Darrell Bender

Beyond Lean: Lessons for Leading Organizational Change Darrell Bender

A wise person once told me, "You are either moving forward, or you are falling behind." This quote is so true in today's highly competitive world of manufacturing. If you are seeking knowledge on how-to transform your business into a Lean profit-generating machine, Beyond Lean will provide you with a common sense approach to that end. However, I would caution you to remember that common sense is not always common practice, as you will see in the story. Written in a fictional setting with fictional characters, Beyond Lean is the story of a young man named Leon, a Continuous Improvement Manager at Hardwood Floor Systems, who accepts the responsibility of leading an organizational change process called Lean Manufacturing. As Leon struggles with obtaining support from others, he discovers that there is more to implementing Lean Manufacturing than meets the eye. Leon turns to his grandfather for advice during a daylong fishing trip, and collectively they discover powerful lessons in leading organizational change. I invite you to join in, as Leon's story will take you through the do's and the don'ts of a Lean transformation. About the Author: Specializing in mixed model value streams, and with clients in the upper mid-west and western United States, Darrell Bender is a Lean Enterprise business consultant who possesses both High Performance Work Systems implementation and Lean Enterprise transformation experience. Prior to starting his own business, Darrell was the Continuous Improvement & Lean Manufacturing Manager for a privately owned corporation whose multiple manufacturing plants had annual sales revenue that exceeded $100 million. Darrell has also held several management positions within a publicly traded fortune 100 corporation. Over the past 10 years, Darrell has led numerous organizational improvement teams, from small focused problem-solving teams up to and including complex multi-functional strategic planning and manufacturing redesign teams.