As I sat on the plane, waiting to depart, we watched a video that featured the airline CEO (the airline rhymes with Bontinental). The CEO, in his smiling delivery, talked about the “most professional people in the business” and showed a clip of a baggage handler gently placing bags on the loading conveyor (he might have even been smiling).
What I saw, out my window, however was a ticked off looking employee forcefully THROWING each bag down on the conveyor. Thankfully, I carried my bag onto the plane. It made me think, though, how would quality be in your factory if the customers were watching you through a window? Would things improve? Or would things be the same, probably as the result of a management structure that didn't make sure employees, at all levels, were engaged and thinking about customers constantly?
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Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.