What must we do to open our organizations to change? Whether it's pursuing lean or any other transformational change it's only when we break with history that we have a chance for change. One necessary way we do that by changing the stories we tell.

Few business leaders appreciate the power of stories to connect with their audiences.

Business Week just reported on leadership…the kind of leadership that alters forever who we are and where we are going…The Seven Secrets of Inspiring Leaders, by Carmine Gallo. He says it's not a single act, rather it is a set of actions taken over and over that has the chance of effecting permanent change.

These seven actions can make your change effort successful:

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Nearly 20 years ago Robert Reich made a big claim: Americans can't change who they are until they change the story of who they've been. His book, Tales of a New America detailed classical American stories: the rot at the top; the mob at the gate; the rise of the individual…

It's only in changing the story that we can be someone different.

I've come to believe it's our stories that anchor us — that keep us from achieving what we say we want. Norman calls it resistance. But that presupposes intentionality. In other words, resistance is cognitive. That doesn't make sense to me.

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Norman Bodek is concerned that companies are not taking up a lean way of working. This is in the face of overwhelming evidence that a lean approach is one of the best ways of working. What gets in the way? Norman attributes it to middle managers who resist change. He says the resistance is manifest in saying, "No," to employees' proposals of improvement. I don't buy it.

Norman is right when he says the people get in the way of change. It is not organizations that resist change. Only individuals can choose to not change. But why? Why in the face of overwhelming evidence that lean is a better approach would someone not embrace the change? Fear is the first answer. People see that something is at risk if they embrace something different. That makes sense, however when firms get into real trouble — the threat of bankruptcy — managers find a way to get behind a change to a lean approach. In the face of big stakes people come through.

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Make every "Yes" count, Learn to Say, "No".

People can't seem to leave Ohno's Seven Wastes alone. Norman Bodek, godfather of lean, made the latest addition. He calls it "Saying No." Norman chose to share this in an article for Industry Week in The Ninth Waste — Saying, "No". Norman is in his best story-telling form.

Mystery solved: the godfather of lean gave us the eighth waste.

Norman claims that managers are generally resistant to change. That it is in their resisting change that they say, "No," to suggestions for improvement from employees. It may only take a few "No's" to shut down employees from making proposals for improvement. Read the article.

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Eat your heart out! Beauteous!

I've been a long-time reader of Business 2.0. Good writing, timely articles, and clever presentation made this magazine great. Unfortunately, my view has been in the minority. Circulation has fallen steadily along with ad pages. A magazine can't keep publishing with that trend even when it is owned by Time, Inc.

Long live Fast Company!

I renewed my subscription mid-September and they processed my credit card. Two days later I read in the Wall Street Journal that Time would no longer publish B2.0. I feel swindled. Time is extending my Fortune subscription for one issue for each two remaining B2.0 issues. That doesn't make me happy, particularly since they took my money only a few weeks ago. One-for-one would be a fairer deal.

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Authors and their publicists regularly offer me books in hope I'll write a good review. I usually do write good reviews. If I can't find something good to say, then I don't write anything. (I think I've only written one negative review.) Today, I'm offering a review of a book that neither the author nor the publicist offered me. And you guessed it…it's a positive review.

Christine Comford-Lynch's Rules for Renegades is a good-read.

You'll be inspired by Christine's example.

Christine is a character. She's fully expressing herself in print just like she has in life. I'm not saying Rules for Renegades will alter your view on reality. But it just might inspire you. Christine unabashedly shares her triumphs — building one company after another and dating both Bill Gates and Larry Ellison — and her flops — embarking on becoming a geisha after getting dumped by Bill Gates.

Christine claims to have been involved in 36 company start-ups. "Of those 36, not a single one (author's emphasis) has executed its original business plan." Sounds like successful projects. Christine shares her acquired wisdom in the following 10 rules.

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Sorry for not posting on lean project delivery, but September was a very busy month. In short, I anticipated it would take 3 months to sell my house. Instead, lucky me, it took 3 days. And the buyer wanted to get in close to opening day of school. We had no where to go. Our plan is to build a new home. After moving out, moving in to a temporary location, and then moving into a furnished condo we are finally settled. No complaints…I'm living in a town with a population of 305 completely surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest. It couldn't be better.

I'm back to blogging. I've found a way to read a little and to innovate a little in between packing, hauling and unpacking. I'll post tomorrow on careers, Bill Gates and monks. Don't worry, I'm still writing about projects, lean, kaizen, and construction. Maybe my hiatus will be good for writing…