Servant Leadership

Changing a culture begins with establishing a servant leadership presence. We know all the buzz words and acronyms associated with lean enterprise such as 5S, SMED, Kanban, kaizen etc… these are all the things we can see in the form of a process. We fail to understand that without a good foundation of a management system, process improvement is only temporary.

Who is Joe Perillo?

1. Turnaround Strategist
2. Cultural Change Agent
3. Servant Leader

Turnaround Strategies

As I looked back on the path of my carrier I noticed the one thing I did not want to become has actually defined who I am and what I am actually good at. Over the course of 25+ years I can see now all the turnaround strategies that I have been involved with. I am proud of these accomplishments because I was able to help others develop as well as myself. I was also able to add value by creating opportunities to increase capacity and revenue. In the beginning of my carrier I thought it was about achieving a specific position and title and then maintaining it. What I realized as time passed is that this was not the reality that I lived in. Today I find myself constantly looking to see how I can improve myself and my surroundings.

Lean management is not a change methodology; it is a destination

Lean management is not a change methodology; it is a destination, a desired set of practices and a change in culture.
Most companies fail when implementing lean because they fail to create a culture of “pull” This is because most organizations attempt to push lean on their people.
I experienced a good example of this over the weekend. I was shopping at a major retailer over the weekend and at the check-out register they had a sign posted “5-S register check list” the last date they checked off was April 2011 The date I was in the store was December 17, 2011. I was still impressed that they had the check list posted so I asked the clerk “hey I see you are using lean manufacturing principles” the gentleman replied by saying “Oh I don’t know what that is”.
This is a great example of an organization pushing lean principles. I am not questioning the company’s intentions but I would question their methods for creating change.

The Art of Leadership

The art of leadership is to influence people to do the things they should do and the ability to convince them they want to do it.

Breaking Records

World records are achievements of perfection but records were meant to be broken, history has proven this time and time again.
 Individuals who set out to break these records challenged the status quo by confronting the methods to achieve the new goal.

“Is There a Better Way”

“Is There a Better Way”
 One of the eight wastes is the underutilization of people. In a traditional operation the culture usually pushes the ideas from management down to the front lines. In a lean culture the ideas are coming from the experts who do the job every day.
 Management is responsible to create an environment that allows for ideas to flow freely in a non threatening environment even when mistakes are made.
 Management is responsible for creating a culture that drives the entire organization to ask the question “Is there a better way”
 Once we begin asking the questions “Is there a better way” it is the responsibility of management to create the vision and support all efforts that will help the organization succeed.