the toyota way

This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference. It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them be even more isolated than usual. And it’s even harder if what you want is to network with the top-level executives in the industry. Where and how can you do that? The answer is the Executive Briefing Conference coming this September at the spectacular Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology and to feed on inspiration from real leaders in the industry. Not to mention take in all the high-altitude hospitality, beauty and recreation offered by the Broadmoor. Learn more at ExecutiveBriefingConference.com. See you there.

Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.

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Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.

When Niels is described as a management exorcist, that is really no understatement. Right at the beginning of this extraordinarily revealing conversation, he points out where the evil is and what is going wrong in our world of organizations. Don't worry, dear listeners, you are still on the right channel, we have not changed the target audience.

The struggle in so many companies and organizations and the relentless efforts of so-called management to maximize the efficiency of every unit, however small, is constantly increasing. It is becoming increasingly clear that the non-innovative and inhumane command and control structures no longer work. Instead, we should ask ourselves: have they ever done so?

But what alternatives do we have, what do we know about organizations that have left the alpha control and command system or never entered it? The good news is that there are beta companies and environments, some of them even for decades. Niels and the members of the Beta Codex network are keen to make many from the few examples. When things get out of hand like this, sometimes you need a modern management exorcist (or rather an army of them) to dispel the ubiquitous evil that surrounds so many of us in our daily working lives. Can we get rid of it?

Change can happen quickly. Reversals and reorientation are possible, for small, medium, large and huge organizations. When we believe what Niels says, it takes about 90 days, a lot of courage, and intention.

Jump in and decide for yourself.

If you listen between the lines, you can hear and feel what drives Niels.

Questions and issues that we have explored in-depth during this episode: 

• What is the Beta Codex?
• How to change a company in 90 days to the Beta model?
• Are planning and budgeting a bad thing?
• What defines a team?
• Does respect still matter?
• Why is it that command and control structures are inhuman?
• What are alternative structures - and are there companies that actually work with them?
• How to measure performance - the right way!

EXCERPTS YOU MIGHT WANT TO JUMP IN

The big riddle or: Why the world of organization doesn’t change [03:40]

What do some large organizations do differently? [06:23]

Should we stop planning? [07:20]

Why we prepare and what is the difference to planning [12:05]

The Soviet-Style planning is still happening all around [16:24]

What makes a team? [22:45]

Let’s talk about vulgar business models [31:19]

Beta Codex like companies [33:52]

What is the Beta Codex all about? [38:12]

Why the Alpha model is not working and how that affects business as we know it [40:59]

What is relative performance and how you measure it? [43:43]

The real role of the CEO [50:51]

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For our international community. This is an English episode and you can find the transcript of this conversation now in more than 20 languages on our blog, at happy scribe public, or watch the video with subtitles for this episode on our YouTube Chanel. 

🔗 LINKS & HINTS IN THIS EPISODE

Website of Beta Codex Network

The BetaCodex white paper No.10 Making Performance Work (BetaCodex10)

The BetaCodex white paperNo. 11 Org Physics – Explained (BetaCodex11) 

Website of Niels’ consulting firm Red42

The personal Website from Niels Pfläging

The Book Open Space Beta from Niels Pfläging and Silke Hermann 

The international bestseller Organize for Complexity from Niels Pfläging 

Have a look at the mentioned Dutch healthcare company Buurtzorg

Find out more about the amazing Jos de Blok, Buurtzorg’s founder 

Lean how Ricardo Semler lead Semco to a self-organized enterprize.  

Visit the mentioned companies, how they work and what makes them great W. L. Gore & Associates , Handelsbanken, The Toyota Way, dm-Drogerie Markt, Southwest Airlines

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In this Gemba Talks episode, we had the honor to talk to Jeffrey Liker, one of the main voices of Lean today. He is the author of the international best-seller book The Toyota Way, and other several books about Lean. We discuss his experiences, the constant evolution of Lean and how it can help companies of different sectors overcome their struggles.