Ryan Tierney has radically transformed his company Seating Matters in Ireland into a world-class organization. We discussed at length two highly debated topics, as well as a lean breakthrough that is often overlooked. 

Where to start lean?
First debate: Where should a company start lean? No one ever wants to start where I suggest — in the bathroom! Most early adopters of lean can’t understand what cleaning a bathroom and lean manufacturing have in common.

Ryan, on the other hand, says lean can start anywhere, and he did not start in the bathroom. He says just start somewhere, anywhere. Pick an area, get an engaged group of people, and make that one assembly bench or machine absolutely remarkable. Then, you can bring people to it and say, “See this, cool, eh, let’s do that in your area.”

Here is the point: Starting lean anywhere is as much a test for leadership as it is for the improvement team. As the leader, can you rally people to do something remarkable, learn something new, get out of their comfort zone? If you can’t, the lean implementation failure is not the fault of the people, it’s you. 

Starting in the bathroom might be a bit more challenging as a leader. People don’t yet understand that keeping the toilets perfect is actually awesome. The key is to challenge yourself as a leader to just get started, followed quickly by motivating your team. Do those things, you’ll be off in the right direction.  

Who to keep, who to fire
“You can’t turn a donkey into a race horse!” 

I first heard this saying from mega-lean maniac Joe Silvey at Superior Woodworks. We were talking about people and how to decide who to keep and who to let go. Then he said, “Well Brad, you can’t turn a donkey into a race horse.” Not only did I almost fall out of my chair laughing, once I gained my composure, I realized, I totally agree. 

But Ryan believes there is a creative genius in all of us. With the right leadership and guidance, anyone can do anything. At his company, he is proud they have never let anyone go because of their lean transformation or lack of skills.

On this one, I completely disagree with him. Not everyone is equal. Trying to run a business treating everyone as such is a recipe for total failure. Jack Welch, former CEO General Electric, you have 20% rockstars, 70% good people who do their work and the bottom 10% who have to go.

I have met people that I’m shocked they could tie their shoes. Ryan points out that weaker employees help point out flaws in their system. To that I agree, however, I remain firmly convinced that you cannot turn a donkey into a race horse with any amount of training. Some people just aren’t built for it. 

Lean secret: interior design
As we were casually walking around Seating Matters, talking about lean and everything in between, Ryan said something that stopped me in my tracks: “Half of the secret to success of lean is simply interior design.” Confused, I looked at him in a way that he clearly knew I needed more of an explanation. 

He said, “Look around, what do you see?” For the first time I saw things I have never seen before. It was like someone ripped off the blinders. I was seeing a wall that could have just been painted white yet was actually two-tone with some vinyl graphics. There were wood accents in the office, plastic plants strategically placed, all the rooms and colors of the rooms were standardized. It was like the interior design fairy would visit at night and make everything beautiful and matching.

He pointed out, that’s actually what people see when they walk in, interior design is what gives the place the wow factor. My mind was literally blown. Trying to tell someone to make a perfect work station when the breakroom looks like a dog house or the bathrooms are filthy, floors are dirty, ceilings are riddled with wires and airlines isn’t very motivational. 

Make the interior remarkable first. Then an awesome workstation fits in, and a messy one would look out of place. 

The lesson: Make the building nice on the outside, then make the floors nice, the walls nice, the ceiling nice. Make the breakroom look like a 5-star hotel met Starbucks, bathrooms out of the Trump hotel; you get the idea.

After this trip, I got home. Within one day I hired an interior designer, had all our common spaces redesigned, and within one week the construction started. I will post the finished product either in this magazine or our social media outlets. But we’re not stopping until the space is remarkable. 

I hope this helps everyone make their factories just one step closer to being remarkable. If you need anything, feel free to reach out to us, we are here to help.