USATODAY.com – Gas companies' record profits take toll on average Americans:
“‘We're an oil and gas company,' Exxon spokesman Dave Gardner says.”
It seems that Exxonmobil is not being customer focused, nor are they being “solution focused”, as the new Womack and Jones book, Lean Solutions
As a customer, we want to get from Point A to Point B and need something to fuel our vehicle. In this day and era, that fuel is gasoline. Is Exxonmobil being pragmatic or dogmatic? Are other energy companies, like BP, who talk about alternate technologies, going to be more successful down the road?
Don't be the type of company that says something like “We're a rotary telephone company.” Lean is great, but you also have to be customer focused. Building the leanest (or six-sigma) rotary telephone won't get you anywhere.
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.