from Joel Barker. It is simple and yet powerful!

“A leader is someone you’d follow to go somewhere that you wouldn’t go by yourself.”

Joel Barker




Holding Out For A Hero, really?

I hate to disagree with the lovely Bonnie Tyler but this might not be the best way to go about it. It is all to common to see people with great initiative and drive work hard to move the needle but often they burn out from lack of support from the people surrounding them.

We should not build our organisations on the need for these heroes or supermen (and women). The system must be robust and easy to manage so that no one person will make or break it.

Through engagement we build teams that work together to succeed. I think this quote from Peter Drucker sums is up quite nicely.

“No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.”

Peter Drucker




The origins of 5W1H

Much of what we know as Lean have origins from other places than Toyota. It is no secret that Toyota was heavily inspired and brought in tools from other companies and refined them to their own purposes. The same can be said about 5W1H, a common tool in problem solving.

Below is an excerpt from Rudyard Kiplings 1902 publication “Just So Stories”

“I keep six honest serving-men,
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When,
And How and Where and Who.”

Rudyard Kipling, 1902 from “Just So Stories”




The journey is hard

Sometimes the journey of learning any new skill is hard. But in my opinion it’s worth it. The hardships and challenges is part of the process and is what ultimately helps you attain new knowledge and wisdom. This is expressed very good in these two quotes.

“If this Lean stuff seems easy you’re probably not doing it.”

James P. Womack

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

Zig Ziglar




Always do YOUR best

When talking to people about work and improvements they often comment that they don’t know this or they don’t know that.

In the spirit of Kaizen it is important to remember that you improve yourself in increments just as you improve the process or the product. Strive to better yourself by challenging yourself and always try do to your best. Over time your knowledge and capacity will increase step by step.

Maya Angelou expressed this idea beautifully and as you know by now I am real sucker for good quotations.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou



Actual facts from the actual place (gemba)

Deming is know for droping a number of big truths when it comes to quality, leadership and lean. This is no exception, always get your facts straight.

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”

W. Edwards Deming

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”

W. Edwards Deming




Remember the basics

From the energizer bunny of Lean, Mr. Paul Akers, this gem is reminding us about the absolute basics of Lean.

“Lean is learning to see waste. The moment you begin to see waste, everything else will take care of itself. Until you don’t see waste in everything. You don’t understand lean.”

Akers, Paul



A word on quality

Quality is at the core of everything we do within Lean. When looking at waste within a process the internal cost of quality touches many of the classic 7+1 wastes. W. Edwards Deming aslo point out the hidden cost that we can never truly calculate.

“No one knows the cost of a defective product – don’t tell me you do. You know the cost of replacing it, but not the cost of a dissatisfied customer.”

W. Edwards Deming

“Quality is everyone’s responsibility.”

W. Edwards Deming




Survival is not mandatory

It is interesting to find two quotes that are separated by time and from completely different origins and still come together as a powerful statement, recognized as the simple truth.

“It is not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Charles Darwin, 1859

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

W. Edwards Deming



A truism trough time

This, in all it’s simplicity, it one of the most true statements I have ever heard. It had been re quoted countless times and that in itself is testament to it’s power.

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Mark Twain