It’s easy to see in this first picture that the cowardly lion is scared of his own shadow… we don’t know why he’s that way… maybe fear of failure, maybe negative words that he’s encountered as he tried new things, maybe just a personality that makes it more difficult for him to step out in faith… whatever the cause, Dorothy as well as the wizard recognize that he has the potential to overcome his fears! 

My greatest AH-HA moment didn’t involve any lions, it did however, involve several machine operators who, although they were definitely the most knowledgeable and had the most expertise, were afraid to share their opinions.  The best part about this whole situation was seeing the LEAN MANUFACTURING concepts work miracles.  Just as seeing the “Courage” already alive in the cowardly lion empowered him to be brave… seeking advice from the operators in the Total Productive Maintenance process empowered them to feel engaged and created an attitude of buy in.   As they spoke, they talked about, “my machine” which really lets you know that they do have ownership and a sense of pride.  Thanks to LEAN those hidden traits are exposed by granting a simple medal bearing the term “TEAM.”

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/3088753226/”>twm1340</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>