Page 461 - The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Chapter 20. Leading the Change 431

Change Staff Line Organization

Sensei Executive Sponsor

Resources Accountability
Lean Coach
Process Owner

Value Stream Team

Sponsor = Executive or manager underwriting the activity of the team. Not member
but provides accountability.

Process Owner = leader of the team and is personally invested in seeing the team succeed.

Relationship between Sponsor and Owner is key. Sponsor should be spending time
weekly with the Owner coaching, challenging thinking and thoroughness, and
providing needed support.

Figure 20-1. Role structure in the change process

were it not for the captain of the base, who authorized him to continue to use
the workforce to run the events. The captain knew it was the right thing to do
and was committed to lean.
It’s interesting that the great “expense” of the project was an artifact of the
command and control measurement system itself. All of the workers involved
were hourly, but were paid a salary whether they worked on the lean project or
on repair of the aircraft. In fact, with the lean activities, productivity was improv-
ing and many of the workers were not needed to work on the aircraft. There was
no variable cost associated with the operators’ time, but the internal accounting
system that forced charging time to the lean account increased the lean account
deficit. Since the executive committee managed by these numbers, they were up
in arms about overspending on the lean program. They saw costs and not benefits.
In reality there were large benefits but no marginal costs associated with workers’
time. And the workers were learning and strongly supported the lean activities.
There will always be ongoing difficulties in making progress on lean: finances,
individuals trying to block progress, lack of support from needed functions like
engineering and maintenance, individuals citing rules that are being broken, etc.
The executive sponsor must be able to see the bigger picture: Lean can fundamen-
tally change the business to a high-performing organization. An effective executive
sponsor running interference is the difference between progress and stagnation.