The central concept of lean is:

‘Work out what the customer wants and give it to them in the most efficient way possible’

Everything else is just noise.

Lean is not just about tools or principles. It is a way of thinking that dictates how you behave.

I want to share an example of this type of mind-set using my experience in the Royal Marines.

Customer Focus

The Royal Marines don’t produce anything. We are a service-based organisation that produces an effect including (but not limited to) ‘the controlled application of extreme violence.’

We deliver that effect to the enemy.

In a slightly odd way, ‘the enemy is our customer.’

The whole purpose of the organisation is to have an effect on these people. In the service industry, we talk about a customer as someone who benefits from our service. In the Corps, it is the same concept but the ‘benefit’ is different!

The way we deliver our service is through our people.

So the primary focus of our hierarchy is to improve the performance of our people. The obvious reason for this is that the better our people are at their job, the greater the effect we can have on the enemy.

Troop Sergeant

The Troop Sergeant is usually the most experienced person in a Troop of 30 Royal Marines. His role is to provide support to the men so that they can do their jobs.

Whilst the Officer leads the tactical battle, the Sergeant’s job is to make sure that the lads on the ground are fed, watered and carrying what they need to fight.

During a firefight, he will coordinate with the Marines to make sure that they are getting replacement ammunition. The way he does this is through a ‘pull system’.

The lads tell him what they need and he gets it forward to them.

He is a great example of a ‘lean thinker’.

He doesn’t wait to be told what to do. When the bullets are flying, he knows that it’s his job to keep the lads stocked up with enough ammunition to keep going. If he doesn’t proactively do his job and ask them – they’ll start to run low on ammo which ‘affects the customer’ – in a positive light this time!

The ability for a Marine to do his job relies on the Sergeant doing his.

The Sergeant is a true example of ‘Servant Leadership’.

But what he might not realise is how rare this is. The act of anticipating the needs of others and being comfortable with serving them is uncommon in the civilian world.

When transitioning out of the Corps, the Sergeant needs to be able to explain this concept and the value of ‘how he thinks’. He can change the culture of an organisation by leading by example. This is far more valuable than any skill or experience he will have on his CV.

Typical Hierarchy

Most organisational hierarchies will look something like the triangle below. The workforce work for the Team Leaders. They work for the Managers. The Manager work for the Directors and so on.

The trouble with this model is that it places the customer at the bottom.

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What the Royal Marines do is invert the pyramid

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This is Servant Leadership. It is a core element of lean and the principle behind military.

We put the enemy (customer) first. The first question we ask in our planning process is:

What are the enemy doing and why?

The answer shapes and informs everything that follows.

In a high performing business – the first question business leaders ask is:

What do our customers want and why?

The reason for this is that customers don’t interact with CEOs. When you walk into a supermarket, you interact with the workforce. The better they are at their job, the better they treat the customers.

If the workforce treat the customers well – people will return.

It’s simple but that doesn’t make it easy.

The number one responsibility for any leader is to improve the performance of their people. It is not to sit behind a desk doing the work.

The Troop Sergeant understands this. Do you?

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