From Vision to Execution with Mark Reich

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Why do so many organizational strategies end up as posters on walls rather than driving real change? In this episode, Dave and Peter dive deep with Mark Reich, who spent 23 years at Toyota before joining the Lean Enterprise Institute, to examine how Toyota's legendary Hoshin Kanri system transforms strategic thinking into coordinated action.

This week´s takeaways:

• Systems Over Silos: Toyota's integrated management system creates both vertical alignment (connecting corporate objectives to frontline work) and horizontal alignment (ensuring cross-functional collaboration).
• Value-Creating Managers: Middle management layers should be redefined as value creators and people developers rather than eliminated or reduced.
• Improvement at the Gemba: Real progress happens by focusing improvements at the "gemba" (where work actually happens) with leadership's primary role being to remove burdens from frontline workers.

Mark explains the fundamental difference between most companies' approach to strategy and Toyota's integrated management system. Unlike conventional top-down cascading goals, Hoshin Kanri creates alignment throughout the organization. The discussion explores practical aspects of strategy execution: separating strategic initiatives from daily management, structuring cross-departmental collaboration, and developing people at all levels. Whether you're struggling with siloed departments, disconnected leadership, or strategies that never fully materialize, this episode offers a blueprint for creating systems that align vision with execution while developing organizational capability.

Resources:

• The Machine That Changed the World - by James P. Womack- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93903.The_Machine_That_Changed_the_World_
• Managing Our Purpose - by Mark Reich- https://www.lean.org/store/book/managing-on-purpose/
• Our Least Important Asset - by Peter Capelli- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75492283-our-least-important-asset?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IGIsI50s8q&rank=1