The Spirit of Freedom

Today, we celebrate Independence Day in the US. The 4th of July is an extremely patriotic holiday where we celebrate the independence of our country. People celebrate with family and friend gatherings, barbecues, parties, games, food, fun, festivals, parades, musical events and fireworks.

Freedom is not just the natural right of every human. It is the state of mind that enables people to create the greatest and the most inspiring things. The spirit of freedom gives us the power to conquer new heights, whether it is a real mountain peak or a bold business challenge.

Lean manufacturing provides your workforce the freedom that they need to own and maximize their productivity. In a Lean production plant, the "freedom to control one's work" replaces the "mind numbing stress" of mass production. Armed with the skills they need to control their environment workers have the opportunity to think actively even proactively to solve workplace problems.

When deploying Lean Thinking in an organization, it is important to abide by the principle of Freedom within Framework.  This is important because human beings are sometimes threatened by “new” business approaches or philosophies and, when resistance sets in, it is a hole that is very difficult to climb from.

We must constantly remind the organization that free agency will not be trampled on. Yet, we must work within a framework, so that we collectively speak the same language, understand business challenges and opportunities with approximately the same worldview, and approach them according to company values.