The Pivoting Problem of Lean

Modern organizations try to tap into the employees’ knowledge, engagement and motivation by introducing informal organization and easily understood tools. These efforts are thought to help the continuous improvement efforts and make the production plant more effective and efficient. Following these trends, efforts have also been made to minimize the hierarchy and make the organization as informal as possible. Always be at hand for his or hers employees listen to every suggestion they make and bringing them alone when a decision is doing to be made. At the same time the leader should report to and act accordingly to the guidelines of his or her leader. It is often called the phenomena of the next up or next down. Doing a good job as a leader seems to involve a pivoting between the next down and the next up. The interviewees represent all layers of the organizations, from the plant manager to the apprentice. Better understanding this new role of the leaders in an organization that have implemented lean in order to enhance effectiveness and efficiency can prevent burnout leaders and keep the momentum up in the continuous improvement effort. Leaders often talk about that the company lean efforts were easier in the beginning when lower hanging fruits were picked. However, another explanation can be that leaders are fatigued and lack the initiative to find the next area for improvement. At the same time the demands from the next leader up increases.