Make The Problem Visible

Dr. Bob Emiliani explores the deep-rooted barriers preventing widespread adoption of Lean management by CEOs. He challenges prevailing assumptions about why CEOs resist, reject, or ignore Lean management. The root cause of the problem is not poor leadership behaviors, short-term thinking, or lack of training, but a deeply embedded system of preconceptions dating back thousands of years -- what he calls the "Institution of Leadership" and "System of Profound Privilege." Emiliani contrasts the origins and development of classical and Lean management, pointing out that the former is rooted in preconceptions, while the latter is rooted in human sensory perceptions. Classical management preconceptions form an institutional lock-in that protects what leaders value most -- status, rights, and privileges -- which makes the transition from classical management to Lean management extremely difficult. Drawing on decades of industry work experience and wide-ranging research, Emiliani describes how classical management is not just a legacy management system, but an entrenched institution that resists significant change. His analysis of leadership’s disinterest in Lean rejects surface-level causality and instead describes the complex interactions that sustain the "Institution of Leadership." Only by making the real problem visible can effective countermeasures be developed to move more leaders towards Lean transformation.