Traveling to KY with Norman Bodek
May 15th, 2006 by HalGrace is a word that I don't encounter often in business. But as I get ready for a trip with clients to visit Toyota's Georgetown, KY assembly plant, I must tell you about Norman Bodek. I've invited Norman to visit with my clients before. Each time the experience getting ready for our time together is as remarkable as the time spent with him. Norman brings a humility to every encounter. He thanks me for the littlest of tasks. He appreciates me for sharing my perspectives. He talks of how he has been blessed that he can share what he learned from Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo. Norman Bodek is an examplar of grace.
I am spending the better part of three days with Norman. Four colleagues and eight construction firm executives are making the pilgrimage to Toyota with Norman and me. All have read Jeffrey Liker's book, The Toyota Way. All firms are in the midst of bringing lean practices to delivering projects. While the assembly operations at Toyota are nothing like construction planning and operations, we're making the trip to boost our ambition.
This week Toyota is celebrating 20 years of making cars in Georgetown, KY. It is a wonderful time to be with Norman, godfather of lean production. I expect we'll have some fascinating conversations on kaikaku, kaizen, and as Norman puts it, "the miracle of standard work". And we'll do it in the presence of grace.
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May 17th, 2006 at 4:09 am
Hal,
As you know, Lauri Koskela is leading a small team here at Salford looking at lean and agile PM, particularly within construction. The observations of your construction industry companions on Toyota would therefore be of great interest.
As to Norman, when we all value such excellent manners and social skills, why is it so rare to find them? Enjoy your trip.
Regards, Bob Owen
May 19th, 2006 at 6:42 am
Hi Hal,
Still find the time to read your blog when I receive the feed. Excellent list of lessons learned on your trip to Toyota. I enjoyed every part of it and found many principles applied and (most important) applicable to Agile and Organizational Change management .
Best regards
Claude
July 17th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Norman is certainly very giving with his experiences and knowledge. He approached me about doing an interview, it’s posted on my website as a “Podcast”, the first in a series of lean interviews.